Pilgrim’s Rest businesses win court battle
The North Gauteng High Court issued an order yesterday restraining the Mpumalanga government from evicting occupants of Pilgrim’s Rest business premises. Judge Stanley Makgoba criticised the tender process to obtain new tenants followed by the provincial Public Works Department, which owns the historic gold mining town. “I have to say this whole process is a sham, it just cannot work. The second respondent (Mpumalanga Public Works MEC Dikeledi Mahlangu) is hereby restrained from evicting the applicants pending a review of the whole system,” said Makgoba when delivering his judgment. “I came to realise that the tenders awarded are marred with controversy and taken with some measure of illegality.” – Sapa
Investec profit in line with last year
Investec’s operating profit for its first quarter to June was little changed, the company said yesterday. Operating profit before goodwill, acquired intangibles, non-operating items and taxation and after non-controlling interests was “in line with the prior year”, it said, without giving figures. The credit loss ratio decreased to 0.61 percent from 1.12 percent a year earlier and so-called recurring income as a percentage of total operating income was about 72 percent, compared with 71 percent last year, “supported by higher average funds under management”, Investec said. – Bloomberg
More blackouts on the way – official
South Africans should expect more power cuts, as the distribution grid would gradually collapse from 2015 unless a maintenance backlog was addressed, an expert said yesterday. “We are three years away from collapse,” Deon Louw, the deputy director of electro-technical services in Overstrand municipality, Western Cape, told MPs. “We will see power failures.” – Sapa