Communications Dept issues gazette to review B-BBEE licensing requirements for satellite service companies
In a statement, Minister Solly Malatsi said that this was in line with government's efforts to attract foreign investment.
The announcement comes just days after US President Donald Trump met with President Cyril Ramaphosa to try and reset bilateral relations.
Malatsi said the current regulations did not allow many companies that can contribute to the country's transformation goals to qualify for individual licenses under the Electronic Act.
"Currently, the rules around who can acquire a licence to provide electronic communications services or to operate an electronic communications network require a minimum of 30% shares to be in the hands of historically disadvantaged individuals.
"EEIPs, provided for under the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act (Act 53 of 2003) and the ICT Sector Code, allow qualifying multinationals to meet empowerment obligations through alternatives to 30% ownership — such as investing in local suppliers, enterprise and skills development, job creation, infrastructure support, research and innovation, digital inclusion initiatives, and funding for SMMEs."
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eNCA
3 hours ago
- eNCA
European powers plan fresh nuclear talks with Iran
BRUSSELS - European powers plan fresh talks with Iran on its nuclear programme in the coming days, the first since the US attacked Iranian nuclear facilities a month ago, a German diplomatic source told AFP on Sunday. Britain, France and Germany, known as the E3, "are in contact with Iran to schedule further talks for the coming week", the source said. The trio had recently warned that international sanctions against Iran could be reactivated if Tehran does not return to the negotiating table. Iran's Tasnim news agency also reported that Tehran had agreed to hold talks with the three European countries, citing an unnamed source. Consultations are ongoing regarding a date and location for the talks, the report said. "Iran must never be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon. That is why Germany, France and the United Kingdom are continuing to work intensively in the E3 format to find a sustainable and verifiable diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear programme," the German source said. Israel and Western nations have long accused Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran has consistently denied. On June 13, Israel launched a wave of surprise strikes on its regional nemesis, targeting key military and nuclear facilities. The United States launched its own set of strikes against Iran's nuclear programme on June 22, hitting the uranium enrichment facility at Fordo, in Qom province south of Tehran, as well as nuclear sites in Isfahan and Natanz. - Kremlin meeting - Iran and the United States had held several rounds of nuclear negotiations through Omani mediators before Israel launched its 12-day war against Iran. However, US President Donald Trump's decision to join Israel in striking Iranian nuclear facilities effectively ended the talks. The E3 countries last met with Iranian representatives in Geneva on June 21 -- just one day before the US strikes. Meanwhile on Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a surprise meeting in the Kremlin with Ali Larijani, top adviser to Iran's supreme leader on nuclear issues. Larijani "conveyed assessments of the escalating situation in the Middle East and around the Iranian nuclear programme", Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said of the unannounced meeting. Putin had expressed Russia's "well-known positions on how to stabilise the situation in the region and on the political settlement of the Iranian nuclear programme", he added. Moscow has a cordial relationship with Iran's clerical leadership and provides crucial backing for Tehran but did not swing forcefully behind its partner even after the United States joined Israel's bombing campaign. - Snapback mechanism - Iran and world powers struck a deal in 2015 called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which placed significant restrictions on Tehran's nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief. But the hard-won deal began to unravel in 2018, during Trump's first presidency, when the United States walked away from it and reimposed sanctions on Iran. European countries have in recent days threatened to trigger the deal's "snapback" mechanism, which allows the reimposition of sanctions in the event of non-compliance by Iran. After a call with his European counterparts on Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the Western allies had no grounds for reactivating sanctions. "If EU/E3 want to have a role, they should act responsibly and put aside the worn-out policies of threat and pressure, including the 'snap-back' for which they (have) absolutely no moral (or) legal grounds," Araghchi said on X. However, the German source on Sunday said that "if no solution is reached over the summer, snapback remains an option for the E3". Iran last week said there would be no new nuclear talks with the United States if they were conditioned on Tehran abandoning its uranium enrichment activities. fec/gv By Femke Colborne
The South African
11 hours ago
- The South African
How South Africa's fruit industry plans to deal with US trade tariffs
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The Citizen
2 days ago
- The Citizen
Weekly economic wrap: US tariffs, mining production and retail sales
The US tariffs have turned the global economy into a roller-coaster as it affects every part of economic growth and decline. In what was supposed to be a quiet week on the economic front, US tariffs kept people watching the economic news, while there was local news on mining production and retail sales. Lisette IJssel de Schepper, chief economist at the Bureau for Economic Research (BER), says the big global data prints of the week came on Tuesday, with better-than-expected Chinese GDP growth for the second quarter and US core inflation coming in lower than expected, but still (finally) reflecting some signs of tariffs being passed on to consumers. In South Africa, she says, the uptick in mining production and retail sales was positive for gross domestic product (GDP) for the second quarter. 'There was plenty of political news to digest. Globally, US President Donald Trump dished out more tariffs to be implemented on 1 August, while the push to essentially oust US Federal Reserve (Fed) chair Jerome Powell continued. 'Locally, President Cyril Ramaphosa placed police minister Senzo Mchunu on special leave, something which has never happened before, pending the outcome of another commission of inquiry.' ALSO READ: Devastating impact of US tariffs on SA automotive sector even before implementation Big story of the week: 30% US tariff on European Union She points out that the big story over the weekend was that the US plans to impose a 30% tariff on the European Union (EU), more than the 20% Liberation Day tariff announced in early April. Key training partners Canada (35%) and Mexico (30%) face similar hurdles, although some exceptions for trade covered by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) remain in effect. 'All countries have, so far, held off on immediate retaliation, but the EU finalised a list of countermeasures to strategically target US exports to the EU. It has held off on retaliating so that negotiations can continue, but plans to target €72 billion of imports, ranging from industrial goods (Boeing, cars and machinery) to agri-food products (including bourbon). 'Some EU countries pushed for the option to use anti-coercion instruments, which give broader powers to, for example, introduce taxes on US tech companies or restrict access to parts of the market.' ALSO READ: ArcelorMittal warns it might close without urgent solution to challenges Headlines in global markets written in halls of power, not just Wall Street Bianca Botes, director at Citadel Global, says this week in global markets the headlines were written not just on Wall Street, but in the halls of power from Washington to Beijing. 'Trade, technology and teetering central bank policies collided, reordering how investors see risk, reward and the future path of markets.' She says Trump's surprise announcement of potential sweeping tariffs on its key trading partners, South Korea, Japan, Brazil and Canada, sent waves through the commodity world and reignited concerns about global supply chains. 'Notably, a proposed hefty 50% tariff on copper imports, potentially starting 1 August, catapulted the red metal's futures prices. While previous tariff announcements sometimes triggered swift, knee-jerk selloffs, market reaction this time was more nuanced. 'Why? Investors are, by now, warier but also somewhat desensitised to the tug-of-war on trade. Rather than a wholesale equity retreat, money, instead, flowed into safe havens. Silver surged nearly 4% and select commodity classes outperformed as investors hedged their exposure. 'This sector-by-sector action underscores a key theme for 2025: the world is learning to trade around trade policy, analysing which assets get hit hardest and which might benefit.' ALSO READ: Government must intervene with US tariffs, act stronger with police corruption Oil and gold also affected by US tariffs Botes points out that oil steadied on supply worries, while gold dipped on strong data. 'Brent Crude hovered near $69.60/barrel, holding on to a 1.5% gain, after geopolitical tensions and tighter supply boosted prices. 'Meanwhile, gold hovered just below $3 340/ounce, heading for its first weekly decline in three weeks. The retreat follows stronger US data, with retail sales rebounding and jobless claims hitting a three-month low, thereby reducing the urgency for Fed rate cuts. 'Despite the policy tug-of-war within the Fed, gold remains underpinned by geopolitical risks and tariff uncertainty. With Trump's notification of tariff rates to over 150 trade partners, safe haven appeal remains intact.' According to Busisiwe Nkonki and Isaac Matshego, economists at the Nedbank Group Economic Unit, the rand is trading around R17.70/$ this afternoon, pulling back from R17.92 last Friday despite worries about the 30% import tariff on exports to the US. 'The rand benefited from positive sentiment that boosted emerging market currencies.' In commodity markets, the Brent Crude Oil price softened on concerns about the effects of the Trump tariffs on global demand, while gold continued to move around $3 340 and platinum jumped to the highest level since August 2014 as supply concerns worsened. ALSO READ: Does stronger economic activity indicate improved GDP? Will mining production perform better in the second quarter? Mining production increased by an above-consensus 0.2% in May, marking the first annual expansion since the start of this year, after a sharp 7.7% contraction in April. Iron ore was the largest positive contributor, while declines in manganese ore and coal production were the biggest drag. Nomvelo Moima, an economist at the BER, says that barring a sharp reversal in June, it appears the mining sector is likely to contribute positively to GDP in the second quarter. Mamello Matikinca-Ngwenya, Siphamandla Mkhwanazi, Thanda Sithole and Koketso Mano, economists at FNB, say the increase in seasonally adjusted mining output suggests a continued improvement in output in the second quarter, with production up 2.6% in the three months until May. 'Should this trend continue, mining production will contribute positively to GDP growth.' Nkonki and Matshego say the outlook remains murky. 'While most mining products will likely be exempted from the 30% US tariff on South African imports, the ongoing tariff war will hurt global growth in the quarters ahead, weighing on export demand and commodity prices.' ALSO READ: Retail sales: South Africans spent R19.6 billion on clothes and furniture in May Retail sales and motor trade faring better, but wholesale drags Statistics SA released a batch of domestic trade data for May, affirming that consumer spending remained solid during the second quarter. Real retail trade sales increased by 4.2%, while motor trade sales increased by 4.7%. However, the wholesale sector did not fare too well, as annual wholesale trade sales contracted for a fifth straight month in May by 4.3%. Matikinca-Ngwenya, Mkhwanazi, Sithole and Mano say retail activity over the past three months reflected no growth compared to the preceding three-month period, suggesting that household spending is losing momentum. 'However, any build-up in momentum in June will support GDP growth.' Nkonki and Isaac Matshego point out that only general dealers and hardware stores saw sales increase over the month, while sales at most other retailers, including online stores, declined in May. 'Despite the mixed results, sales remained well above last year's levels across the board. 'Retailers should benefit from the ongoing recovery in consumer demand as household incomes strengthen, inflation remains relatively subdued, and the recent interest rate cuts reduce borrowing costs and revive credit demand.'
