SA is getting going again, but faces a long road to recovery ahead

SA is opening its borders to the world from the beginning of next month as the country moves to lockdown level 1, restoring most of its economic activity from midnight tonight. President Cyril Ramaphosa said the curfew would remain but start at midnight and end at 4am, and the sale of alcohol for consumption at home would now be from Monday to Friday.

CRIPPLED by vandalism said to have cost it an estimated R4bn in the past few years, the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) launched an intelligence-driven plan aimed at protecting its assets. The plan hinges on intelligence gathering, analysis and coordination; proactive, combative and reactive approaches, as well as the insourcing of 3,100 security officers to beef up Prasa’s security unit.

STRUGGLING gem producer Petra Diamonds found five blue stones, typically among the most valuable in the world, at its Cullinan mine in SA.

RETAIL sales disappointed in July, backtracking on some of the ground recovered in the previous month and underscoring the long road to recovery lying ahead for the sector. Retail sales contracted 9% year on year, worse that the -5% expected in a Bloomberg poll of eight economists, and a sharper contraction than the revised 7.2% fall reported in June.

SA would struggle to emerge from its deepest slump in about a century in the face of power cuts by Eskom and low demand, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. It downgraded its outlook for the country, saying GDP would shrink 11.5% in 2020. That compares with the 7.3% forecast by the Reserve Bank.

POULTRY group Astral Foods warned profits would fall in the year to end-September after Covid-19 shut down fast-food restaurants and put pressure on selling prices.