Simone Liedtke
Simone Liedtke is Creamer Media Social Media Editor & Senior Writer for Engineering News and Mining Weekly.
Cranes, construction equipment to become everyday sight across South Africa
26th February 2020 Over the next three years, the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) will package blended finance megaprojects of at least R200-billion, while... →
Cities to receive grant funding in efforts to boost infrastructure development
26th February 2020 Cities will receive grant funding through the integrated city development grant to institutionalise an effective system for preparing programmes... →
Govt working on environmental fiscal reform paper, as carbon tax increases 5.6%
26th February 2020 The National Treasury on Wednesday confirmed that government was preparing to publish an environmental fiscal reform review paper. The paper will... →
Contingent liabilities set to rise to R980bn
26th February 2020 Contingent liabilities, which are mainly guarantees to State-owned companies (SOCs) are projected to reach R979.9-billion on March 31, 2020.... →
Treasury commits R157m to Jobs Fund projects
26th February 2020 A total of R157-million has been committed to projects within South Africa’s Jobs Fund in this year’s National Budget, which was delivered by... →
South Africa to establish sovereign wealth fund, State bank
26th February 2020 Finance Minister Tito Mboweni on Wednesday announced the formation of the South African Sovereign Wealth Fund, which would target a capital amount... →
Strengthening Sars ‘will take time’, says Mboweni
26th February 2020 Strengthening the South African Revenue Service will remain one of government’s top priorities for this year. Finance Minister Tito Mboweni... →
Private electricity generation identified as most urgent structural reform for reigniting growth
26th February 2020 With a weak economic outlook characterised by a real gross domestic product that is expected to grow at 0.9% in 2020, 1.3% in 2021 and 1.6% in... →
South Africa should brace for ‘toughest budget since 1994’, says PwC
11th February 2020 As the 2020 National Budget approaches, consumers should expect to tighten their belts further, particularly with continued fiscal drag set to blot... →
Mazars says Mboweni facing a daunting task as he prepares to deliver the 2020 Budget
4th February 2020 The upcoming National Budget is likely to be a “watershed moment” for South Africa, accounting and consulting group Mazars tax partner Bernard... →
A new approach is needed to solve the unemployment crisis, says CDE
29th January 2020 Development think tank, the Centre for Development and Enterprise, on Wednesday urged South Africa to consider “a new approach” to alleviate the... →
Accelerator Lab to develop new solutions to South Africa’s challenges
28th January 2020 A new Accelerator Lab has been launched in South Africa to provide a network and platform through which new solutions can be developed to mitigate... →
Dynamic, inclusive global economy essential to meeting 2030 Agenda – UN
22nd January 2020 The broad-based deterioration of global economic prospects may cause setbacks in the pursuit of the United Nation’s (UN’s) Sustainable Development... →
Strides made in legal reforms that advance women’s economic participation
14th January 2020 The regulatory environment for women’s economic participation has improved over the past two years, with 40 economies having enacted 62 reforms to... →
Growth initiatives to continue in 2020 as new laws come into effect
9th January 2020 Initiatives to drive growth and stabilise the economy will continue to be a focus in the coming year, especially as efforts to root out corruption... →
Water, land reform concerns weigh on agriculture sector's confidence
5th December 2019 The Agricultural Business Chamber and the Industrial Development Corporation Agribusiness Confidence Index declined from 46 points in the third... →
Urgent calls for reform as South Africa’s GDP contracts 0.6% in third quarter
3rd December 2019 South Africa’s gross domestic product contracted by 0.6% in the third quarter. However, on a year-on-year basis, the economy grew by 0.1%,... →
UK academy seeks to encourage business, academic partnerships in SA
28th November 2019 The UK Royal Academy of Engineering has opened a new call for grant proposals which will support partnerships between businesses and university... →
M2 motorway to be reopened to motorists from next week
31st October 2019 The M2 motorway will be reopened to traffic from November 4, the Johannesburg Roads Agency says. The motorway between the Crown Interchange and... →
Sustainable mining achievable through a ‘coordinated approach’
17th September 2019 Sustainable mine development and sustainable mining are not only laudable, but are “much required”, Webber Wentzel Corporate Practice partner... →
Master plans needed to expand productive South African sectors – Patel
13th September 2019 To grow South Africa’s economy and expand its productive sectors, master plans will need to be developed for each of those sectors, Trade and... →
Portfolio Committee warns of imminent energy crisis in South Africa
2nd September 2019 The Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources and Energy has warned of an imminent energy crisis in South Africa, if nothing is done, as a matter of... →
PRASA war room to be operational next week
8th August 2019 The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa’s (PRASA’s) War Room will be fully operational from August 12, Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula promised... →
Unemployment rate rises to record 29%
30th July 2019 South Africa’s official unemployment rate has increased by 1.4 percentage points to 29%, Statistics South Africa’s latest Quarterly Labour Force... →
Commemorative coin series launched to celebrate South Africa’s 25 years of democracy
5th June 2019 In partnership with the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), the South African Mint on Wednesday launched a series of six new commemorative... →
South Africans calling for pledges of greater economic growth
30th May 2019 Following the appointment of a new Cabinet by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday night, the country has called for pledges of greater economic... →
Industry generally welcomes Gwede Mantashe as Minerals and Energy Minister
30th May 2019 In a move that has, so far, generally been welcomed by the mining industry, President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed Gwede Mantashe as the Mineral... →
Mashaba calls for prioritisation of ‘neglected’ local government basics
30th April 2019 Under the Diphetogo banner, which means “real, transformative, lasting change”, City of Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba on Tuesday called for the... →
CSIR engineers warn of increasing electricity prices, advise on load-shedding mitigation measures
28th March 2019 While load-shedding is expected to continue plaguing South Africa for at least the next six months, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research... →
Electricity tariff increases will have severe economic ramifications for South Africa
8th March 2019 The decision by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) to grant State-owned Eskom an effective tariff increase of 13.82% for... →
Another fuel levy increase lies ahead, carbon tax to be implemented
20th February 2019 A carbon tax on fuel of 9c/l on petrol and 10c/l on diesel will become effective from June 5, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said on Wednesday.... →
R100bn to be injected into infrastructure fund over ten years
20th February 2019 National Treasury will be reprioritising resources towards President Cyril Ramaphosa’s infrastructure fund and away from the wage bill, Finance... →
Govt allocates R19.8bn to support business incentives
20th February 2019 Government has made a three-year allocation of R19.8-billion to support industrial business incentives, 48% of which goes to manufacturing... →
Govt revises contingency reserve to support cash-strapped SoEs
20th February 2019 With State-owned entities (SOEs) posing very serious risks to the fiscal framework, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni on Wednesday said that National... →
R567bn allocated for social grants to mitigate poverty, inequality
20th February 2019 In the fight against poverty and inequality, government has allocated R567-billion for social grant payments. In 2019, grants for old age,... →
Govt encourages early retirement for up to 30 000 public servants
20th February 2019 Given an “unsustainable” wage bill, the National Treasury has shifted expenditure to investment, meaning that national and provincial compensation... →
National Minimum Wage a ‘positive step’ towards stable labour relations in South Africa – Busa
26th November 2018 Business Unity South Africa (Busa) says the signing into law of the National Minimum Wage (NMW) Bill is a “positive step” towards stabilising South... →
Mantashe confirms gazetting of Mining Charter 3
27th September 2018 Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe on Thursday confirmed that the Mining Charter 3 had officially been gazetted. Coupled with this, he... →
Draft charter offers opportunity to improve policy certainty, investor perception
7th August 2018 The draft 2018 iteration of the Mining Charter, as well as the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act and social and labour plans... →
Power system recovery to take 30 days, load-shedding risk remains high
3rd August 2018 State-owned Eskom expects it will take up to 30 days for the power system to recover from the effects of the recent industrial action, which... →
MeerKAT radio telescope inaugurated as precursor to larger SKA project
13th July 2018 After a decade in design and construction, the MeerKAT radio telescope, located about 90 km from Canarvon in the Northern Cape, was inaugurated on... →
