Natasha Odendaal
Natasha Odendaal is Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor for Engineering News and Mining Weekly.
DoC to gazette final broadcasting policy next week
13th March 2015 The Department of Communications (DoC) is preparing to align the soon-to-be-gazetted final Broadcasting Digital Migration (BDM) policy to the... →
Phase 1 of S Africa’s broadband deployment to start in April
12th March 2015 The first phase of the ambitious South Africa (SA) Connect broadband strategy – the national broadband plan – will get under way at the start of... →
S Africa’s sovereign rating unlikely to change – S&P's
9th March 2015 Standard and Poor’s (S&P’s) was unlikely to change South Africa’s sovereign rating in the near term, the ratings agency said on Monday. Speaking at... →
DoC aims to clarify set-top-box control system definition
9th March 2015 As the Department of Communications (DoC) moves to clarify the definition of the control system approved by Cabinet for the set-top boxes (STBs)... →
10% of State-owned land remains undeveloped
6th March 2015 The Department of Human Settlements is awaiting the conclusion of a land acquisition strategy to identify, earmark and allocate available... →
Despite decoder decision, SA will not meet digital migration deadline
5th March 2015 While it is now “impossible” for South Africa to meet the June deadline to transition from analogue to digital broadcasting, industry will now be... →
Telkom will not monopolise broadband roll-out – Deputy Minister
5th March 2015 Telecommunications and Postal Services Deputy Minister Hlengiwe Mkhize vowed that partially State-owned Telkom would not entrench itself further as... →
Govt recommits to small business development
3rd March 2015 As Proudly South Africa (SA) moves to encourage local procurement to bolster small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the newly established... →
S Africa has enough scope to procure locally
3rd March 2015 There was enough scope in South Africa to make local procurement of goods and services feasible, Shanduka Black Umbrellas COO Seapei Mafoyane said... →
Funding not an SME inhibitor – Absa
3rd March 2015 The failure of one in seven small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) within the first year of operation was not a result of a lack of access to... →
Eskom imposes same 10% reduction stipulation on neighbouring countries
27th February 2015 While State-owned power utility Eskom was unable to cut off electricity supply to some of its neighbouring trade partners, it was able to reduce... →
S Africa call prices five times higher than rest of Africa
23rd February 2015 Despite a mobile price war and the implementation of lower mobile termination rates (MTRs), South Africa’s cheapest call offering is five times... →
Gauteng sets aside R300m for ICT infrastructure
23rd February 2015 The Gauteng provincial government aims to inject more than R300-million into information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure over... →
Temporary workers to gain from amended labour laws
20th February 2015 Temporary workers can expect treatment equal to that of permanent employees under the ambit of the now-in-force amended labour laws, the Department... →
High Court mulling Westinghouse dispute of R4.3bn Koeberg contract
20th February 2015 A judgment on the ongoing battle between parastatal Eskom and Toshiba’s Westinghouse Electric Company over a R4.3-billion steam generator contract... →
Suspended SAA CEO heads for disciplinary process over allegations
20th February 2015 Suspended South African Airways (SAA) CEO Monwabisi Kalawe is set to face a formal disciplinary enquiry following the findings of an investigation... →
Sibanye eyes R3bn, 150 MW solar power station
19th February 2015 Gold miner Sibanye Gold plans to build a R3-billion, 150 MW solar power plant to ease its reliance on the costly and unreliable electricity supply... →
Digital dividend could boost sub-Saharan Africa’s GDP by billions of dollars
17th February 2015 The release of the digital dividend contained within analogue broadcasting frequencies could bolster the mobile industry’s contribution to... →
More accurate digital migration progress database to be established
17th February 2015 On June 16, 2006, hundreds of countries agreed to a June 17, 2015, deadline to switch off their analogue transmissions; however, insufficient tabs... →
SA needs to move faster on digital broadcasting switchover – Muthambi
17th February 2015 South Africa needs to move faster to unlock the digital dividend expected from the migration from analogue to digital terrestrial television (DTT)... →
Telkom to transfer some employees to outsourced suppliers
16th February 2015 Following trade union Solidarity’s claim that Telkom could shed in excess of 10 000 jobs in the next step of restructuring, the embattled... →
Icasa could investigate signal-jamming drama at Parliament
13th February 2015 Following the widely-publicised communication jamming during the State of the Nation Address (SoNA) at Parliament on Thursday, the Independent... →
Broadband falls within govt’s nine-point plan to accelerate econ growth
13th February 2015 The roll-out of broadband in South Africa is one of nine focus areas that have been prioritised to kickstart the nation’s struggling economy.... →
KPMG unveils app to supply info on doing business in Africa
12th February 2015 Audit, tax and advisory services firm KPMG Global Africa Practice has launched a platform to arm businesses and investors with information on doing... →
Business airs wishlist for SoNA
10th February 2015 As the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) calls on government to foster closer collaboration between the public and private... →
Competition authorities should balance public interest, competition considerations in merger decisions
6th February 2015 As the Competition Commission obtains and mulls the inputs in response to its recently published draft guidelines on public interest decisions in... →
DoE reveals plans for revitalising SWH rebate programme
5th February 2015 Shortly after having taken the reins of the national solar water heater (SWH) programme from State-owned power utility Eskom, the Department of... →
Committee satisfied with input on national minimum wage
4th February 2015 The Portfolio Committee on Labour was satisfied with the number of people who participated in the Gauteng leg of its national public hearings into... →
January PMI indicates business conditions improving
2nd February 2015 The four index point rise to 54.2 in the seasonally adjusted Kagiso Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) in January suggested that manufacturers have... →
Davies unveils new R200m call centre
2nd February 2015 A new R200-million custom-built call centre for 2 500 employees has been launched in Umhlanga, KwaZulu-Natal, by Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob... →
CompComm tables draft policy to guide public interest decisions in mergers
23rd January 2015 The Competition Commission is seeking input from the public on guidelines directing its approach to the analysis of mergers based on public... →
Higher load shedding risk in Feb as a Koeberg unit undergoes maintenance
23rd January 2015 The risk of load shedding would be heightened next month as State-owned power utility Eskom takes half of the Koeberg power station’s capacity off... →
Solidarity confident of Feb synchronisation of Medupi Unit 6
22nd January 2015 Trade union Solidarity on Thursday said there were indications that State-owned power utility Eskom was on track for a mid-February synchronisation... →
Eskom bows out of WEF participation
20th January 2015 Financially strained State-owned power utility Eskom has scrapped much criticised plans to send three executives to the World Economic Forum’s... →
M&A activity in sub-Saharan Africa drops 3% in 2014
19th January 2015 The value of announced merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions involving sub-Saharan African targets contracted marginally to $28-billion in... →
Vodacom assures competition will be stronger post Neotel buyout
15th January 2015 The potential stifling of competition in the telecommunications sector has South Africa’s mobile operators up in arms as they move to block... →
Government extends helping hand to youth as new draft policy tabled
14th January 2015 The South African government hopes to provide the nation’s youth with a “hand up” to meaningfully participate in society and the economy, as... →
SAA achieves highest Iata environmental assessment
13th January 2015 South African Airways (SAA) has achieved the highest level of the International Air Transport Association (Iata) Environmental Assessment (IEnvA)... →
Electricity disruptions threaten manufacturing output – Seifsa
13th January 2015 South Africa is on its way to shedding 23% of production in the metals and engineering sector should the nation’s electricity woes not be resolved.... →
Manufacturing down 1.3% y/y in Nov, below analyst expectations
12th January 2015 Manufacturing output for November fell below analyst expectations, registering a “disappointing” 1.3% year-on-year contraction. This followed on... →
Solidarity raises concern over Labour Law amendment
9th January 2015 Trade union Solidarity has warned of the unintended consequences of the Labour Relations Amendment (LRA) Act No 6 of 2014, which was promulgated on... →
