Hits&Misses

Business lauds Tito appointment, IMF cagey over SA’s prospects

BUSINESS has lauded President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to appoint former Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni as finance minister. Mboweni replaced Nhlanhla Nene, who resigned following public pressure over his testimony at the statecapture inquiry, where he admitted to meeting the Gupta family on numerous occasions.

WOOLWORTHS will remove single-use plastic bags from one of its stores during a sixmonth trial period in a bid to end plastic pollution, it said. From November, it will not offer any plastic bags at its Steenberg store in Cape Town, with customers having the choice of either bringing their own bags or paying R5.50 for a reusable bag.

THE SA Human Rights Commission said fashion retailer H&M was making significant strides in rectifying its wrongs after an outcry over a clothing item that featured the words “coolest monkey in the jungle”. THE International Monetary Fund warned that SA’s prospects remain uncertain in the lead-up to the 2019 elections and slashed the country’s growth forecast almost in half. In its October World Economic Outlook‚ it revised down 2018’s forecast to 0.8% from 1.5%. The forecast for 2019 was also revised down, from 1.7% to 1.4%.

THE mining sector will remain under pressure despite positive interventions, according to Fitch Solutions Macro Research, a subsidiary of the Fitch Group. It warned in a research note that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s economic stimulus and recovery plan is unlikely to revive growth in the mining sector, despite a R400bn infrastructure fund pledge and renewed mining regulatory clarity.

THE state-owned Passenger Rail Agency of SA has lost around R636m over the past three-and-a-half years due to deliberate train fires, parliament heard.