Tiisetso Motsoeneng

The robust performance of the South African economy during the past three years paved the way for significant employments gains, according to the South African Reserve Bank’s (SARB) quarterly report released on Thursday. Employment growth in the public sector marginally outpaced employment gains in the private sector.

South Africa should look to the lessons of the United States housing correction to avoid poor lending practices locally from knocking economic growth and stability, according to market analysts. "South Africa … can be criticised for the less prudent lending practices banks have adopted lately," analysts at Econometrix Treasury Management said.

The JSE was stable during midday on Monday tracking the balanced tone of the Asian markets in the absence of market-moving news on the local front. At 11.57am, the all-share index was up 0,34% slightly above the 26 000- points mark.

South Africa’s network provider, Vodacom, assured its customers on Monday that the strike by its workers belonging to the Communications Workers Union (CWU) will not disrupt operations. Workers started picketing on Monday at the company’s offices in Midrand, demanding recognition of their union.

The European Union-funded Risk Capital Facility 2, launched through South Africa’s Department of Trade and Industry, has provided â,¬50-million (about R450-million) to facilitate broad-based black economic empowerment (BEE) in the small-business sector. The cash will be disbursed over a three-year period.

The JSE was slightly firmer at midday on Monday as stronger gold and platinum prices sparked demand for resources stocks. News that a large portion of heavyweight gold producer AngloGold Ashanti might be bought by Russian’s Polyus added to the positive sentiment.

A five day-long strike by about 2 000 workers at the Modikwa platinum mine is costing R5-million a day with between 5 000 and 6 000 tonnes of ore lost each day, African Rainbow Minerals’ spokesperson said on Thursday. Pieter Rorich said both the management and the National Union of Mineworkers were still locked in negotiations over some of the issues raised by the union.

The South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) has threatened a strike against South African Airways (SAA) in protest at the company’s planned retrenchments, the union said on Monday. South Africa’s national carrier announced in November last year that it planned to axe 1 000 employees to curb high operating costs.

The JSE was softer Friday midday dragged down by weaknesses in the resource stocks. However, demand was seen for banks and selected industrials stocks.
At 11.49am, the all share index shed 0,45% pulled down by 1,29% loss in the resources index.

The JSE was in positive territory a few moments before noon on Monday, pushed by buying ahead of Thursday’s futures close-out. But dealers said the volumes remained thin as most players were already away on the Christmas break. At 11.55am, the all share index added 0,44% thanks to a 1,15% gain in industrials.

South Africa’ motor industry is expected to increase its trading revenue to R230-billion this year compared with R201,7-billion last year, an industry representative body said on Monday. In its annual report, the National Association of Automobile Manufactures of South Africa said the revenue was on the projected total sales of 714 500 vehicles — an improvement of 15,7% on 2005 sales figures.

South Africa’s biggest vehicle financier, WesBank, said in a statement on Friday that the local motor industry will see the impact of higher interest rates in the new year. Although the industry’s sales are set to peak again this year, Thursday’s 50 basis-point hike — which takes the prime-lending rate to 12,5% — will be noticeable in the coming months, said WesBank.

South African car makers are set for another record sales year despite a flood of economic data sealing the case for another interest rate hike this week — the fourth this year. Some economists believe that South Africa’s monetary authorities will continue hiking interest rates well into the New Year in a bid to force consumers to tighten their purse strings.

The JSE recovered some ground from earlier levels but was still seen as sluggish by noon on Friday despite a higher close by the Dow overnight. By 12pm the all-share index was up 0,35%, or 85 points, after being down 0,39% in early morning trade. Industrials were up 0,64% and the gold index was in the black by 0,66%.

The JSE held onto its gains at midday on Wednesday amid positive world markets. By 12pm, the all-share index had gained 0,40%, thanks to a 0,58% rise in the industrial index and a 0,47% increase in the resources index. The platinum-mining index was up 0,36%, but the gold-mining index gave up 0,37%.

Koos Bekker, outgoing CEO of JSE-listed media group Naspers, said on Tuesday afternoon that the group is "seriously investigating" business opportunities in Russia. Presenting the group’s interim results from Cape Town during a conference call, Bekker told investors and analysts that the group is in talks with potential partners to tap into the Russian market.

Global technology services group Dimension Data (Didata) said on Wednesday that it expected to continue with its double-digit revenue growth despite a "disappointing" performance in its European operations. "We expect to continue with our double-digit growth in the medium term," Didata CEO Brett Dawson said.

The JSE was softer midday on Wednesday with dealers saying most stocks were overbought during Tuesday’s bull run. However, selective buying was giving the market underlying support. At 12.05pm, the all-share and industrial indices were down 0,63% and 0,08% respectively.

The cost of bunking work in corporate South Africa is estimated at a minimum of R19,1-billion, with Mondays and Fridays the worst days for absenteeism, a fresh survey showed on Thursday. "Absenteeism is the single biggest cause of lost time and poor productivity that this country faces," says labour specialist Andrew Levy, who analysed the survey.

The wage strike at leisure and hotels group Sun International entered its fourth week on Monday amid calls by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) to boycott the group. On Tuesday, Cosatu said that it was urging South African music promoters to dump Sun International’s Carnival City as a venue for music concerts on October 29 and 31.

Shares in South Africa’s media and entertainment group Naspers have jumped 9,52% so far this month, outshining the media index at 6,97%. Analysts said the stocks have been "undervalued in recent months and were beginning to gain value". By 11.49am on Wednesday, shares in Naspers had picked up 1,3% to R130,98.

The Congress of South African trade Unions (Cosatu) and the Reserve Bank have agreed that a new industrial strategy to combat cheap Chinese imports was needed. Governor Tito Mboweni and Cosatu general Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi met on Monday night following remarks by the governor that the proposed Chinese import quotas made "no economic sense".