Natasha Odendaal
Natasha Odendaal is Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor for Engineering News and Mining Weekly.
Eskom says weekend maintenance ‘festival’ a success
28th April 2015 The first part of power utility Eskom’s maintenance drive has been completed without the parastatal having to implement load-shedding over the... →
AfDB to elect new president in May
22nd April 2015 A successor to the African Development Bank’s (AfDB’s) outgoing president Dr Donald Kaberuka would be elected in May, Finance Minister Nhlanhla... →
Global energy sector faces transformation, challenges
22nd April 2015 Globally, the power industry is facing a perfect storm of unprecedented challenges and companies failing to stay ahead of the curve face an... →
S Africa’s digital migration policy causes uncertainty – SACF
21st April 2015 South Africa’s delay in migrating from analogue to digital broadcasting has cost the country the first-mover advantage of establishing an... →
Solidarity calls for independent probe on xenophobia
20th April 2015 As South Africa is gripped by a wave of violent xenophobic attacks, trade union Solidarity called on government to appoint a multidisciplinary... →
S Africa’s analogue switch-off years away
15th April 2015 South Africa will need to wait a few more years before the much-coveted analogue broadcasting spectrum is released, as the country grapples to... →
Most S African households still lack access to Internet
14th April 2015 Despite improving levels of access to the Internet, the majority of South African households remained unconnected altogether, a new survey... →
Eskom continues Stage 2 load-shedding
14th April 2015 State-owned power utility Eskom on Tuesday announced that it has implemented Stage 2 load-shedding to ease the strain on the national electricity... →
Deeper fiscal integration key to Eurozone bounce back
10th April 2015 Deeper integration in the areas of public finances, the banking system and capital markets within the volatile Eurozone could go a long way in... →
Exxaro unveils R250m water treatment plant at Matla coal mine
9th April 2015 Diversified miner Exxaro on Thursday unveiled the first of three water treatment plants designed to mitigate underground water storage constraints,... →
Ghana secures $198m IMF boost
7th April 2015 Ghana has secured around $918-million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to support an economic bounce-back after a growth slowdown in... →
Gold mining companies make strides in housing employees
26th March 2015 South Africa’s major gold producers on Thursday said significant strides had been made to house their respective employees. Since the... →
DTI will finalise black industrialists policy within a month
25th March 2015 The Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI’s) plans for the development of black industrialists are gaining traction, with the intention to launch... →
Black industrialists to get financial boost through DFI credit, DTI grants
25th March 2015 Access to finance for South Africa’s black industrialists could become easier as the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) announces several... →
Black industrialists programme to plug BEE gap
25th March 2015 The Department of Trade and Industry-led Black Industrialists Development Programme would catapult black-owned businesses into the mainstream... →
Black industrialists to drive S Africa’s industrialisation – Zuma
25th March 2015 The developing Black Industrialists Policy Framework is the “right policy” to transform South Africa’s industrial landscape and get the nation’s... →
Cogta issues tender request for ICT information
23rd March 2015 As part of its “back to basics” agenda, the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) hopes to “empower citizens” and... →
SA eyes becoming net exporter of ICT services, products through SMMEs
23rd March 2015 The Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services (DTPS) aims to leverage small, medium-sized and microenterprises (SMMEs), cooperatives and... →
Can revised strategy help bring young South Africans in from the economic cold?
20th March 2015 As South Africa’s youth continue to be sidelined from the mainstream economy, government is moving to revive and refine its National Youth Policy... →
Tolling of the national roads essential for maintenance
18th March 2015 Tolling of South Africa’s national roads was essential to ensure the upkeep and maintenance of the popular trade and holiday routes, special... →
Bakwena moves to revamp two of its busiest routes
18th March 2015 Two new programmes set to start this month to revamp two of the busiest roads under special purpose vehicle Bakwena Platinum Corridor... →
N1N4 toll route to get R5bn upgrade
18th March 2015 Special purpose vehicle Bakwena Platinum Corridor Concessionaire has announced plans to inject over R5-billion into the rehabilitation and upgrade... →
DoC to gazette final broadcasting policy next week
13th March 2015 The Department of Communications (DoC) is preparing to align the soon-to-be-gazetted final Broadcasting Digital Migration (BDM) policy to the... →
Phase 1 of S Africa’s broadband deployment to start in April
12th March 2015 The first phase of the ambitious South Africa (SA) Connect broadband strategy – the national broadband plan – will get under way at the start of... →
S Africa’s sovereign rating unlikely to change – S&P's
9th March 2015 Standard and Poor’s (S&P’s) was unlikely to change South Africa’s sovereign rating in the near term, the ratings agency said on Monday. Speaking at... →
DoC aims to clarify set-top-box control system definition
9th March 2015 As the Department of Communications (DoC) moves to clarify the definition of the control system approved by Cabinet for the set-top boxes (STBs)... →
10% of State-owned land remains undeveloped
6th March 2015 The Department of Human Settlements is awaiting the conclusion of a land acquisition strategy to identify, earmark and allocate available... →
Despite decoder decision, SA will not meet digital migration deadline
5th March 2015 While it is now “impossible” for South Africa to meet the June deadline to transition from analogue to digital broadcasting, industry will now be... →
Telkom will not monopolise broadband roll-out – Deputy Minister
5th March 2015 Telecommunications and Postal Services Deputy Minister Hlengiwe Mkhize vowed that partially State-owned Telkom would not entrench itself further as... →
Govt recommits to small business development
3rd March 2015 As Proudly South Africa (SA) moves to encourage local procurement to bolster small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the newly established... →
S Africa has enough scope to procure locally
3rd March 2015 There was enough scope in South Africa to make local procurement of goods and services feasible, Shanduka Black Umbrellas COO Seapei Mafoyane said... →
Funding not an SME inhibitor – Absa
3rd March 2015 The failure of one in seven small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) within the first year of operation was not a result of a lack of access to... →
Eskom imposes same 10% reduction stipulation on neighbouring countries
27th February 2015 While State-owned power utility Eskom was unable to cut off electricity supply to some of its neighbouring trade partners, it was able to reduce... →
S Africa call prices five times higher than rest of Africa
23rd February 2015 Despite a mobile price war and the implementation of lower mobile termination rates (MTRs), South Africa’s cheapest call offering is five times... →
Gauteng sets aside R300m for ICT infrastructure
23rd February 2015 The Gauteng provincial government aims to inject more than R300-million into information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure over... →
Temporary workers to gain from amended labour laws
20th February 2015 Temporary workers can expect treatment equal to that of permanent employees under the ambit of the now-in-force amended labour laws, the Department... →
High Court mulling Westinghouse dispute of R4.3bn Koeberg contract
20th February 2015 A judgment on the ongoing battle between parastatal Eskom and Toshiba’s Westinghouse Electric Company over a R4.3-billion steam generator contract... →
Suspended SAA CEO heads for disciplinary process over allegations
20th February 2015 Suspended South African Airways (SAA) CEO Monwabisi Kalawe is set to face a formal disciplinary enquiry following the findings of an investigation... →
Sibanye eyes R3bn, 150 MW solar power station
19th February 2015 Gold miner Sibanye Gold plans to build a R3-billion, 150 MW solar power plant to ease its reliance on the costly and unreliable electricity supply... →
Digital dividend could boost sub-Saharan Africa’s GDP by billions of dollars
17th February 2015 The release of the digital dividend contained within analogue broadcasting frequencies could bolster the mobile industry’s contribution to... →
More accurate digital migration progress database to be established
17th February 2015 On June 16, 2006, hundreds of countries agreed to a June 17, 2015, deadline to switch off their analogue transmissions; however, insufficient tabs... →