Latest news with #R51
The Citizen
04-07-2025
- General
- The Citizen
PowerBall and PowerBall Plus results: Friday, 4 July 2025
R54 million in jackpots are up for grabs! Here are your PowerBall and PowerBall Plus results for 4 July 2025. Get the PowerBall and PowerBall Plus results as soon as they are drawn on The Citizen, so you can rest easy and check your tickets with confidence. Estimated jackpots for Friday, 4 July 2025: PowerBall jackpot: R51 million guaranteed. PowerBall Plus jackpot: R3 million estimated. PowerBall and PowerBall Plus results for Friday, 4 July 2025: PowerBall: 00, 00, 00, 00, 00. Powerball: 00. PowerBall Plus: 00, 00, 00, 00, 00. Powerball: 00. The winning PowerBall numbers will appear after the draw. Usually within 10 minutes of the draw. You might need to refresh the page to see the updated results. While great care has been taken to ensure accuracy, The Citizen cannot take responsibility for any error in the PowerBall or PowerBall Plus results. We suggest verifying the numbers on the National Lottery website. How much does it cost to play PowerBall? Lottery outlets close at 8.30pm on the day of a draw, which happens at 9pm. The terms and conditions may differ from other service outlets. Visit for more information. You can find the historical winning numbers for PowerBall and Lotto draws here. How much does it cost to play PowerBall? PowerBall entries cost R5 per board including VAT. PowerBall Plus costs an additional R2.50 per board. You can also play PowerBall on selected banking apps (T's & C's apply). Visit and go to the How to Play section to find out more.
TimesLIVE
02-07-2025
- Automotive
- TimesLIVE
Stellantis may close factories due to EU fines for carbon emissions
Stellantis may have to close factories due to the risk of hefty EU fines for not complying with CO2 emission targets, the head of the Franco-Italian carmaker for Europe said on Tuesday. European car manufacturers have to sell more electric vehicles to cut CO2 emissions or risk penalties as part of the bloc's efforts to limit the catastrophic effects of climate change. The carmaker industry has successfully lobbied for more time to comply as fines will be based on 2025 to 2027 emissions rather than only in 2025. Stellantis' Europe chief Jean-Philippe Imparato said the targets were unreachable for carmakers, and exposed his company to fines of up to €2.5bn (R51,948,170,730) within "two to three years". Speaking at a conference in the lower house of parliament in Rome, he said without significant changes in the regulatory situation by the end of this year "we will have to make tough decisions". This is because Stellantis would either have to double its electric vehicle sales, which is impossible, or cut the production of petrol and diesel vehicles, Imparato said, to improve the energy mix of its fleet in favour of electric. "I have two solutions: either I push like hell (on electric) or I close down ICE (internal combustion engine vehicles). And therefore I close down factories," he said, at one point mentioning the Italian van-making plant of Atessa.
The Citizen
24-06-2025
- Business
- The Citizen
Transport minister has big hopes for big plans
After almost a year as minister of transport, Barbara Creecy says her department is ready to tackle the challenges it faces. Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy addressing members of the media on the N12 Potchefstroom on 13 June 2025. Picture: Department of Transport Transport minister Barbara Creecy has big hopes for the department's big plans to get reforms going that will get South Africa back on track and grow the economy. Speaking at a PSG Think Big webinar, Creecy says South Africa's transport and logistics sector has long been recognised as a key obstacle to economic growth but promised that change is underway. She was discussing the future of South Africa's transport infrastructure and the role it plays in the country's economic recovery. Creecy says she spent the past 12 months in her role getting to grips with one of the most complex portfolios in government, overseeing 16 entities ranging from Transnet and the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) to the Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) and the Road Accident Fund (RAF). ALSO READ: New minister of transport's five targets a clear and encouraging vision Transport department's six targets for next 5 years To bring direction to this massive brief, Creecy and her department outlined six key targets to guide her current five-year term, including: Increasing freight volumes on Transnet's rail system from 149 million tonnes to 250 million tonnes per year restoring passenger journeys on Prasa to 600 million per year by 2030 (up from 77 million) boosting port productivity to the international benchmark of 30 gross crane moves per hour expanding Acsa's passenger footprint to 42 million and tripling air freight volumes to 1.2 million tonnes per year, and reduce road accidents and fatalities by 50%. 'We are making progress. It is hard work and it is very slow, but so far this year we managed to get the accident rate down by 9% and therefore, I am hopeful that this target is achievable by 2030.' ALSO READ: Government delivers R51 billion support to Transnet. Will it last? Transnet's poor financials thorn in transport department's side Despite signs of improvement, Creecy acknowledges that Transnet's poor financials remain a major concern. Moody's recently placed most of its ratings on review for downgrade, and therefore, government applied for an infrastructure injection via Treasury's budget facility, while also pursuing a broader programme of structural reform. 'There is a broader process of rail reform that is taking place in our country. In December and January this year, we issued a network statement that called for third-party participation in our freight sector. It is the first time this has ever happened in our country.' This reform is focused on repositioning Transnet as a state-owned infrastructure provider, allowing third-party freight operators to use the network. Creecy says Transnet Freight will still exist, but it will earn revenue from different freight operators operating on its network. She says private sector interest has been strong and her department was overwhelmed by the appetite. A recent RFI process attracted 11 000 site visits and 163 submissions. However, responsiveness will be critical given past failures in the procurement process. 'We have seen situations where the market did not find proposals put out by state-owned entities appetising and interesting.' Creecy makes it clear that this new approach to reform would be based on tight rules and governance and adds that B-BBEE, financial viability and ensuring projects reach financial close without overburdening the state will all be key to structuring future requests for proposals. ALSO READ: Outa calls for no fines during driver's licence backlog Time is not on the transport department's side Given that South Africa is 20 years behind its global peers in rail reform, Creecy admits that time is not on government's side. 'Right now, we must invest in the region of about R15 to R20 billion a year into the network if we want it to function effectively and if we want to be able to increase the number of train slots.' However, she says, the long-term potential still remains promising. The National Rail Master Plan, expected later this year, will outline a vision for modernising South Africa's rail network, including upgrades from the outdated Cape Gauge system and digitisation of controls. While this vision unfolds, Creecy says short-term gains are pursued in partnership with business and points out that this has already led to recent successes on the manganese line and she hopes to replicate them on the coal line this year. She also stresses the need to align transport reforms with South Africa's industrial strategy. Creecy says that beyond local gains, South African transport expertise could become a future export. 'This revitalisation of rail is something that other countries in the subcontinent are already involved in. 'It is very important that we have that long-term perspective about where we would want to go with the future of the entity and the way it could support broader economic development in our country.'
IOL News
19-06-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Moody's warns of threat to Transnet ratings as government steps in with guarantees
This comes after the government announced on Thursday last week that it had entered a process to allocate additional guarantees to Transnet to allow the company to cover at least all debt redemptions over the next five years and enable it to fund its capital expenditure program. Image: File Moody's Ratings has warned that Transnet's ratings will remain under review for downgrade until the South African government completes the process to allocate additional guarantees by the end of July. This comes after the government announced on Thursday last week that it had entered a process to allocate additional guarantees to allow the State-owned freight and logistics company to cover at least all debt redemptions over the next five years and enable it to fund its capital expenditure program. The Minister of Transport, with the concurrence of the Minister of Finance, approved a R51 billion guarantee facility for Transnet's capital investment programme and debt obligations. The facility will enable Transnet to refinance maturing debt and ensure the organisation's continued access to adequate resources and facilities to be able to continue its operations as well as fund the capital investment programme for the foreseeable future, while also enabling Transnet to focus on operational improvements and strategic reforms. The formalized R51bn guarantee facility has been structured to cover R41bn in funding needs that Transnet expects through the end of financial year 2027, along with R10bn in guarantees for liquidity facilities. Moody's on Thursday said it viewed the significant support measures as strengthening the financial stability of Transnet. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad Loading Moody's senior credit analyst Lisa Jaeger said they viewed the announcements as materially credit positive for Transnet and will monitor the outcome of the process as part of the ratings review on Transnet. 'Until the conclusion of our review, Transnet's ratings, including its long-term corporate family rating (CFR) of Ba3, and its Baseline Credit Assessment (BCA) of b3 remain under review for downgrade,' Jaeger said. 'Based on the government's most recent statement, we understand that it is working on providing at least an additional R48.6bn in guarantees, available until March 2030. This would bring the total guarantees announced in 2025 to R99.6bn, the amount needed to cover Transnet's debt maturities over the next five years.' The new guarantee facilities would be following a previous R47bn guarantee facility provided in December 2023, which has been exhausted. The R51bn guarantee facility that has already been formalized is easing Transnet's immediate liquidity pressure and will enable it to meet a R9.9bn local bond maturity in August 2025,. Jaeger said this was a payment they did not expect Transnet would be able to reliably meet without additional government support. 'While this facility does not provide a permanent solution to Transnet's ongoing liquidity challenges, we believe the announced additional guarantees would support a sustainable improvement in the company's liquidity position,' Jaeger said. 'If the government provides an additional R48.6bn in guarantees as implied by the latest announcement, the total guarantees to Transnet would increase to R150.1bn, which exceeds Transnet's total debt balance of R136bn as of September 2024. 'We expect Transnet's total debt will continue to slightly increase over the next two years, nevertheless, the company would then be able to refinance nearly its entire debt with government guarantees. We believe this will substantially reduce the company's refinancing risk and ensure it maintains an adequate liquidity profile while Transnet continues to progress with its operational turnaround plan.' Transnet falls under Moody's Government-Related Issuers (GRI) methodology given its 100% government ownership. Moody's GRI assumptions are comprised of 'Very High' default dependence with the government of South Africa and 'High' probability of extraordinary support from the government, resulting in three notches of uplift of the company's Ba3 CFR from its b3 BCA. Jaeger said Moody's rating review will focus on the sufficiency of government support measures to bring the company's capital structure and liquidity position on a sustainable footing.
The Citizen
13-06-2025
- Business
- The Citizen
Victory for Transnet: more cash incoming, union accepts salary increase
Transnet needs to repay R99.6 billion. South Africa's struggling state-owned logistics company, Transnet, has gone from being warned that it might run out of money in the next months to securing millions of rands in support from the government. The troubled state ports and freight railway operator went from facing threats of a massive strike that would cost it billions in lost operations to getting the union representing most of the workers to stand down and accept the salary increase offer on the table. Weeks after receiving approval of R51 billion guarantee support from the Minister of Transport, Barbara Creecy, another financial commitment has been made. More money for Transnet Creecy said on Thursday that Transnet will receive additional guarantees to settle all its outstanding debt and execute its capital-investment programme. The department of transport will give an update on the additional support after the process has been finalised on 25 July 2025. Transnet needs to repay R99.6 billion. 'The government will monitor the performance of Transnet to ensure it provides adequate support to it as it implements the reforms required by the government,' said the department. ALSO READ: Government delivers R51 billion support to Transnet. Will it last? Transnet's 2023 financial guarantee In 2023, Transnet was given a R47 billion guarantee to support the entity in meeting its debt obligations, the same reason being offered two years later. The government's decision to offer Transnet support may be prompted by Moody's Ratings Agency's warning in May that the entity would run out of money in less than three months, unless bailouts are provided. Challenges at the troubled entity stem from a lack of infrastructure maintenance, inadequate investment in necessary infrastructure and a lack of focus on generating revenue. Despite improved support since 2023, Moody's said progress remains slower than planned, to some extent due to the continued high occurrence of theft, vandalism and adverse weather conditions. Transnet's debt burden remains excessively high, resulting in unsustainable interest payments. World Bank loan Earlier in the week, the World Bank announced it had approved a $1.5 billion (about R26.5 billion) loan, the bulk of which is expected to be directed towards reviving Eskom and Transnet. The bank said the objective of the freight transport sector reforms is to support the government's efforts to transform the sector's structure from a public monopoly to a competitive market. At the heart of the reform is unbundling the struggling Transnet. 'To build the legal and institutional foundations required for transforming the sector, the authorities have focused their attention on establishing an independent transport economic regulator to ensure fair and open access to private operators and unbundling Transnet to allow for train operators to enter the market.' ALSO READ: Transnet opens bidding for Durban multi-purpose terminal concession Massive strike Transnet received threats from the union representing most of its workers, the United National Transport Union (Untu), that it does not mind bringing the sector to a standstill if its members do not receive a salary increase they deserve. On Thursday afternoon, the union announced that it has accepted the increase proposed by Transnet, as expressed by its members. 'As the majority union representing the voices of more than 26 000 employees at Transnet, Untu confirms that this newly signed agreement supersedes the previous agreement signed between Transnet and the minority union, South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu).' Salary increase Transnet had initially proposed a salary increase of 6% this year, 6% in 2026 and 5.5% in 2027, while Untu was requesting a 10% increase. Satawu accepted the initial proposed offer. Due to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) intervention, a new offer was made, a three-year agreement that will commence on 1 April 2025 and will end on 31 March 2028. Each year, all Transnet employees will receive a 6% increase. This is the offer Untu ended up accepting. The union said the agreement 'places a strong emphasis on job security by including a firm non-mandatory retrenchment clause'. Additionally, Untu members will receive back payment for the increase from 1 April 2025, as they were not eligible for the increase when Satawu members received it. NOW READ: SA's poor service delivery linked to almost R500 billion spent on SOE bailouts
