Sibanye-Stillwater miners were trapped underground in Randfontein due to a power supply interruption caused by powerlines that collapsed after being weakened by the vandalism of cable thieves. According to Eskom, the pylon structures were weakened by the theft of  "tower members" and unstable ground caused by digging around their foundations.

The National Budget facility for infrastructure has approved municipal water infrastructure projects to the value of R3.7-billion. These projects are ready for implementation once the 2023 Appropriations Bill is enacted, while government will also spend R115-billion in the medium term on 11 strategic projects in the water and sanitation space. Government will spend an overall [...]

In line with the carbon tax increase that become effective on January 1, 2023, from R144/t to R159/t of carbon dioxide equivalent, the carbon fuel levy for 2023/24 will increase by 1c to 10c/l for petrol and 11c/l for diesel, from April 5. The carbon tax cost recovery quantum for the liquid fuels refinery sector [...]

As State-owned entities (SOEs) continue to rely on government bailouts and dominate the guarantee portfolio of the fiscus, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has announced conditional in-year allocations to various SOEs in the National Budget speech delivered on February 22. These include allocations to arms maker Denel, the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) and freight utility [...]

Conditions linked to R254bn Eskom debt relief may lead to concessioning of coal plants The R254-billion Eskom debt-relief package unveiled by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana in his 2023 Budget includes a sweeping set of conditions that will restrict the State-owned utility’s capital expenditure to transmission- and distribution-related investments and could also result in coal-fired power [...]

South Africa’s 2023 Budget includes tax incentives worth R9-billion to support businesses and households invest in renewable energy, including rooftop solar, in a bid to offset the impact of intensifying power cuts. In addition, the National Treasury announced that it would amend the bounce-back loan scheme, initially set up to support the recovery of businesses [...]

Limpopo MEC for Public Works, Roads and Infrastructure Nkakareng Rakgoale this week attended the sodturning ceremony for the construction of a R127-million bridge over the Steelpoort river, at Ga-Malekana. The sodturning ceremony follows the successful signing of a memorandum of agreement (MoA) by Roads Agency Limpopo (RAL) and eight mining companies operating within the Sekhukhune [...]

The world must do everything to fight inflation, says AngloGold Ashanti CEO Alberto Calderon, a former International Monetary Fund luminary, who has reported emphasised cost control in a year dominated by what the JSE-listed company described the highest inflation rates in more than 40 years. Higher-grade ore mined by AngloGold Ashanti in the third quarter [...]

The City of Cape Town is pulling out all the stops to protect residents in the event Eskom implements Stage 8 loadshedding. Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said during Stage 8 loadshedding, half the metro would be left without power at any given time – at least 12 hours a day. "The City has already activated [...]

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Production improvement and holding cost increases at half the inflation rate were achieved by gold mining company AngloGold Ashanti in 2022, when its mineral reserve additions again exceeded depletion for the sixth consecutive year. “We delivered on our production and cost commitments and have begun to regain cost competitiveness versus our peers,” [...]

JSE-listed Aveng remains on track to settle the remaining R353-million of its South African legacy debt this year, CEO Sean Flanagan said on February 21. At its height in 2018, this debt amounted to R3.3-billion. During the six months to December 31, 2022, R125-million was repaid, reducing the debt from R478-million as at June 31 [...]

South Africa’s Kumba Iron Ore sees itself as a critical player in the decarbonisation journey. Regarding tricky Scope 3 emission reduction, the Anglo American company is partnering with top steelmakers Salzgitter, ThyssenKrupp and Nippon to cut its Scope 3; advancing fast towards generating its own solar power from the hot Northern Cape to lower its [...]