Despite a tough domestic economy undermining a recovery in new-vehicle sales to pre-pandemic levels, record vehicle exports in 2023 ensured that the South African automotive sector still managed to outperform the rest of the manufacturing sector, says Naamsa | The Automotive Business Council chief trade and research officer Dr Norman Lamprecht. The value of vehicles and automotive components exported from South Africa last year increased by R43.5-billion, or 19.1%, from the R227.3-billion recorded in 2022, to a record R270.8-billion – taking it to 14.7% of total South African exports.

With first-quarter gold production down 34% at South Deep gold mine, Gold Fields is focusing on setting up the well-endowed long-life Gauteng operation for longevity, quality ounces and sustainable production increases. The challenging quarter of the bulk mechanised mine near Westonaria, west of Johannesburg, which has been built to extract one of the world’s largest gold deposits, is focusing the resolve of the Johannesburg- and New York-listed Gold Fields to increase backfill tipping points, increase long-hole stope drilling and improve ventilation, road conditions and service utilities underground.

Last month copper mining company Copper 360 surprised on the upside by producing its first copper concentrate from surface material well ahead of schedule. Now, this month, it is doing the same on the underground mining front in that it will be opening its Rietberg underground copper mine three months ahead of schedule.

In her latest weekly newsletter, Business Leadership South Africa CEO Busisiwe Mavuso warns that South Africa could face a “gas cliff” when the supply of gas to industrial users ceases in 2026. In the May 6 newsletter, she says this is a crisis for businesses that collectively employ 70 000 people and generate R500-billion a year for the economy and argues that this crisis can only be avoided with a coordinated and rapid plan between business and government.

State power utility Eskom has said it has "no choice" but to approach the Johannesburg High Court to force City Power to pay just over R1-billion in unpaid debt. Eskom noted that City Power began to default on payments in October 2023 and that it did not receive any payment for March, this year.

KwaZulu-Natal provincial entity Dube TradePort Corporation (DTPC) has launched its Dube TradeZone 2 – the second phase of the industrial precinct and special economic zone (SEZ) adjacent to the King Shaka International Airport. Dube TradeZone 2 has, to date, attracted R1.8-billion in private-sector investment and this phase is expected to create 600 jobs within the next five years. 

The initial direct cost of placing South Africa on an energy transition pathway over the coming five years in line with its decarbonisation targets is calculated at a hefty R1.5-trillion in the Just Energy Transition Investment Plan (JET-IP). Less visible, however, are the socioeconomic costs associated with failing to pursue the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) goal of reducing carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO2-eq) emissions to the lower end of the NDC range of between 420-million and 350-million CO2-eq tons in 2030.

South Africa is enjoying a rare streak of uninterrupted electricity right before elections, drawing more suspicion than praise in a nation that’s become accustomed to the daily power cuts that have dragged on for years. The country is currently in its fourth successive week of no outages — the longest period South Africans have consistently had electricity supply in more than two years. The recovery coincides with political parties ramping up their campaigns before the May 29 vote, in which the ruling African National Congress (ANC) risks losing its parliamentary majority for the first time in three decades. Almost two-thirds of people in a BrandMapp-Silverstone survey last year said they’d consider not voting for the ANC because of power cuts. A prolonged resumption of the outages is likely to result in a lower voter turnout — a scenario that could work in favour of the main opposition Democratic Alliance, which has previously had a good record in getting its supporters to cast ballots. The DA has put the improved power supply down to the state quadrupling the billions of rands it spends on diesel to run emergency plants over the past four years. The government insists it’s the result of the work state utility Eskom has done on repairing its facilities.

Construction group Wilson Bayly Holmes-Ovcon (WBHO) and renewable energy company Sola Group have completed construction of the Merak 2 & 3 solar photovoltaic projects near Lichtenburg, in North West.

The two solar plants, with capacities of 130 MW and 126 MW, respectively, span an area of 4 km2 and will deliver power through a wheeling agreement to mineral sands miner Tronox.

Enhanced regulation and enforcement are needed to address the challenges of scrap metal theft in South Africa and potentially lift the ban on scrap metal exports, research and advisory firm Birguid analyst Noquele Dube says. She explains that the scrap metal industry contributes R15-billion to South Africa’s gross domestic product and employs about 350 000 people, according to the Metals Recycling Association of South Africa (MRA).