Month: September 2023

President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed sadness at the two natural disasters that have claimed close to 8 000 lives collectively and displaced tens of thousands of residents in eastern Libya and Morocco.

More than 5 000 people have died due to floods associated with Storm Daniel in eastern Libya, while more than 2 000 people died in an earthquake last weekend in the Atlas Mountains in Morocco.

On behalf of the Government and people of South Africa, President Ramaphosa expressed that South Africans felt the pain and loss by citizens of both countries.

“South Africa shares the pain and loss felt by the people of eastern Libya and Morocco. These disasters highlight once more the frailty of life when confronted with the forces of nature,” President Ramaphosa said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

The nominations for the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) 2023 Scientific Merit Awards are now open.

These awards are aimed at acknowledging outstanding contributions to health research.

The awards recognise individuals who have demonstrated exceptional scientific acumen and have made innovative strides in addressing public health challenges, potentially influencing policy and thereby enhancing the well-being of the South African population.

Eligible candidates are pioneering researchers who have significantly advanced the realm of science and health research through their published work, with a focus on benefiting the lives of South Africans.

The accolades, widely regarded as some of the most prestigious in the country, encompass several tiers. These include Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and the esteemed President’s Awards.

Platinum medals, symbolising the Lifetime Achievement Award, are bestowed upon scientists who have exhibited a lifelong dedication to the field of health, leaving an indelible mark.

Respected academics, such as the late Professor Bongani Mayosi, along with Professors Valerie Mizrahi, Salim Abdool Karim and others, have previously been honoured with the Platinum Award accolade.

Gold medals are reserved for accomplished senior scientists, who have made seminal contributions that have had a profound impact on the health of people, particularly those residing in developing nations.

Last year, this award went to Professors Bavesh Kana, Elmi Muller, Sharon Prince and Ameena Goga.

Silver medals are dedicated to scientists who have played pivotal roles in scientific progress within the country, with an emphasis on fostering capacity development. Notable awardees in 2022 were Professors Theresa Rossouw and Samantha Sampson and Drs Tarylee Reddy and Muki Shey.

The Bronze medals are awarded to scientists who have recently entered the health research field, with not less than five years post PhD experience.

While this award is not tied to chronological age, researchers should preferably be under the age of 50 years.

Last year’s recipients were Professors Lebo Gafane-Matemane, Tivani Mashamba-Thompson, Lusilda Schutte and Drs Terusha Chetty, Wynand Goosen and Wanga Zembe-Mkabile.

President’s Awards are conferred upon scientists who have exhibited an exceptional, lifelong commitment to health research and are granted at the discretion of the presiding SAMRC President and CEO.

In 2022, the sought-after President’s Award was bestowed on Professors Valerie Corfield and Johan Louw.

Corfield is a retiree who continues to serve in advancing research outputs and the research careers of academics in molecular and cell biology, health sciences and other disciplines.

Meanwhile, Louw is a biomedical scientist who serves as the Senior Platform Director at the Centre and Platforms Office at the SAMRC. His expertise and focal research areas are in the area of pathophysiology of metabolic disease, diabetes prevention, early diagnosis and treatment.

SAMRC President and CEO, Professor Glenda Gray, underscores that these awards honour research characterised by innovative methodologies and novel approaches in addressing public health issues, with the potential to influence policy and ultimately enhance the quality of life for South Africans.

“As we celebrate a decade of the SAMRC Scientific Merit Awards, these awards stand as a testament to the power of dedication, innovation and collaboration in advancing scientific discovery.

“Our honourees have illuminated the path towards healthier futures for all, embodying the spirit of excellence that drives us forward. With each passing year, we reaffirm our commitment to fostering a culture of scientific excellence and shaping a world where knowledge knows no bounds,” said Gray.

More information about nominations can be found on https://www.samrc.ac.za/about-us/samrc-scientific-merit-awards.

Source: South African Government News Agency

The latest edition of the Essential Food Pricing Monitoring (EFPM) report, released by the Competition Commission on Wednesday, details how inflation has come down, but food inflation remains at nearly twice the inflation rate for all goods and services.

The report also highlights comparative trends in grocery retailer margins to global peers. It shares evidence of ‘rocket and feather’ [retail prices go up like ‘rockets’ after an increase in wholesale costs but fall like ‘feathers’ after a decrease] effects in maize meal, cooking oil and bread, and provides an in-depth overview of the beef value chain in South Africa.

The Commission said it is actively monitoring essential food prices and investigating the factors driving food inflation.

“This ensures transparency regarding the profit margins set by producers and retailers of these products. With upstream commodity prices declining in the first half of 2023, the Commission is now focusing on how quickly this translates into lower prices for consumers,” the Commission said in a statement.

However, this report indicates that these price drops have not consistently resulted in reduced producer or retail prices or have been delayed in doing so, noting that producers and retailers face other cost pressures.

The Commission noted that competition authorities in Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom recently published reports on the state of grocery retail competition in these countries in light of high food inflation.

“These reports assess trends in retail profits over the past three to four years. When comparing their findings to South Africa, we notice that local retailers are much more profitable than their counterparts in these countries. This could be due to various factors, including differences in the level of competition.

“Additionally, in some markets like the UK, retailer margins are decreasing, as discounters gain prominence, while in South Africa, margins increased between 2019 and 2022 before a recent decline primarily attributed to load shedding costs.

“This edition of the EFPM report also provides an overview of the work that has been done by other researchers, who have found evidence of the rocket and feather effect in local staple food value chains reviewed, where prices rise quickly during inflationary periods and decline slowly when inflation subsides,” the Commission said.

Various explanations have been proposed for this phenomenon, with the key concern being the potential dysfunction of competition.

The EFPM includes an update on recent pricing trends and margins at the producer and retail level for sunflower oil, bread, maize meal, and individual quick frozen (IQF) chicken pieces.

Key findings of the EFPM include:

Bread and wheat prices (lagged three months to reflect the time to feed into producer stock) fell by approximately 10% during the first quarter of the year but producer and retailer prices for bread both rose by 3% in this period, and only started to drop in the second quarter of the year.

White maize prices (lagged three months) have fallen consistently and by 23% since February but producer and retail prices for maize meal have yet to decline.

Cooking oil prices have been on a declining trend since a year ago when the EFPM report indicated that producer prices were rising, despite sunflower seed prices remaining stable in South Africa.

However, while retailers cut their margins during the period of rising prices, they have been slower to reduce prices, resulting in expanding margins. More recently, sunflower seed prices (lagged three months) have dropped but producer prices have still not responded.

As noted in the previous EFPM Report, IQF chicken price inflation remains lower than food inflation. The Commission will continue to monitor this value chain following the re-imposition of anti-dumping tariffs.

Some of the large food companies have recorded large revenue increases as a result of price increases, rather than volume growth, the Commission said.

Some producers have indicated that load shedding costs have not had a material impact on their businesses, except for poultry producers.

Beef value chain

This EFPM report takes a closer look at the South African beef sector, a crucial component of the country’s economy and diet, finding that it is becoming increasingly concentrated, with more companies vertically integrating across several points of the value chain.

The number of commercial cattle farmers has more than halved in the last 10 years.

The top 10 cattle feedlots account for almost 70% of cattle, up from 50% only six years ago. Feedlots are increasingly integrated into abattoirs and the top 10 slaughtered close to 50% of cattle.

During 2023, weaner calve prices declined substantially, which has resulted in lower prices for beef carcasses too.

However, the retail price for beef cuts collectively has not declined this year, resulting in the retailer share reaching 40% of the shelf price, the highest share since January 2021.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Ongoing investigations by the Anti-Gang Unit (AGU) in Gauteng are bearing fruit, as the unit has so far arrested 73 gangsters in connection with 90 criminal acts.

Of these, three have been convicted to life in prison, and an additional combined 130 years in prison.

The rest are still behind bars and on trial for a spate of crimes such as murder, attempted murder, possession of weapons and ammunition, possession of suspected motor vehicles and drugs, among others.

These police breakthroughs are only for gang activities within the Sophiatown, Langlaagte and Eldorado Park areas within the Johannesburg district.

Some of the suspects have been positively linked to crimes committed in more than one policing precinct. Only four of the charges are outside of the abovementioned areas.

“The fact that these 73 are facing 90 charges tells us that they were the source of terror within those areas, and further charges against them cannot be ruled out as the Anti-Gang Unit is still investigating,” said Lieutenant General Elias Mawela, the Gauteng Police Commissioner.

The South African Police Service in Gauteng is anticipating the best outcomes for the dockets on trial, considering the level of investigations that culminated in their arrests and the evidence gathered.

Source: South African Government News Agency

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) will “sustainably continue to develop” South Africa’s oil and gas resources in order to ensure energy security and alleviate dependency on foreign oil.

This is according to Mineral Resources and Energy Deputy Minister, Dr Nobuhle Nkabane, who was speaking at the Southern Africa Oil Gas Conference on Wednesday.

“It is imperative to accelerate the exploration of oil and gas both onshore and offshore, as having our own petroleum resources will reduce our dependency on foreign oil and cushion our economies, in particular our citizens against imposed whirlwinds of crude price volatility,” she said.

The Deputy Minister said South Africa has already initiated policy intervention processes to boost the development and growth of the country’s oil and gas industry.

“The first intervention is the development of the Gas Master Plan which is a policy that outlines and guides the critical role of gas in South Africa while providing policy direction to the gas industry.

“We have also developed the Upstream Petroleum Development Bill seeking to ensure that the upstream petroleum sector is no longer regulated under the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, 2002 (MPRDA), but under discrete petroleum legislation. We believe the de-coupling of the Upstream Petroleum Development Bill from MPRDA will bring regulatory certainty and hopefully shore up investor confidence,” Nkabane said.

Natural gas

Deputy Minister Nkabane highlighted that natural gas in one the key components in South Africa’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) 2019 and accounts for at least 3% of the country’s energy supply.

She explained that natural gas can also contribute to South Africa’s quest to lower emissions output.

“[The] continued exploration and discovery of indigenous gas is crucial for meeting our climate change targets and securing of energy supply,” she emphasised.

Nkabane highlighted that the recent discovery of maiden gas reserves in Mpumalanga represents a “major boost in electricity generation capacity as the country was looking at different sources of energy”.

She urged countries that have discovered gas to ensure these reserves not only serve international appetite but also contribute to energy security in local communities.

“Mpumalanga is the epicentre of South Africa’s power generation because [it] has a high concentration of power stations, therefore the discovery of gas positions the province at the centre of the just energy transition and as a source of reference for the country’s emission-reduction targets.

“We have also seen that Europe is looking to Africa to diversify its gas supplies. This presents a good opportunity and market for local gas beyond our own use. However, the caveat is that we should not rush to export our gas to Europe at the expense of our domestic and regional markets, no matter how tempting the prospects of earning foreign revenue.

“The argument often advanced is the lack of transmission infrastructure and unaffordability of gas products for local communities. My counter argument is that we are not going to change this situation if we do not use the revenue earned from gas exports to develop … our economies to create employment opportunities that will lead to consumption of goods and services,” she said.

Nkabane also called on African countries to increase ties in oil and gas trade between themselves.

“Already, South Africa imports the bulk of its crude requirements from African producers, including Nigeria and Angola. There is ample opportunity for a massive expansion of gas trade, especially from the Gulf of Guinea and the broader West Coast of Africa, where we have many producers and some already exporting. We collaborate closely with the African Petroleum Producers Organisation and urge more meaningful engagement with this continental body.

“As a region we should strive to build a strong oil and gas sector that will drive regional and continental economic development as is the case with the advanced economies,” Nkabane said.

Source: South African Government News Agency