24 Apr 2012

Manufacturing

 

'Dear Mr President...'

With a few days and counting to the imposition of e-tolling, Fedusa has entered the fray - along with a range of other bodies - in an effort to halt what must be ranked as one of the most deeply unpopular moves on the part of government. Fedusa has addressed an open letter to Zuma after, apparently, an earlier letter to him went unanswered - maybe he was busy on those wedding plans.

On the education front, we didn't come out of the recent World Literacy Summit in the UK smelling of roses because when it comes to literacy, SA comes bottom of the class. Apparently the experts are puzzled as to 'how can this be?' Well, here are a couple of ideas for discussion... Under-trained teachers, bad management, lack of discipline in the classroom, lack of textbooks, a teachers' union that often seems more intent on striking than teaching... that sort of thing?

There's good news for those in ICT - Cape Town is to host the international ICT Indaba 2012 and strategies on how Africa can be developed to be become the next boom market in the ICT sector look to be high on the agenda.

For our e-tag carrier enthusiasts, our motoring editor Henrie Geyser waxes lyrical on the Kia Optima, which Henrie describes as smart, sensible and stylish... again, very much like our Henrie, then.

Surprise - some good news for a change from the Eastern Cape... If you're planning on flying anywhere in the next few years, there's good news for you... the man (or woman - must be PC) at the sharp end up at the front should be pretty good as an Eastern Cape pilot training school has linked up with Boeing to train pilots.

Finally - and still up in the air - kulula feels deeply for those of us who are brave enough to have four wives. So, appreciating that the cost of lugging her along with you can be heavy, the airline has just launched a '4th wife flies free' offer. The only drawback we can see is that the offer is open to all fourth wives when the family travels together on the Joburg to Cape Town leg - so if you live in Durban, hard cheese.

Rod Baker, content director

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Manufacturing


Ndebele calls for rolling stock manufacturers' Metrorail proposals
Transport Minister Sbu Ndebele invited manufacturers of rolling stock to submit proposals to supply more than 7000 coaches to state-owned commuter rail service Metrorail, Business Day reports. After six years of planning, the state has given the go-ahead for the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) to identify a manufacturer that will produce 7224 Metrorail coaches. Read more >>

SA Olympic kit: Sascoc criticised for using foreign suppliers
Cape Times reports that the Trade and Industry Department criticised a South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee's (Sascoc's) decision to use foreign suppliers to make the kit for the SA Olympic and Paralympic Games teams "despite competitive capabilities available among domestic manufacturers and represents a lost opportunity in terms of domestic sales and jobs," the department said. Read more >>

Daimler opens Indian plant, takes on local rivals
ORAGADAM: Germany's Daimler AG opened its first truck manufacturing plant in India on Wednesday (18 April 2012) to grab a share of the fast-growing market and challenge top Indian vehicle makers. Read more >>

Solar geyser components to be SA-made
CAPE TOWN: The Department of Trade and Industry plans to designate components for solar water heaters under its preferential procurement legislation to encourage local manufacture, Parliament's trade and industry committee was told on Tuesday (17 April 2012). Read more >>

SA manufacturer DAe looks to partner with ASEAN countries
Experience gained by South Africa's Denel Aerostructures (DAe) in the design and manufacturing of the world's premier aircraft is now also available to clients in South-East Asia, Defence Professionals (DefPro) reports. Read more >>

Wind energy converters for Suzlon's Cookhouse Project
Berlin, Germany-based PCS Power Converter Solutions announced in a statement that it has signed a supplier contract with Suzlon Wind Energy South Africa to supply Green Line 1000 reactive current converters for the Suzlon Cookhouse Project in South Africa's Eastern Cape province. Read more >>

Motorola hits at Nigerian grey market
Allafrica.com reports that Motorola Solutions has appealed to Nigeria's Federal Government to put in place holistic measures that would eradicate activities of the grey market in the country. Read more >>

Manufacturing


Job losses slow in clothing industry: Sactwu
[Zeenat Moorad] Job losses in the clothing, textile and leather sectors have shown a significant slowdown in 2011, a report tabled at the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the Southern African Clothing & Textile Workers' Union (Sactwu) showed. Read more >>

Denel to market products at Malaysian defence exhibition
Denel has a strong presence at the 13th Annual Defence Services Asia Exhibition (DSA) held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia this week. Read more >>


Government
E-toll saga deepens, Fedusa sends Zuma open letter
In an open letter to President Jacob Zuma, the Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa) says it has referred the issue of tolling prices, and how they are calculated, to the Competition Commission. Fedusa is seeking an urgent meeting with the president to discuss the issue. Read more >>

Road freight body enters e-toll fray
The Road Freight Association (RFA) has filed papers in the Pretoria High Court in an attempt to join the legal proceedings against the implementation of e-tolling in Gauteng, scheduled for April 30. Read more >>

Govt invites bidders for multi billion rand rail rolling stock
Government has formally invited manufacturers in South Africa and outside of SA to submit their bids to win the right to build 7224 metro coaches estimated at R123bn. Read more >>

More Government news...


Motoring
Smart, sensible and stylish Optima
[Henrie Geyser: motoring editor] For a cloning exercise to be successful it has to create something which is at least as good, or better, than the original - and Kia has just shown that it can be done with remarkable success when they unwrapped the new Kia Optima in South Africa. Read more >>

More Motoring news...


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