Author: Gemma Ritchie
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As Venetia mine transitions underground, SA’s diamond production drops to 6m carats
Diamond mining production in South Africa has hit a 10-year low. The country was producing an average of 8.5-million carats a year, but by 2023 this had dropped to 6.1-million carats. The reason for this is that De Beers’ Venetia diamond mine reached the end of its open-pit operations in December 2022. The mine, which…
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Municipalities owe Eskom R78bn – and energy minister is pessimistic about recovery
South African electricity and energy minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says South Africa’s municipalities owe power utility Eskom R78-billion. At a recent media conference, the minister expressed doubt that Eskom would be able to recover these funds. Municipal debt has increased almost six times since 2018. Just 28 municipalities collectively accounted for R26.7-billion in March last year.…
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Petrol price to drop by R1 a litre for second consecutive month
Relief on the horizon for South Africa’s drivers after the Department of Energy announced that the price of petrol is set to drop. From Thursday 3 July, the price of 95 octane fuel will decrease by 99c, bringing it down to R23.26 a litre (inland prices). This is the first time petrol has been at…
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Younger, bigger and GNU: Ramaphosa breaks records with coalition cabinet
When he announced his cabinet on 30 June, President Cyril Ramaphosa said that although he had hoped to reduce the number of portfolios it had not been possible as he wanted to include ‘all the parties’ in the Government of National Unity. To do this, he has added new portfolios and new posts. The new…
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SA’s mayoral churn: 3+ mayors in 3 years for these 15 municipalities
Although coalitions may be relatively new at a national level, local municipalities are all too familiar with the idea of power sharing. Almost one-third of South Africa’s municipalities had no party with an outright majority after the 2021 local government elections so were run by coalition agreements. Of the 213 local municipalities and metros, 71 had…
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Freight failures: Transnet’s rail woes impact SA’s coal exports
Transnet transported 58-million fewer tonnes of coal, iron ore and other commodities in the 2022/3 financial year than it did 10 years ago, with coal making up a third of its freight. The state-owned entity attributes the reduced rail capacity to underinvestment in network rehabilitation, vandalism and sabotage as well as to disputes over locomotive…
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South Africa’s ports miss the boat as ships reroute via the Cape
Attacks to commercial ships in the Red Sea have led to companies rerouting their vessels around the Cape of Good Hope to avoid the Suez Canal.