Star 2025-09-11

Minister of Tourism Patricia de Lille has called on global investors to seize the country’s “immense tourism potential” and help transform the sector into a driver of jobs, growth and inclusive development. Delivering the opening address at the inaugural G20 Tourism Investment Summit in Cape Town on Wednesday, De Lille unveiled eight flagship, bankable projects worth nearly R1 billion in investment-ready opportunities, ranging from the God’s Window Skywalk in Mpumalanga to the Hole in the Wall Resort in the Eastern Cape. The God’s Window Skywalk is looking for R200 million investment and the Hole in the Wall Resort requires R141m. "These are projects from both the public and private sector, with strong return on investment and high community impact. And this is just a fraction of what lies in our…

The newly appointed acting CEO of the Government Pensions Administration Agency (GPAA), Job Stadi Mngomezulu, has halted a contentious forensic investigation aimed at uncovering the source of leaked internal audit documents. The move follows mounting criticism from unions, particularly the Public Service and Commercial Union (PSCU), who condemned the exercise as a “witch hunt against whistleblowers.” Following the leaks, the GPAA wrote to its procurement committee to seek approval for the appointment of Nexus Forensics for R260 000 to investigate how confidential documents found their way into the hands of the PSCU and the media. The terms of reference for Nexus included imaging the devices of suspected employees, identifying staff who accessed or printed the draft audit, and investigating possible contraventions of the Protection of Personal Information (POPI) Act and…

The Industrial Gas Users Association of Southern Africa (IGUA-SA) is raising alarms over the National Energy Regulator of South Africa's (Nersa) recent approval of a 4% increase in Sasol Gas's maximum gas price. This decision, which translates to a staggering 20% rise over the year, is expected to exacerbate the challenges facing South Africa's already pressured industrial landscape. In June, Nersa had permitted Sasol Gas to adjust prices quarterly based on fluctuating gas acquisition costs. Following this directive, Nersa confirmed Sasol Gas's adjustment from R87.04 per GigaJoule (GJ) to R90.57/GJ for the second quarter of the 2025/2026 financial year. Various factors contributed to this spike, including rising gas costs from Mozambique, fluctuations in oil-linked derivatives, currency exchange variations, and changes in the US Producer Price Index (USPPI). Nomfundo Maseti, Nersa's…

Decarbonisation is part of broader efforts to be in line with European export demands South32 is pursuing a decarbonisation programme for Hillside, its South African aluminium smelter operation in South Africa as part of its broader carbon reduction emission efforts and to be in line with European export demands for the material. The company said it had temporarily shut down the Wessels manganese mine it runs in the Northern Cape before re-opening it. In March, Hillside was the subject of a claim by an Australian company that charged that the South32 subsidiary had improperly used intellectual property related to metal transportation at the South African operation. Now, South32 has on Wednesday said that it is “engaging with stakeholders to secure a comprehensive low-carbon energy solution for Hillside Aluminium and on…

Known as Africa’s richest square mile, Sandton’s skyline is often portrayed with high-rising corporate office blocks, luxury modern apartments, and towering construction cranes. Home to financial institutions such as the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, iconic landmarks like Nelson Mandela Square, and some of South Africa’s leading companies forming the country’s economic epicentre, Sandton has always been a beacon of enterprise. Yet, if you drive through the congested streets of South Africa’s business capital today, there is a noticeable difference in the city’s skyline. While the skyscrapers, shopping centres, and executive apartments remain, there are very few construction cranes in sight. Since hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup over 15 years ago, South Africa has seen a level of stagnation in large-scale infrastructure development. The most notable infrastructure initiative has been the…

Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk announced Wednesday that it would cut 11 percent of its workforce, as the maker of Ozempic and Wegovy faces rising competition for its anti-obesity treatments. The drug maker said in a statement it would save eight billion kroner ($1.3 billion) by slashing 9 000 jobs, including 5 000 in Denmark, across the company. And for the third time this year, the company lowered its earnings forecast - it now expects operating profit growth of between four and 10 percent, down from 10-16 percent previously. Novo Nordisk said the job cuts were part of a "company-wide transformation to simplify its organisation, improve the speed of decision-making, and reallocate resources towards the company’s growth opportunities in diabetes and obesity". The popularity of Novo Nordisk's weight-loss injections had…