COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

MTN issues tender for solar rooftops

MTN South Africa is aiming to beat load shedding and reduce its carbon emissions with solar PV rooftop and carport installations.

The mobile telecommunications company, which aims to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2040, said that it had issued a request for proposal this week to have the installations at its headquarters in Johannesburg. Net zero means that the emissions that are released will be offset by those that are removed or mitigated.

The company is adopting a four-phase approach to achieve its net zero target. The first relates to the solar PV rooftop and solar carports at its headquarters on 14th Avenue in Roodepoort, Gauteng. MTN plans to have the preferred bidders notified by December 2022.

The second phase will see a solar facility mounted on vacant land opposite its 14th Avenue campus. The third phase will have solar PV rooftop, and grounded projects rolled out at its other facilities. And the final phase involves wheeling electricity from renewable energy independent power producers’ offsite. MTN did not give timelines for when the remaining phases would be implemented.

MTN SA CEO Charles Molapisi said that the programme would help MTN reduce its reliance on fossil-fuelled power while also assisting in managing the rolling power cuts or load shedding.

"Climate action is imperative to secure the future socioeconomic development of Africa. In South Africa, we acknowledge the importance of balancing the reduction of our impact on the environment with the need to connect more people to high-speed broadband," Molapisi said in a statement.

"Our focus is to reduce any unnecessary use of energy, create more energy efficiencies, and increase the use of renewable energy and to generate more value from conventional sources, such as heat," Molapisi added.-Fin24

Sibanye, AMCU platinum wage talks deadlock

Following weeks of wage talks with Sibanye-Stillwater, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) has declared a dispute with the company's South African platinum division and referred the matter to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) for conciliation.

Sibanye on Friday said an agreement in respect of wages and benefits had been reached with the two other recognised unions at its South African Platinum Group Metal (PGM) operations - the National Union of Mineworkers and UASA.

While the company had anticipated AMCU would accept the deal, the union leadership opted to reject the wage offer this week.

Richard Stewart, Sibanye's chief regional officer for southern Africa, said the company remained committed to achieving a fair and sustainable agreement and avoiding prolonged negotiations but noted "it is concerning that despite overwhelming support for the offer by employees and union representatives at the operations, AMCU national leadership has again chosen to ignore their members".





Sibanye has presented an inflation-linked, five-year, comprising fixed average annual wage increases of 6% and above for bargaining unit employees for a three-year period, followed by CPI-linked agreements in years four and five, as well as notable increases in benefits.-Fin24

Old Mutual sweetens its BEE share offer

Old Mutual has just sweetened the deal for people who apply for its Bula Tsela empowerment shares.

The insurance giant announced plans to launch the R2.8 billion scheme in April to boost black ownership to more than 30%. After shareholders voted in favour of the deal, Old Mutual opened applications to the general black public in August.

The public – from its black policyholders to stokvels, black-owned businesses and any individual classified as black under the broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE) – has until 24 October to finalise their applications. Together, they will own 15% of the Bula Tsela shares. The other 40% will go to the insurer's employees, and 45% will be allocated to a community trust.

Each Bula Tsela share costs R10 – but Old Mutual’s shares are currently trading at below R9.70. Accordingly, the company has sweetened the deal: it will match every R10 that Bula Tsela investors invest.

That means those who get allocated shares by late November will immediately get an additional R10 for each share, to be used towards buying shares. In addition, the company has allocated an additional R46 in value to each scheme share bought - which must be paid back later, while the initial R10 per share has to be paid in cash.

All of this means that Bula Tsela shareholders will be able to buy R66 in Old Mutual shares in November, for an initial investment of R10 per share.-Fin24

US airline cancels flights to SA

US giant United Airlines has cancelled its flight from Newark to Cape Town last week Monday as well as a return flight on Tuesday, because the airline can't get fuel at Cape Town International Airport.

On Saturday, passengers who booked for the flights received a message informing them of the cancellation. "Your flight was cancelled because we were unable to fuel your plane," the airline said. It added that the flight's status may still change. United says it is working to re-accommodate its customers.

News24 Business reported this week that jet fuel supplies at the airport were running low because a ship carrying much-needed stock has been delayed due to continued bad weather. It was supposed to arrive a week ago.

Rajesh Dana, port manager of the Cape Town Port, said the vessel in question was expected to arrive in the port on Sunday evening.

"As the port, we are on high alert and tracking the vessel to ensure all resources are ready to receive it when it arrives. The vessel will be receiving berthing priority and we do not foresee any challenges servicing the vessel when it arrives," Dana told News24 Business.



Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) issued a notice to airlines on Saturday that there may be further delays in the delivery of jet fuel to the airport in Cape Town and imposed restrictions on fuel uplift to conserve fuel stocks until a new consignment arrives.-Fin24

BMF Investments investigating allegations

Black Management Forum Investments (BMFI) has appointed an independent legal counsel to investigate allegations by a former employee against two of its directors - sexual harassment against the one and verbal abuse against the other.

According to the BMFI, it received a letter of demand containing the allegations in mid-September and immediately took steps to look into the matter.

The two directors have been placed on "a leave of absence" until the investigation has been concluded and its recommendations finalised, the BFMI said in a statement on Friday.

The board of the BMFI says it views the allegations in a very serious light, condemns any form of gender-based violence, and is resolute in ensuring justice and fairness of the process.

The former employee's attorney has been informed of the steps being taken by the BMFI board.

The boards of the Black Management Forum (BMF) which owns a 64% stake, and Sanlam, which owns a 30% stake in the BMFI, have also been informed.-Fin24

Engineering giant ABB puts R6bn aside

Swiss Engineering firm Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) says it has put aside R6 billion as a provision to cover costs related to corruption probes at Kusile power station.

On Friday, the Zurich-headquartered firm said it was cooperating fully with the authorities and "hopes to reach a final settlement with them in the near term".

ABB won a R2.2 billion contract for work at Kusile in 2015. Its subsequent subcontracting of some of the work out to a company called Impulse International is being probed by authorities.

In July, two former South African ABB employees and their wives were arrested in connection with kickbacks allegedly paid by Impulse to ABB for inflated contracts.

ABB South Africa has already paid back R1.56 billion as part of a settlement reached in 2020. At the time, it warned that it may have to pay more based on further reviews of its work at Eskom. –Fin24