Cement maker PPC increased first-half headline earnings per share by 16% as infrastructure and affordable housing projects drove cement demand, the company said on Wednesday. PPC reported headline EPS of 126 cents and a 9% increase in operating profit to R1,077-billion.
Nedbank increased first-quarter net interest income by 21,9% to R3,87-billion but said it expected slower first-half earnings growth. Shares in Nedbank stood 1,59% down at R111,50 by 7.18am GMT on Wednesday, underperforming the JSE Securities Exchange’s Top-40 index which was 0,27% weaker.
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African National Congress president Jacob Zuma has been ”extremely unwise” to claim divine blessings for the leading political party, church leaders of the Apostolic Faith Mission said in Tuesday. In a statement, the leaders warned of a Messianic danger when invoking a divine blessing on a political party.
Governmental food-price regulation was not the right way to handle the ”potential crisis” around increased food costs, the Milk Producers Organisation said on Tuesday. Director Etienne Terre’Blanche said the problem with regulating prices was that the country could not regulate foreign companies’ prices.
It is estimated that 5,6-million South Africans are infected with HIV/Aids in 2008, said the Actuarial Society of South Africa (ASSA) on Tuesday. The HIV prevalence rates from the ASSA 2003 model are ” roughly consistent” with the national prevalence survey conducted by the Human Sciences Research Council.
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has suspended its group executive of news and current affairs, Snuki Zikalala, with immediate effect. The public broadcaster said Zikalala had been suspended by chief executive Dali Mpofu pending the outcome of a probe into allegations of misconduct.
Five sectors of employment have the highest risks when it comes to workplace health and safety, a labour executive said in Vryheid on Tuesday. KwaZulu-Natal Labour Department’s acting provincial executive manager Edward Khambula said the iron and steel, construction, agriculture, food, drink and beverage sectors had the highest number of accidents in South Africa.
An investigation into two northern KwaZulu-Natal men who were caught monitoring police radio frequencies has been launched, police said on Tuesday. Police spokesperson Captain Charmaine Struwig said the pair were caught on Newcastle Road in Ladysmith on Monday night but had not yet been arrested.
Public servants may be in line for a double-digit pay increase this year. Briefing the media at Parliament on Tuesday, Public Service and Administration Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi said the current wage agreement stipulated an increase of CPIX plus 1%.
The Johannesburg High Court has opened the way for former bouncer Gary Beuthin to be freed on bail. The court set aside the Correctional Services Department’s decision to revoke Beuthin’s parole. It also ordered that he be transferred ”with immediate effect” to Johannesburg prison’s Medium A section for awaiting trial prisoners.
The Development Bank of SA (DBSA)’s Aids statistics — published on May 4 in the Sunday Independent — had not yet been validated, the bank said on Tuesday. The DBSA said that the information was published ”without the bank’s knowledge or its explicit and formal authority”.
The green carpet will be laid on all roads leading to the Johannesburg Stadium on Saturday May 24 for the David versus Goliath Nedbank Cup soccer final. The Cup committee confirmed on Tuesday the final of the inaugural Nedbank Cup between Mpumalanga Black Aces and Mamelodi Sundowns will be played at the Johannesburg Stadium.
The inquiry into the suspension of National Prosecuting Authority head Vusi Pikoli, which starts on Wednesday, will see several high-profile witnesses testify, including Reverend Frank Chikane and Scorpions boss Gerrie Nel. President Thabo Mbeki suspended Pikoli as the head of the NPA on September 24.
It was a clumsy attempt by Najwa Petersen to cover up her cellphone tracks that gave police a vital lead in solving the murder of her husband, Taliep, a police officer told the Cape High Court on Tuesday. Superintendent Piet Viljoen was testifying in the trial of Najwa and the three men she allegedly hired to kill Taliep on the night of December 16 2006.
Jomo Cosmos are not pushing the panic buttons … just yet. Ezenkosi suffered their ninth defeat of the season when they were beaten 3-1 away to Bloemfontein Celtic on the weekend, which sees them drop to 15th spot on the Absa Premiership with 22 points — the same number as bottom team Black Leopards.
South Africa’s fight against money laundering and terrorism financing needs tough new laws to close regulatory loopholes and give authorities more power to crack down on crime. Murray Michell, the head of South Africa’s Financial Intelligence Centre, said draft laws would also help unclog an overburdened judicial system and streamline oversight.
In its second major report on land restitution issues in three years, the Centre for Development and Enterprise think tank argues that the country faces a worse situation than the challenges described in 2005. It says the country is looking at two likely trajectories with respect to land reform, that of ”nobody wins”, and ”everybody loses”.
The African National Congress (ANC) said on Tuesday the Khampepe report highlighted many of its concerns about the Directorate of Special Operations (DSO), which led to its resolution to have the unit moved to the police. ”That report raises the same concerns we are raising, which led to the raising of the ANC resolution,” said the party’s secretary general.
The African National Congress (ANC) has asked President Thabo Mbeki to appoint its deputy president to Parliament as a first step to getting him into the Cabinet, an ANC official said on Tuesday. ANC deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe, a left-leaning intellectual and ally of ANC leader Jacob Zuma, has been touted as a compromise presidential candidate.
South African new vehicle sales declined by 2,8% to 42 359 units in April compared with the same month last year, the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers (Naamsa) said on Tuesday. Naamsa said sales fell further from a low base in April last year when sales were lower than normal.
Police have confirmed the arrests of three men suspected to be involved in at least 14 robberies linked to OR Tambo International Airport. Police spokesperson Dennis Adriao said on Tuesday that he could confirm the arrests but could not comment further because the matter was in court.
South African stocks remained higher at noon on Tuesday, supported by miners on stronger metal prices, but shaky overseas markets and stronger rand limited the upside move, traders said. Local mobile phone firm MTN Group remained the most heavily traded stock by value after it confirmed that it was in share price-sensitive talks with an Indian firm.
The South African Petroleum Industry Association said the replacement of older petrol pumps, which are unable to reflect a price of more than R9,99, would take several months. Roughly 18Â 500 petrol pumps, or about 30% of all South Africa’s pumps, need to be replaced. These pumps do not have digital readings.
Sappi, the world’s biggest maker of fine paper, increased second-quarter basic earnings per share to 68 United States cents from 25 US cents a year ago, the company said on Tuesday. Sappi said operating profit excluding special items rose 33% to -million in the three months to end-March from -million in the year-ago period.
Rassie Erasmus is a name synonymous with rat-cunning unpredictability in rugby. And if the Waratahs are to beat his Stormers side in their Super 14 clash at Newlands on Saturday, they know they will have to crack the mindset of the coach before they can break his players.
Gold miner AngloGold Ashanti is to proceed with an approximate one-for-four renounceable rights offer, which would result in it issuing approximately 69,4-million ordinary shares at a minimum share price of R172, it said on Tuesday. This would raise gross proceeds of approximately R11,9-billion — or about $1,6-billion.
Debate on the future of the Scorpions gained new steam on Monday as the government released a report from an inquiry it had commissioned into the elite detective unit. The Scorpions still have a role to play in the country’s crime-fighting efforts, states the report that was submitted to President Thabo Mbeki two years ago.
Gold Fields’s South Deep Mine was given permission to resume mining after a meeting with the Department of Minerals and Energy on Monday. ”The section 54 ruling [which suspends mining] has been lifted,” said spokesperson Sputnik Rantau. ”The mine has been allowed to go back into operation.”
The Cape High Court on Monday heard a graphic account of how Najwa Petersen stabbed her husband, Taliep, in the neck one night, eight months before he was murdered. It also heard that the theatre personality’s life was insured for R5,3-million, and that Najwa tried after his death to have the money paid into a Namibian bank account.
South African telecoms operator MTN Group said on Monday that it was in share price-sensitive talks with India’s Bharti Airtel. The group did not give much away amid speculation that Bharti Airtel, India’s biggest phone company, might launch a takeover offer for the local firm.
The government is looking at giving food vouchers or cash to poor households to help them cope with spiralling food prices. ”We’re looking at a range of options … such as food vouchers, [as well as] increasing cash transfers in the case of people already on the social-assistance programme,” Social Development Director General Vusi Madonsela said on Monday.