Food manufacturer Nestlé South Africa would invest R3,2-billion in focused investment over the next five years to increase its competitiveness, outgoing chairperson and CEO Yves Manghardt announced on Wednesday.
The capital expenditure (capex) would be used to expand and upgrade its existing factories and distribution centres across South Africa, as well as on ensuring its environmental sustainability.
The company, which would now be led by former chairperson and CEO of Nestlé Malaysia, Sullivan O'Carroll, had already spent about R1,8-billion in capex projects in the past five years, said Manghardt.
Economic Development Deputy-Minister Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde said that it was encouraging to see Nestlé's continued investment in South Africa, especially given the global economic crisis, which led to the risk that some multinationals might want to dismantle their capacity and move their investments elsewhere in the world.
Meanwhile, Manghardt noted that Nestlé South Africa had made great strides in improving its transformation in the past few years, having gone from non-compliance to a level five black economic-empowerment contributor.
This was achieved, despite it not having scored any points on the scorecard in terms of ownership.
However, the food manufacturer was working on the issue of BEE ownership. It had previously identified one potential BEE partner, as part of the sale of an asset, but the deal did not go ahead.
It was working on a couple of options, which could in the next two to three years help the local company in making some progress in terms of BEE ownership, said Manghardt.
Nestlé South Africa was expecting to achieve double digit growth in sales of close to 15% and an overall turnover of R8,5-billion in the current year, he added.
O'Carroll, who started his career at Nestlé in 1973, would take over as CEO on October 1, when Mangardt takes up his new role as chairperson and CEO of Nestlé Middle East.
O'Carroll would be the first South African to lead the local arm of the group, since 1994. He was formerly the CEO of Nestlé Malaysia.
Edited by: Mariaan Webb
Saturday, 26 September 2009
Black economic empowerment limited to “cousins”
Friday, 25 September 2009 07:46
[McHenry Venaani, Secretary-General of the DTA of Namibia] Namibia Wildlife Resorts’ (NWR) decision to award Public Private Partnerships to companies with ties to the ruling party, has once again re-affirmed that only “black cousins” benefit from such deals, said McHenry Venaani, Secretary-General of the DTA of Namibia at a press conference this week.
He said black economic empowerment (BEE) only benefits a certain number of people. According to Venaani, there is serious inter-trading within government as office bearers who are related issue government tenders to each other. “A person who works in a certain ministry has a cousin in another one who starts a business. They then receive tenders from government, not because thery are good, but because they are related to someone. These tenders are moving around between certain people,” he said. He said civil servants should not be the ones to receive business from government as they are already part of government.
Venaani further said that this inter-trading is affecting other good businesses that need actual empowerment.
According to reports, Tungeni Africa, Prosperity Africa and Reho Spa received tourism concessions from NWR because of their association to SWAPO.
Johan de Waal also questioned Cabinet’s decision to increase Tobie Aupindi’s (CEO of NWR) salary to N$140 000 per month.
He said this situation is unwarranted as many people in the country have to live on N$200 or N$300.
“I do not know if Cabinet thinks or whether they think at all. Now if you travel this country you will see that people are really suffering so how can the same Cabinet who says it is pro-poor give one person a salary of N$140 000 per month when there are so many poor people? We do not agree with this. This shows that this government does not care for the poor, it is only the few elite in SWAPO who are getting richer every day,” de Waal said.
[McHenry Venaani, Secretary-General of the DTA of Namibia] Namibia Wildlife Resorts’ (NWR) decision to award Public Private Partnerships to companies with ties to the ruling party, has once again re-affirmed that only “black cousins” benefit from such deals, said McHenry Venaani, Secretary-General of the DTA of Namibia at a press conference this week.
He said black economic empowerment (BEE) only benefits a certain number of people. According to Venaani, there is serious inter-trading within government as office bearers who are related issue government tenders to each other. “A person who works in a certain ministry has a cousin in another one who starts a business. They then receive tenders from government, not because thery are good, but because they are related to someone. These tenders are moving around between certain people,” he said. He said civil servants should not be the ones to receive business from government as they are already part of government.
Venaani further said that this inter-trading is affecting other good businesses that need actual empowerment.
According to reports, Tungeni Africa, Prosperity Africa and Reho Spa received tourism concessions from NWR because of their association to SWAPO.
Johan de Waal also questioned Cabinet’s decision to increase Tobie Aupindi’s (CEO of NWR) salary to N$140 000 per month.
He said this situation is unwarranted as many people in the country have to live on N$200 or N$300.
“I do not know if Cabinet thinks or whether they think at all. Now if you travel this country you will see that people are really suffering so how can the same Cabinet who says it is pro-poor give one person a salary of N$140 000 per month when there are so many poor people? We do not agree with this. This shows that this government does not care for the poor, it is only the few elite in SWAPO who are getting richer every day,” de Waal said.
Kenyan president protests U.S. warning letters
NAIROBI, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki has sent a protest note to U.S. leader Barack Obama over warning letters issued to 15 prominent Kenyans Washington says are blocking political reform, a statement said on Saturday.
The recipients include government ministers, members of parliament and top civil servants on both sides of Kenya's coalition government, the U.S. embassy in Nairobi said.
The letters, from U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Johnnie Carson, warned the recipients their future relationship with Washington was directly linked to their support for reforms and opposition to violence.
"President Mwai Kibaki has written to President Barack Obama ... expressing displeasure and concern about letters written ... to some ministers, some members of parliament and some civil servants in their personal capacity on matters of Kenya's public policy," a statement from Kibaki's office said.
"The action by the U.S. government official is considered out of step with international protocols in the conduct of relations between friendly nations."
Kenyan authorities have yet to bring to justice top perpetrators of post-election violence in 2008 that killed some 1,300 people and displaced 300,000 Kenyans.
Justice Minister Mutula Kilonzo admitted this week that Kenya would not meet a Sept. 30 deadline to set up a special tribunal to try those behind the violence, raising the possibility of prosecutions by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
The recipients include government ministers, members of parliament and top civil servants on both sides of Kenya's coalition government, the U.S. embassy in Nairobi said.
The letters, from U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Johnnie Carson, warned the recipients their future relationship with Washington was directly linked to their support for reforms and opposition to violence.
"President Mwai Kibaki has written to President Barack Obama ... expressing displeasure and concern about letters written ... to some ministers, some members of parliament and some civil servants in their personal capacity on matters of Kenya's public policy," a statement from Kibaki's office said.
"The action by the U.S. government official is considered out of step with international protocols in the conduct of relations between friendly nations."
Kenyan authorities have yet to bring to justice top perpetrators of post-election violence in 2008 that killed some 1,300 people and displaced 300,000 Kenyans.
Justice Minister Mutula Kilonzo admitted this week that Kenya would not meet a Sept. 30 deadline to set up a special tribunal to try those behind the violence, raising the possibility of prosecutions by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
Zimbabwe should seek HIPC debt relief, minister says
LONDON, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe should aim to have its debt to international financial institutions cancelled by seeking access to the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, a Zimbabwean minister said on Saturday.
Gorden Moyo, minister of state in Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's office, said it would be immoral for Zimbabwe to pay off its debts to the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and African Development Bank when it could not pay teachers.
"We should be having conversations with the international financial institutions to get them to either reschedule our debt or to cancel our debt," he said, speaking at a Zimbabwe investment conference in London.
Moyo noted that the IMF and World Bank had launched the HIPC initiative in 1996 to help countries unable to pay their debts.
Some people did not want Zimbabwe classified as a heavily indebted poor country, "but that's what we are, if you look at our debt ratios, if you look at our economy", he said.
"We just need to be reclassified and get our debt cancelled. Once we get our debt cancelled, the country will begin to have access to World Bank resources," he said.
Gorden Moyo, minister of state in Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's office, said it would be immoral for Zimbabwe to pay off its debts to the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and African Development Bank when it could not pay teachers.
"We should be having conversations with the international financial institutions to get them to either reschedule our debt or to cancel our debt," he said, speaking at a Zimbabwe investment conference in London.
Moyo noted that the IMF and World Bank had launched the HIPC initiative in 1996 to help countries unable to pay their debts.
Some people did not want Zimbabwe classified as a heavily indebted poor country, "but that's what we are, if you look at our debt ratios, if you look at our economy", he said.
"We just need to be reclassified and get our debt cancelled. Once we get our debt cancelled, the country will begin to have access to World Bank resources," he said.
Thursday, 27 August 2009
Interesting facts about South Africa
Economy
1. The rand was the best performing currency against the US Dollar
between 2002 and 2005 (Bloomberg Currency Scoreboard)
2. South Africa has 55,000 high net-wealth individuals holding at least
US$1million in financial assets (World Wealth Report 2008)
3. South Africa has the 27th biggest economy in the world, with a Gross
Domestic Product of US$254 billion (World Bank)
4. South Africa accounts for almost 25% of the GDP of the entire African
continent, with an economy more than twice the size of the second biggest –
Algeria. (World Bank)
5. Gauteng is South Africa’s smallest province but produces 34% of South
Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (Stats SA)
6. The JSE Securities Exchange is the 14th largest equities exchange in the
world, with a total market capitalisation of some R2.3 trillion (JSE)
7. More than 12,000 'Black Diamond' families (South Africa’s new black middle
class) - or 50,000 people - are moving from the townships into the
suburbs of South Africa's metro areas every month (UCT Unilever Institute)
8. The black middle class grew by 30% in 2005, adding another 421,000
black adults to SA's middle-income layer and ramping up the black
population's share of SA's total middle class to almost a third. Between 2001
and 2004, there were 300,000 new black entrants to the middle class
(Financial Mail)
Infrastructure
1. South Africa generates two-thirds of Africa’s electricity (Eskom)
2. South African power supplier provides the fourth cheapest electricity in
the world
3. Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto is the biggest hospital in the
world
4. Durban is the largest port in Africa and the ninth largest in the world.
5. There are 39 million cell phone users in South Africa (International
Telecommunication Union)
Tourism
1. The number of tourists visiting South Africa has grown by 200%
since 1994, from 3 million to over 9 million in 2007 (Dept of Environment
and Tourism)
2. The Singita game reserve was voted the best hotel in the world by the
readers of a leading travel magazine (Conde Nast Traveller)
3. The world's best land-based whale-watching spot is located in
Hermanus in the Western Cape.
4. In 2002, South Africa was the world’s fastest growing tourist
destination. In 2006, South Africa’s tourism grew at three times the global
average.
Sport
1. South Africa hosts the largest timed cycle race in the world (the Cape Argus
Cycle Tour), the world's oldest and largest ultra-marathon (the Comrades
Marathon) and the world's largest open water swimming event (the
Midmar Mile).
2. South Africa will become the first African country to host the Soccer World
Cup in 2010 … and only the second country in the world to have hosted
the Cricket, Rugby and Soccer World Cups.
3. Since the 1940s, South African golfers have won more golf majors than
any other nation, apart from the United States.
4. In 1994, we won 11 medals in the Commonwealth Games. In 2002, we
won 46.
SA Teaching the World
1. South Africa houses one of the three largest telescopes in the world at
Sutherland in the Karoo
2. South Africa is the first, and to date the only, country to build nuclear
weapons and the voluntarily dismantle its entire nuclear weapons
programme
3. South Africa Constitution is widely regarded as being one of the most
progressive in the world, drawing from the experiences of the world’s
most advanced democracies
4. The South African oil company Sasol has established the only commercially
viable oil-from-coal operations in the world.
5. Two of the world's most profoundly compassionate philosophies
originated in South Africa – Ubuntu (the belief in a universal bond of sharing
that connects all humanity) and Gandhi's notion of "passive resistance"
(Satyagraha), which he developed while living in South Africa.
Education
1. Almost a quarter of South Africa’s non-interest budget is spent on
education
2. The University of South Africa UNISA is a pioneer of tertiary distance
education and is the largest correspondence university in the world
with 250,000 students.
3. Our learner to teacher ratio has improved from 1:50 in 1994 to 1:34 in
2004
4. South Africa’s matric pass rate has improved from 49% in 1994 to 70% in
2004, but student’s receiving university exemptions has remained at 18%
5. The first MBA programme outside of the United States was started by
the University of Pretoria in 1949.
Social
1. Over thirteen million South Africans (a quarter of the population) have
access to social grants (Department of Social Development)
2. Since 1994, 500 houses have been built each day for the poor and 1,000
houses per day have received electricity
3. Seventy percent of South Africa’s population is urbanised
Environmental
1. The Kruger National Park supports the greatest variety of wildlife
species on the African continent
2. The Cango Caves near Oudsthoorn is the world’s longest underground
cave sequence
3. South Africa is the only country to house an entire floral kingdom
(fynbos), one of only 6 on the planet
4. In 1991, South Africa became the first country in the world to protect the
Great White shark.
5. South Africa has the oldest meteor scar in the world, at the Vredefort
Dome near Parys. The scar is 2 billion years old.
6. South Africa has the 3rd highest level of biodiversity (SA Tourism)
7. The Cape Hyrax’s (dassie) closest relative is the African elephant
8. South Africa has embraced the concept of trans-frontier ‘peace parks’,
linking ecological reserves across national borders
General
1. South Africa is the cradle of mankind
2. Afrikaans is the youngest official language in the world
3. The Western Deep Levels is the world’s deepest mine at 3777 metres
4. South Africa has the world’s largest deposits of gold, chromium, platinum
and manganese
5. The only street in the world to house two Nobel Peace Prize winners is
in Soweto. Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu both have houses
in Vilakazi Street, Orlando West.
6. South Africa has the world's second oldest air force, established 1920.
7. South African Breweries (SABMiller) ranks as the second largest brewing
company in the world. It supplies up to 50% of China's beer.
8. South Africa has the second oldest film industry in the world
9. In 2007 South African businessman Cyril Ramaphosa was included in the
Time 100, an annual list, assembled by Time magazine, of the 100 most
influential people in the world
10. Cape Town has the fifth-best blue sky in the world, according to the UK's
National Physical Laboratory
1. The rand was the best performing currency against the US Dollar
between 2002 and 2005 (Bloomberg Currency Scoreboard)
2. South Africa has 55,000 high net-wealth individuals holding at least
US$1million in financial assets (World Wealth Report 2008)
3. South Africa has the 27th biggest economy in the world, with a Gross
Domestic Product of US$254 billion (World Bank)
4. South Africa accounts for almost 25% of the GDP of the entire African
continent, with an economy more than twice the size of the second biggest –
Algeria. (World Bank)
5. Gauteng is South Africa’s smallest province but produces 34% of South
Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (Stats SA)
6. The JSE Securities Exchange is the 14th largest equities exchange in the
world, with a total market capitalisation of some R2.3 trillion (JSE)
7. More than 12,000 'Black Diamond' families (South Africa’s new black middle
class) - or 50,000 people - are moving from the townships into the
suburbs of South Africa's metro areas every month (UCT Unilever Institute)
8. The black middle class grew by 30% in 2005, adding another 421,000
black adults to SA's middle-income layer and ramping up the black
population's share of SA's total middle class to almost a third. Between 2001
and 2004, there were 300,000 new black entrants to the middle class
(Financial Mail)
Infrastructure
1. South Africa generates two-thirds of Africa’s electricity (Eskom)
2. South African power supplier provides the fourth cheapest electricity in
the world
3. Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto is the biggest hospital in the
world
4. Durban is the largest port in Africa and the ninth largest in the world.
5. There are 39 million cell phone users in South Africa (International
Telecommunication Union)
Tourism
1. The number of tourists visiting South Africa has grown by 200%
since 1994, from 3 million to over 9 million in 2007 (Dept of Environment
and Tourism)
2. The Singita game reserve was voted the best hotel in the world by the
readers of a leading travel magazine (Conde Nast Traveller)
3. The world's best land-based whale-watching spot is located in
Hermanus in the Western Cape.
4. In 2002, South Africa was the world’s fastest growing tourist
destination. In 2006, South Africa’s tourism grew at three times the global
average.
Sport
1. South Africa hosts the largest timed cycle race in the world (the Cape Argus
Cycle Tour), the world's oldest and largest ultra-marathon (the Comrades
Marathon) and the world's largest open water swimming event (the
Midmar Mile).
2. South Africa will become the first African country to host the Soccer World
Cup in 2010 … and only the second country in the world to have hosted
the Cricket, Rugby and Soccer World Cups.
3. Since the 1940s, South African golfers have won more golf majors than
any other nation, apart from the United States.
4. In 1994, we won 11 medals in the Commonwealth Games. In 2002, we
won 46.
SA Teaching the World
1. South Africa houses one of the three largest telescopes in the world at
Sutherland in the Karoo
2. South Africa is the first, and to date the only, country to build nuclear
weapons and the voluntarily dismantle its entire nuclear weapons
programme
3. South Africa Constitution is widely regarded as being one of the most
progressive in the world, drawing from the experiences of the world’s
most advanced democracies
4. The South African oil company Sasol has established the only commercially
viable oil-from-coal operations in the world.
5. Two of the world's most profoundly compassionate philosophies
originated in South Africa – Ubuntu (the belief in a universal bond of sharing
that connects all humanity) and Gandhi's notion of "passive resistance"
(Satyagraha), which he developed while living in South Africa.
Education
1. Almost a quarter of South Africa’s non-interest budget is spent on
education
2. The University of South Africa UNISA is a pioneer of tertiary distance
education and is the largest correspondence university in the world
with 250,000 students.
3. Our learner to teacher ratio has improved from 1:50 in 1994 to 1:34 in
2004
4. South Africa’s matric pass rate has improved from 49% in 1994 to 70% in
2004, but student’s receiving university exemptions has remained at 18%
5. The first MBA programme outside of the United States was started by
the University of Pretoria in 1949.
Social
1. Over thirteen million South Africans (a quarter of the population) have
access to social grants (Department of Social Development)
2. Since 1994, 500 houses have been built each day for the poor and 1,000
houses per day have received electricity
3. Seventy percent of South Africa’s population is urbanised
Environmental
1. The Kruger National Park supports the greatest variety of wildlife
species on the African continent
2. The Cango Caves near Oudsthoorn is the world’s longest underground
cave sequence
3. South Africa is the only country to house an entire floral kingdom
(fynbos), one of only 6 on the planet
4. In 1991, South Africa became the first country in the world to protect the
Great White shark.
5. South Africa has the oldest meteor scar in the world, at the Vredefort
Dome near Parys. The scar is 2 billion years old.
6. South Africa has the 3rd highest level of biodiversity (SA Tourism)
7. The Cape Hyrax’s (dassie) closest relative is the African elephant
8. South Africa has embraced the concept of trans-frontier ‘peace parks’,
linking ecological reserves across national borders
General
1. South Africa is the cradle of mankind
2. Afrikaans is the youngest official language in the world
3. The Western Deep Levels is the world’s deepest mine at 3777 metres
4. South Africa has the world’s largest deposits of gold, chromium, platinum
and manganese
5. The only street in the world to house two Nobel Peace Prize winners is
in Soweto. Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu both have houses
in Vilakazi Street, Orlando West.
6. South Africa has the world's second oldest air force, established 1920.
7. South African Breweries (SABMiller) ranks as the second largest brewing
company in the world. It supplies up to 50% of China's beer.
8. South Africa has the second oldest film industry in the world
9. In 2007 South African businessman Cyril Ramaphosa was included in the
Time 100, an annual list, assembled by Time magazine, of the 100 most
influential people in the world
10. Cape Town has the fifth-best blue sky in the world, according to the UK's
National Physical Laboratory
Tuesday, 28 July 2009
SA throwing away millions
The strike by municipal workers is costing the country in the region of R15-million a day, an economist said on Tuesday.
"The problem is, it's very difficult to work out [the cost]. I can't work out the damage of all the shops and the traders. It's a hassle factor.
"But the cost is around R15-million a day in workers' wages, I guess," economist Mike Schussler told Sapa.
He said the longer the strike continues, the more the cost escalates.
"By the second week it becomes a huge problem, because then a person pays out of his own pocket to remove his rubbish.
"All these factors have to be considered, so R15-million is a little simplistic but it's the best we can do at the moment," said Schussler.
Figures on the number of municipal workers arriving for work are also different.
Overwhelming, underwhelming
The unions claim "overwhelming" support, saying more than 150 000 out of a workforce of 190 000 did not show up work.
But the employer, the SA Local Government Association (Salga), says only 40 percent of workers participated in the stay away.
A strike by members of the SA Municipal Workers' Union and the Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union entered its second day on Tuesday.
Thousands of workers took to the streets on Monday to press for better wages, harassing hawkers and emptying rubbish bins.
Unions are demanding a 15 percent increase and Salga has tabled a new offer of 13 percent.
Sapa
"The problem is, it's very difficult to work out [the cost]. I can't work out the damage of all the shops and the traders. It's a hassle factor.
"But the cost is around R15-million a day in workers' wages, I guess," economist Mike Schussler told Sapa.
He said the longer the strike continues, the more the cost escalates.
"By the second week it becomes a huge problem, because then a person pays out of his own pocket to remove his rubbish.
"All these factors have to be considered, so R15-million is a little simplistic but it's the best we can do at the moment," said Schussler.
Figures on the number of municipal workers arriving for work are also different.
Overwhelming, underwhelming
The unions claim "overwhelming" support, saying more than 150 000 out of a workforce of 190 000 did not show up work.
But the employer, the SA Local Government Association (Salga), says only 40 percent of workers participated in the stay away.
A strike by members of the SA Municipal Workers' Union and the Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union entered its second day on Tuesday.
Thousands of workers took to the streets on Monday to press for better wages, harassing hawkers and emptying rubbish bins.
Unions are demanding a 15 percent increase and Salga has tabled a new offer of 13 percent.
Sapa
Sunday, 26 July 2009
Can Zuma walk his talk?
By Haru Mutasa, Al Jazeera's South Africa correspondent
South Africa has been rocked by violent protests in recent weeks, with last week being perhaps the most violent since the inauguration of Jacob Zuma, South Africa's president, in May.
Police fired rubber bullets and teargas at protestors in the poor township areas who hurled stones at them.
Violent riots and threats of a fresh wave of crippling labour strikes may force Zuma to deliver quickly on election promises which include job creation and houses for millions of the poor.
But these socialist interventions by the government could scare away investors in Africa's biggest economy who want the current economic policy in South Africa to stay the way it is.
On the other end of the scale, the trade unions who helped put Zuma in power want left leaning economic policies.
Worrying reminder
While politicians try to find a middle ground, the battle over policies is being played out in the overcrowded townships where there is often no running water, electricity or adequate accommodation.
The people want their lives to improve and want the government to look after their needs before those of big business.
The recent township violence is reminiscent of the unrest witnessed during the apartheid years and the threats against foreigners are a worrying reminder of last year's xenophobic attacks.
In 2008, protests erupted across South Africa. They began as demonstrations over the government's failure to improve the plight of the poorest of the poor, but soon foreigners were being attacked in their shack settlements.
An estimated 70 people were murdered by the time the violence ended several weeks later.
South Africa has been rocked by violent protests in recent weeks, with last week being perhaps the most violent since the inauguration of Jacob Zuma, South Africa's president, in May.
Police fired rubber bullets and teargas at protestors in the poor township areas who hurled stones at them.
Violent riots and threats of a fresh wave of crippling labour strikes may force Zuma to deliver quickly on election promises which include job creation and houses for millions of the poor.
But these socialist interventions by the government could scare away investors in Africa's biggest economy who want the current economic policy in South Africa to stay the way it is.
On the other end of the scale, the trade unions who helped put Zuma in power want left leaning economic policies.
Worrying reminder
While politicians try to find a middle ground, the battle over policies is being played out in the overcrowded townships where there is often no running water, electricity or adequate accommodation.
The people want their lives to improve and want the government to look after their needs before those of big business.
The recent township violence is reminiscent of the unrest witnessed during the apartheid years and the threats against foreigners are a worrying reminder of last year's xenophobic attacks.
In 2008, protests erupted across South Africa. They began as demonstrations over the government's failure to improve the plight of the poorest of the poor, but soon foreigners were being attacked in their shack settlements.
An estimated 70 people were murdered by the time the violence ended several weeks later.
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