Canny advice on property exposure for SA investors
Johannesburg - Local investors may want to up their exposure to listed property stocks amid growing uncertainty in world equity markets, David Cairns, a property analyst at Sasfin Frankel Pollak Securities, said yesterday. Sasfin has reduced its equity exposure in its model portfolio for the third quarter to 60 percent from 65 percent in the second quarter. It maintained 15 percent in cash and 10 percent in bonds, and increased its property exposure to 15 percent from 10 percent. "The listed property sector offers the potential of high reward at relatively low risk for the prudent investor. With the prospects of lower interest rates next year, this is an opportune time to commit funds to the sector," Cairns said.
(©www.busrep.co.za)

Breathing life into Hillbrow, Braamfontein
Best and worst of SA history on show SA's new Constitutional Court is to be housed at the site of the 19th-century Old Fort in Braamfontein, occupying roughly 12000m² of the 95000m² site.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Industrial zone for airport on the cards
THE trade and industry department is expected to decide within the next few weeks whether Johannesburg International Airport has been designated SA's second industrial development zone (IDZ) following Coega's designation last year. The airport is the busiest passenger and freight airport in southern Africa. According to Airports Council International, it ranks only slightly below Dublin Airport, and is busier than Brisbane and Dubai airports.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Empowerment firm Motseng in R2bn venture
Marriott is a 50-50 partner in operation Property Editor MARRIOTT Property Services and black empowerment firm Motseng Investment Holdings have launched a 50-50 joint venture property management operation.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Freedom Charter's home gets facelift
GREATER Kliptown an area of historical importance in Soweto located between the residential areas of Eldorado Park, Pimville, Dlamini and Klipsruit West is to be revitalised.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Ambitious Gautrain project is on track
THE rapid rail link, dubbed the Gautrain a 38-minute ride between Johannesburg and Pretoria and 12 minutes from Johannesburg International Airport to Sandton is by far the most ambitious and costly project in Blue IQ's portfolio.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Problems in inland ports under review
BLUE IQ has delayed its plans to establish an industrial development zone (IDZ) in City Deep. Sipho Mhlongo, project leader of the City Deep Terminal project, said that preparatory work and research had indicated that an IDZ in City Deep was not viable in the near future.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Manufacturing to switch from low value to high value goods
BLUE IQ aims to transform the neighbouring towns of Wadeville and Alrode in Ekurhuleni (formerly East Rand) into a super manufacturing industrial corridor over the next 10 years.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Supplier park a boon for vehicle makers
THIS month one of Blue IQ's projects, the Gauteng Automotive Cluster , announced the launch of a new R1bn Automotive Supplier Park development at Rosslyn, close to Pretoria.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Tyre recycling plan in jeopardy
Up to R1 billion in investment and thousands of job opportunities waiting to be created by a new industry that would recycle millions of scrap tyres have been jeopardised by the government's lethargy
(©www.busrep.co.za)

Oyster Box polishes up its pearl in Umhlanga
Durban - The family-owned Oyster Box Hotel in Umhlanga has withstood competition from big hotel chains for 46 years through a combination of its history, attention to detail and character.
(©www.busrep.co.za)

Act to protect municipal money
Cape Town - Dubious investments by local authorities in pyramid schemes and city centre office blocks now standing empty would hopefully be a thing of the past under the new Municipal Finance Management Act, senior treasury officials said yesterday.
(©www.busrep.co.za)

Professionals join the public sector to beef up skills
Johannesburg - An increasing number of highly skilled professionals from the private sector were taking salary cuts to work for the government because of the valuable exposure to a wide range of economic, financial, management and administrative policy skills, the national treasury said this week.
(©www.busrep.co.za)

SARB governor remains positive on inflation outlook
SA recorded another massive trade surplus of R4.66bn during June, marginally from R5.1bn recorded in May. Cumulative surplus for year-to-date now amounts to R24.257bn compared with R21.923bn over same period last year.
(©www.busrep.co.za)

Last tender is issued for Joburg summit
The Johannesburg World Summit Company (Jowsco) yesterday issued the last of its tenders for the logistics of the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development taking place from August 26 to September 4.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

SA to bid for role in giant radio telescope project
SA is planning to compete to host for what will arguably be the biggest and most important radio telescope project in the 1st quarter of the 21st Century,the $1-billion “Square Kilometre Array” .
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

Unsolicited bids reshaping SA's toll-roads future
While commuters may be alarmed by the fact that toll-roads have become an increasing part of their daily travelling, those in the roads sector suggest that the heavy competition for funding from the national fiscus as well as from provincial budgets necessitates the establishment of toll-roads, which have fewer start-up costs and no running costs for government.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

SAFCEC NEWS

NOMINATIONS FOR BASIL READ AWARD – 2002
The Division of Construction of SAICE invites nominations for this award, in honour of the late Mr Basil Read. The award is made to an individual Member of the Institution of Civil Engineering, who has made an outstanding contribution or rendered significant service to Civil Engineering Construction within the last 2 years. Nominations, together with motivations, should be sent to the SAICE Division of Construction, who will submit a recommendation for approval by the SAICE Council. A Gold Medal and/or up to 2 Bronze Medals may be awarded annually. The Divisional Committee may withhold its recommendation if no suitable candidate is proposed.

Please submit nominations 23 August 2002 to :

Howard Richardson
Fax (011) 455 1700
Email : contract@safcec.org.za

SABS 2001 STANDARDS

The SABS has made available several draft SABS 2001 Construction Standards by way of public enquiry to all interested and affected parties for public comment. The standards published are :
BE1: Earthworks (General
BE7: Gabions and pitching
BE8: Earthworks, Roads, subgrade)
BS1: Site clearance (General)

All these draft standards are available in electronic copy and may be obtained on request from SAFCEC Head Office.

The closing date for comment is 30 September 2002 and any such comment should be submitted to SAFCEC Head Office by 20 September 2002 for correlation.

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Making empty space pay its way
ApexHi has found a way to make its vacancies more profitable. Nineteen percent (245 000 m²) of its portfolio of secondary properties is empty. The R2bn listed fund paid only for the space that was occupied in the properties it bought. It deducted the total running costs of the buildings from the rent of occupied offices to calculate its initial yields, which, at an average of 18%, beat industry norms. So, as long as management keeps its present tenants, the properties are as good as fully let.
(©www.fm.co.za)

Shopping centres prop up Liberty International
Cape Town - Liberty International, the property group, lifted net property investment income 6 percent on a like-for-like basis against a backdrop of troubled financial markets. In the six months to June, the London- and JSE Securities Exchange-listed company dropped earnings a share before exceptional items to 10.82p from 11.38p. This was due to a reduced level of non-recurring profits and because a P6.8 million exceptional profit on investment activities in property shares realised in the six-month period was not recorded in the profit and loss account either this year or last year.
(©www.busrep.co.za)

Mr Price is ahead of the game
Cape Town - Value fashion and home store retailer Mr Price said yesterday trading profits for the first quarter had streaked ahead of budget, putting it on track for a "meaningful" rise in earnings for the year to March 2003.
(©www.busrep.co.za)

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Agency launches branch in Mpumalanga
THE National Urban Reconstruction and Housing Agency, which mobilises finance for the low- income housing market, launched a branch in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga, last week.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Germans give R125m boost to rural housing
Property Editor THE delivery of housing in rural areas has been boosted by a R125m donation from the German government to the Rural Housing Loan Fund.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Poor may squat in bank queues
HOUSING Minister Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele is raising the pressure on the banking sector, warning that she is prepared to go to great lengths to force banks to lend to the lowincome housing market.
(©www.bday.co.za)

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Government's empowerment plans still haunt JSE corridors
Johannesburg - The benchmark stock index had its biggest drop since December yesterday as global mining group Anglo American plunged on concern the government might force it to give a share of new mines to empowerment firms.
(©www.busrep.co.za)

Getting to know Africa's rules will produce returns
South African companies operating and trading throughout Africa generally considered the return on investment to be worth the risks. This was the consensus from the panel presenting at a recent Gibs Forum, entitled Business in Africa.
(©www.busrep.co.za)

Amendments to labour law extend rights of workers
Johannesburg - Changes in South African labour law, which come into force this week, amounted to a crucial extension of the rights of ordinary workers, Cosatu said yesterday.
(©www.busrep.co.za)

Unita turns its back on violence officially
LUANDA Angola's Unita rebel movement will turn its back officially on its violent past today when it announces the disbanding of its forces and its evolution into a purely political movement.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Rwanda-Congo peace deal a coup for the AU
THE SA-brokered peace agreement signed in Pretoria yesterday by Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo has raised the hope for peace in the troubled region and given a boost to the newly formed African Union.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Nigeria prequalifies four for second phone licence
Nigeria has prequalified all four telecoms operators for the second national operator (SNO) licence to compete with its troubled national carrier Nitel.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

EU wants 8m euro of aid money back from Malawi
The European Union (EU) has given the Malawi government an August 30 deadline to hand back at least €8-million ($7,82-million) it says the government diverted from an agreed project.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

Malawi seeks investor for its largest textile company
Malawi – The Malawian government is looking for a strategic investor for the country’s largest textile firm, David Whitehead and Sons.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

Big sugar plan for Mali
A plan for a $253,6-million sugar factory, could make Mali, one of the poorest countries in the world, self-sufficient in sugar and eventually provide for export of up to 60 0000 t of sugar.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

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The trust dividend
A SUSPICIOUS mind could be forgiven for worrying that, by leaking rough drafts of a departmental treatise on empowerment in the mining sector which threaten white ownership of the industry in SA, government was deliberately driving down the price of mining shares. Of course not.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Finland platinum-resource estimate raised
Finnish Outokumpu and South African Gold Fields yesterday raised their estimate of a platinum group element (PGE) resource in Northern Finland to 14,4-million ounces from an earlier 11,3 million.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

Nickel to trade in $5 000/t-$8 800/t band in 2003 – report
Nickel prices are likely to remain in a range of $5 000 to $8 800 a ton through the end of next year, underpinned by strong stainless steel demand from China in particular, Roskill Information Services said yesterday.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

Study into new Zambia copper mine under way
Canadian miner First Quantum’s feasibility study into its 80%-owned Kansanshi copper deposit in Zambia is scheduled for completion in the fourth quarter of this year.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

World iron-ore output falls
A newly-released iron-ore market study for 2001 to 2003 – produced under a co-operative agreement between the UNCTAD Iron Ore Trust Fund and Raw Materials Group – has found that total world production of iron ore in 2001 was 931-million tons (Mt), a decrease of 3,1% over 2000, when production was at its highest ever.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

R631m PGM project on track for completion this year
All major civil structures are nearing completion and infrastructure development is well under way at Aquarius Platinum’s new R631-million Marikana platinum project in South Africa, which is scheduled for completion before the end of the year.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

Aussie nickel firm still in talks on debt deal
Debt-ridden outback miner Anaconda Nickel yesterday said it was still in talks on a debt restructuring, although any deal would be complex and could be some time away.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

Resources giant likely to gain coal-price rise
Resources group BHP Billiton has won around a 12% rise in hard coking coal prices to Japan following long-running negotiations, an industry analyst said yesterday.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

Gold miner to procure 90% of timber from black group
Gold producer Harmony yesterday announced that Izingodo Holdings – a black controlled consortium that has acquired a significant stake in Timrite – will in future supply 90% of the company’s timber requirements.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

St Helena in R120m transfer deal
The Freegold joint venture (JV) between African Rainbow Minerals Gold (ARMGold) and Harmony Gold has bought the St Helena mine from Gold Fields for R120-million.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

Value of S Africa's minerals sales rises
A glance at the Statistics South Africa report for the February-to-April period this year reveals that mineral sales have improved markedly when compared with the same period last year.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

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RE/MAX picks Property24
Leading estate agency franchise group RE/MAX has selected Property24 as the group's Internet partner, and will from now on place all its homes-for-sale listings on the Property24 website.
(©www.property24.co.za)

How price growth is slowing
The national average house price stands at R334 000, having increased by 4,6 percent, in real terms, in the first half of this year compared to the same period of 2001.
(©www.property24.co.za)

Spotlight on: Paarl
Retirement buying has given a healthy boost to the property market in Paarl in recent years, but a severe shortage of suitable land is now likely to curtail any major new development for this market.
(©www.property24.co.za)

Transfer duty net tightens
New legislation is on the way to further discourage the practice - common among wealthy home buyers - of taking ownership of residential properties in companies and close corporations rather than in their own names.
(©www.property24.co.za)

Cape values keep rising
Property values in most areas of the Western Cape have increased steeply in the past four years, with only one out of 13 districts showing a decline, according to the Institute of Estate Agents (IEASA).
(©www.property24.co.za)

Industry must raise education standards
Complacency about education and inferior performance in the real estate industry is becoming less and less acceptable as South Africa is increasingly drawn into the global property market, and local consumers demand higher levels of service.
(©www.property24.co.za)

PGP starts service excellence awards
Brackenfell estate agent Arnesia Theart has been named as the first winner in Pam Golding Properties' new award programme for excellence in client service.
(©www.property24.co.za)

Newtown rejuvenation sheds new light
One impact that Blue IQ have is the fact that Newtown properties have been fetching premium prices
(©www.netassets.co.za)

Maintenance bolsters the bottom line
The property industry is a burgeoning niche market for facilities management and maintenance services
(©www.netassets.co.za)

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Future of Health Care
Employee health-care benefits have doubled in six years and now consume almost 10% of the average company's payroll. Employers are increasingly scaling back medical aid provision, shifting the burden on to the member. Each year, 10%-20% of members are forced to buy down to cheaper scheme options, while those who can afford price hikes of double consumer inflation obtain fewer benefits in return. Scheme membership has stagnated at about 7m and the patient pool is ageing. Unless the private health-care sector works out a new deal to provide affordable, quality care, the system as a whole is in jeopardy.
(©www.fm.co.za)

ProjectDash
Project Magazine's Software Review Team checks out ProjectDash an Internet-based service developed by iDashes, Inc. for capturing project status and communicating project performance.
With ProjectDash companies are able to meet objective, customer-defined expectations, and projects are delivered on time, within budget, and to much happier customers...
(©www.projectmagazine.com)

ActionDb
ActionDb is a free on-line action item and problem management system allowing globally distributed team members to share a common action database.
(©www.projectmagazine.com)

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Foreign direct investment bullish in second quarter
Johannesburg - Foreign direct investment (FDI) for the second quarter should emulate the bullish sentiment of the first quarter of this year, according to economic think-tank BusinessMap. This follows the announcement by the trade and industry department this week of three new investments in the country worth in excess of R1 billion: India's Tata Iron and Steel (R600 million), ceramics manufacturer Pegasus (R208 million) and fibreoptic manufacturer FibreCore Africa (R193 million).
(©www.busrep.co.za)

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17% chopped off Anglo
Shares in heavyweights Richemont and Anglo American slid at the end of a brutal week on Friday, as worries about delays in a global economic pickup kept investors on the run.
(©www.news24.com)

Sasol to lift ammonia imports
Sasol plans to treble ammonia imports to 180 000 tons a year, following an increase in demand for fertilisers and explosives.
(©www.news24.com)

The rand commission's work is finally done: but was it worth the R14.7m?
The rand commission's reports are in, the costs have been tallied and the results, or lack thereof, pored over and picked apart. The powers that be have deemed that the hands of Deutsche Bank, Sasol, M-Cell and Nampak, the companies named by SA Chamber of Business chief executive Kevin Wakeford in his damning letter to President Thabo Mbeki, appear unspotted. And that's that.
(©www.busrep.co.za)

Delay, disruption: Discuss
THE SOCIETY of Construction Law has published a consultation document for comment on protocol for determining extensions of time and compensation for delay and disruption. The document's objective is to answer some of the issues that arise on construction contracts where one party wishes to recover from the other an extension of time and/or compensation for additional time and resources, spent to complete the project. The intention is to provide material to assist in avoiding unnecessary disputes. If the parties agree, it can be used as an aid in deciding issues that are not clearly covered — but should not be used as a contract document. Matters covered by the protocol are: programme; entitlements to extensions of time; float; concurrent delays; mitigation; retrospective delay analyses; and monetary claims.
(©www.industryclick.com)

New Technologies
Lean Project Delivery System
The Need: To extend to the construction industry the Lean production revolution started in manufacturing. This production management based approach to project management maximizes value delivered to the customer while minimizing waste. While designing and building are different from manufacturing, the principles drawn from Lean Production Management can be applied through techniques tailored to the project setting. Taken together these principles and techniques form the basis for a Lean Project Delivery System.
(©www.new-technologies.org)

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Seen on the ASAQS Classifieds
Qs required for Building Company Sandton Area
Recently Qualified Q.S.with BSc Qs or B tech degree required to join leading meduim sized Construction Company based in the JHB- north. Position offered Jnr QS with growth potential.

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New members to the CUG

Will be posted next week

Please note that your registration to the CUG will remain in force as long as you remain a member of ASAQS and there is no need to register every year. If you have not received an e-mail confirming your registration contact ASAQS.

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