By Jackie Cameron
- SAA’s rescue plan is ready for implementation say the state-owned airline’s administrators. But funding still needs to be found. The administrators took over SAA in December after almost a decade of financial losses and published their restructuring plan for SAA last month, after repeated delays and fierce wrangling over the airline’s future, says Reuters. Their plan scales back the airline’s fleet and sheds jobs – and requires R10bn in funding.
- South Africa’s economy is likely to contract by 7.2% this year as a result of Covid-19 shutdowns. Growing debt repayments will hamper its recovery, says the International Monetary Fund. The IMF, based in Washington, approved $4.3bn in emergency financing and this is part of $7bn in planned borrowing from international financial institutions, says Reuters. The BRICS Bank has approved a $1bn loan, and the African Development Bank says it will lend the government R5bn.
- Kenya’s biggest telecoms operator Safaricom – part-owned by South Africa’s Vodacom – has launched a growth-oriented programme in partnership with Google that allows its customers to pay for 4G-enabled phones in instalments. The ultimate aim is to switch about 4 million 2G and 3G phones to 4G. Safaricom is bolstering its data business to offset a fall in revenue from mobile calls amid a saturated market, it says. It had 28.6m customers as of the end of its financial year in March.
- RMB Attorneys – a legal firm representing over 340 business interruption claimants countrywide and those insured by South Africa’s biggest insurers including Santam, Hollard, Old Mutual and Guardrisk has slammed “interim once off” payments as a public relations ploy. Sunset Hills Holiday Resort who is insured with Hollard feels that this relief is a total kick in the teeth for them as they have directly been excluded as they turnover more than R25 million an annum and even if they were included the up too R200 000 once of relief payment doesn’t even cover the rent. Duncan Heafield, owner of Bellezar Beach Café in Umhlanga Rocks whose business is insured with Santam who also heads up the Hospitality, Entertainment, Leisure Industries Alliance of South Africa and is totally infuriated by the “so called” relief offered. He is one of RMB attorneys’ clients that is proceeding to the High Courts to get Santam to pay his and his alliance members.
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