South Africa recorded a trade deficit of R3.43-billion in April from a revised R4.71-billion surplus in March, data from the revenue service showed on Friday. Exports fell by 1.3% on a month-on-month basis to R103.75-billion in April, while imports rose 6.8% to R107.18-billion, the South African Revenue Service said.

Zimbabwe mining companies can pay for electricity in foreign currency to guarantee supplies, the energy minister said on Friday, a day after he indicated there could be deeper power cuts in the country due to low dam water levels. Fortune Chasi said on Thursday the country's largest hydroelectric plant, Kariba Dam, will suspend output in [...]

In this opinion article, Manufacturing Circle executive director Philippa Rodseth outlines the organisation’s concerns with the Amended Competition Act, which she argues could create a number of unintended inefficiencies and consequences.

Bulk liquid storage operator Bidvest Tank Terminals’ (BTT’s) R1-billion mounded liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) storage facility in Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal, is set to house the largest tanks in the world and is expected to greatly enhance LPG supply in Southern Africa once completed, the company has indicated. The facility will store LPG on behalf of [...]

Omnia Holdings said on Thursday it would undertake a rights offer of R2-billion in a bid to cut debt. Omnia, which raised funds for two acquisitions and the construction of a new fertiliser plant, said last month it had agreed to restructuring talks with creditors.

Zimbabwe's largest hydroelectric plant, Kariba Dam, will suspend output in 14 weeks if water levels continue to fall at the current rate, the energy minister said on Thursday, paving the way for deeper power cuts in the country. The Southern African nation has endured its worst rolling power cuts in three years, and although its [...]

In a move that has, so far, generally been welcomed by the mining industry, President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed Gwede Mantashe as the Mineral Resources and Energy Minister. This, law firm Herbert Smith Freehills director Patrick Leyden says, follows on the back of Mantashe having made significant progress during his short tenure as Mineral Resources [...]

Africa, largely ignored in a US-China trade war that could roil economies worldwide, is quietly piecing together the world’s largest free-trade zone. The African Continental Free Trade Area comes into force on paper on Thursday after the required 22 countries ratified the deal a month ago. Once it’s passed by all 55 nations recognised as [...]

JThe labour issues at the Mototolo platinum mine in Limpopo have been resolved, Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) said on Thursday. The General Industrial Workers Union has accepted that the proposed medical aid meets the requirement of the Section 197 transfer, undertaken after Amplats acquired Glencore’s 39% and Kagiso Tiso’s 11% interest in Mototolo.

The Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) was, on Wednesday afternoon, granted a court interdict against a planned strike by mariners who are members of the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu). Satawu on Tuesday announced that its members, including pilots who move the ships in and out of port, tug masters who assist [...]

The 28-member streamlined Cabinet unveiled by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday night includes a new-look economic cluster, which consolidates the departments of trade and industry and economic development, as well as the departments of mineral resources and energy. As was widely anticipated, Ramaphosa reappointed Tito Mboweni as Finance Minister and retained Pravin Gordhan as Public [...]

The new 28-member streamlined Cabinet unveiled by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday night included a new-look economic cluster, which consolidated the departments of trade and industry and economic development, as well as the departments of mineral resources andenergy. As widely anticipated, Ramaphosa reappointed Tito Mboweni as Finance Minister and retained Pravin Gordhan as Public Enterprises [...]