Tesla Inc’s board is evaluating taking the company private, a day after Chief Executive – and South African expat – Elon Musk surprised shareholders with the idea of launching the biggest leveraged buyout of all time! In a statement on Tesla’s website on Wednesday, six of Tesla’s nine directors said the board had met several […]

Hell hath no fury like a vested interest threatened… writes Magnus Heystek. It’s a common lament that when an investment scheme collapses the victims always try to find someone to blame. How often have we heard the mournful cry of thousands of investors, now badly out of pocket and in some cases penniless, that “someone should […]

The reason for the beautiful blue in some of the world’s most famous rare diamonds – such as the South African-mined Oppenheimer Blue – has finally been solved. According to scientists – who analysed 46 blue diamonds, including one from South Africa that sold for $25-million in 2016 – these diamonds have had a complex […]

The South African medical field continues to perform pioneering surgeries… with this week’s Carte Blanche highlighting a brain surgery technique that’s changing lives. This week’s episode also looks at how South Africans are facing a challenging year! The programme investigated the knock-on effects of the core increases in our tough economy… with buying power slashed […]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s struggling state-owned power firm Eskom offered investors up to $1.5 billion of 10-year bonds on Thursday, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. Separately, Eskom spokesman Khulu Phasiwe said Eskom was planning a foreign bond sale and that the firm’s chief executive and treasury team were currently on a […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s white farmers on Wednesday criticised the ruling African National Congress’ (ANC) decision to endorse constitutional changes to allow the state to seize land without compensation, saying the move would be “catastrophic”. However, others have pointed out that President Cyril Ramaphosa has made it clear there will be “no Zimbabwe-style land seizures”, […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has handed over the oversight of South African Airways (SAA) to his close ally, Pravin Gordhan, which many will see as a step in the right direction for the national airline. Ramaphosa on Wednesday transferred the responsibility of SAA from the Finance Ministry to the Public Enterprises Ministry, which is led by […]

JOHANNESBURG – As we all now know, South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) is forging ahead with plans to change the constitution to allow the expropriation of land without compensation. President Cyril Ramaphosa made the announcement late on Tuesday in a televised address to the nation, underscoring the political significance of the move. The […]

Following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement last night that the African National Congress (ANC) will support a proposed amendment to the Constitution – allowing for land expropriation without compensation – the South African Rand has fallen. The Rand was trading at 13.3525 on Wednesday at 07h12 local time, 0.58% weaker than at close on Tuesday. Government […]

JOHANNESBURG – Russian President Vladimir Putin raised the issue of a nuclear power deal at a private meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in Johannesburg on Thursday, but his host said Pretoria could not sign such a deal for now, Ramaphosa’s spokeswoman said. “Our economy is stagnant, it is not growing at the rate […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa cannot afford large-scale expansion of its nuclear power fleet but would still be open to future nuclear deals with Russia, the ruling party’s Treasurer General said on Thursday shortly before President Vladimir Putin arrived for the BRICS summit. The nuclear project was prioritised by former President Jacob Zuma but new President […]

CAPE TOWN – There’s an ultra-modern new building in Cape Town… which appears to be for Amazon.com. Inc, as the company ups the ante in its regional cloud battle with rival, Microsoft Corp. Amazon will be the sole tenant in the new, eight-story office building that’s nearing completion in South Africa’s Mother City, multiple sources […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s mission to attract $100-billion in investment got a further boost on Tuesday when Chinese President Xi Jinping (who is visiting SA) promised $14.7 billion of investment! This comes hot on the heels of Saudi Arabia’s $10-billion pledge earlier this month, as well as the UAE’s $10-billion pledge – both made during the South African President’s […]

South African sex work activist Duduzile ‘Dudu’ Dlamini is to be honoured at the  22nd International AIDS Conference in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, with a prize named after the late trailblazer Prudence Mabele, who was the first Black woman to reveal her HIV status in South Africa. Dlamini – a long-time advocate for the rights and […]

South African Airways (SAA) is pushing ahead and already making progress in implementing its turnaround plan to lead the airline to financial sustainability, the company announced on Monday. In a statement, South Africa’s national carrier said: “Over the past six months, SAA has been on roadshows to meet its major codeshare partners and other potential […]

JOHANNESBURG – The New Development Bank, set up by the BRICS group of emerging economies, has approved loans of $300 million for energy projects in South Africa. South Africa, which will host a BRICS summit later this week in Johannesburg, is trying to diversify its energy mix to reduce its reliance on heavily polluting coal-fired […]

Eskom says it is considering cutting staff and selling assets after reporting a massive $171 million loss which reveals the gravity of its financial position. (In Rands, the company reported a shocking loss of R2.3-billion for 2017/2018 with almost R20-billion irregular expenditure.) The loss by South Africa’s struggling state-run power firm, which is Africa’s largest […]

The South African Editors Forum (SANEF) says it is deeply concerned as yet another South African media outlet  closes down. The forum said that it’s time that media houses review the financial models that are being used. This comes after HuffPost South Africa announced its closure on Monday. According to SANEF, despite attracting an audience […]

This week Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa – the man who rose to power in a military coup – is in the hot seat, as Carte Blanche goes one-on-one with the country’s leader. (Available for South Africans abroad to watch from Tuesday 24 July 2018 if you subscribe to Showmax.) One-on-one with President Emmerson Mnangagwa Free and fair elections […]

Western Cape Premier Helen Zille has added her voice to the call for the South African army to be brought in to crime-ridden areas. Zille’s call came after a policeman was critically injured in Zwelihle, Hermanus, last night where violent protests have plagued the area recently… originally over land grab issues, but in the last […]

JOHANNESBURG – South African gold producers said on Tuesday they had offered annual wage increases of up to 6.5 percent to miners and up to 4.5 percent for skilled workers, far short of union demands and confirming a Reuters’ report earlier on Wednesday. Gold producers have been giving above-inflation wage hikes for years, adding to […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa will tighten its mine safety regulations to hold mine operators accountable for accidental deaths in the industry, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday. Safety is a huge issue in South Africa’s deep and dangerous mines and increasingly a focus for investors. A spate of deaths at Sibanye-Stillwater’s gold operations, including a seismic event that killed seven […]

The South African mining industry has been hit by the death of another six mine workers, this time at the unlisted Palabora Mining Company in Limpopo over the weekend. The miners died during a fire in the copper mine. The mining company said the incident occurred in the early hours of Sunday morning, at one […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s rand strengthened early on Monday, extending previous gains, as sentiment towards riskier, high-yield markets improved after trade talks between China and the European Union. At 0650 the rand traded at 13.2125 to the dollar, up 0.32 percent from Friday’s close. The dollar slipped against most major currencies on positive trade talks […]

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has certainly enjoyed a successful state trip to the Middle East this week, as news comes that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has committed to invest $10-billion in South Africa. This follows the announcement on Thursday that Saudi Arabia had pledged $10-billion to South Africa as well (of which at […]