Is Cape Town going directly to top place?
CAPE TOWN Take a good look at an old SA version of Hasbro's Monopoly board. The game created by American Charles Darrow during the great depression of the 1930s has become synonymous with city development and property prices.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Rescue arrives for Hyundai Petrochemical
SEOUL Creditors of Hyundai Petrochemical triggered a 622,1-billion won (477m) rescue yesterday just days before the company is to shut its plant due, it said, to a lack of cash. The board of its key shareholder, Hyundai Engineering & Construction, agreed to join the rescue plan by writing off its 11,65% stake, providing the spark needed to put the plan into action.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Sasol signs deal for $800m Qatar plant
CAPE TOWN Sasol has signed a joint venture agreement with Qatar Petroleum for the $800m gasto-liquids plant planned for Qatar's Ras Laffan industrial city. Sasol executive director Patrick Davies said the setting up of several gas-to-liquids businesses based on the group's slurry phase distillate technology was seen as a key driver of growth.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Richway set to revamp centres
Northgate, Brooklyn, Walmer Park to be extended RICHWAY Retail Properties is undertaking a multimillion-rand extension of three major shopping centres. These are Northgate Shopping Centre in Johannesburg, Brooklyn Mall in Pretoria and the Walmer Park Shopping complex in Port Elizabeth. The R66m extension of Northgate in the developing area of Northriding, north of Johannesburg, will add 12236m² to the centre, with another 1451m² being upgraded.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Lesotho sets aside R55m for industrial infrastructure development
The Lesotho government has set aside R55-million for the provision of industrial infrastructure such as roads, water, electricity and telecommunications during the 2001/2 fiscal year.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

Black oil firms cry foul over state fuel tenders
Black-empowerment oil industry interests have called for a complete overhaul of the government fuel tendering procedure, which, they say, favours the large entrenched oil industry giants and effectively discriminates against smaller black-empowerment oil companies.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

SA's civil aviation sector flies into stormy weather
IF there is one word which can sum up the South African civil aviation industry today, it is turbulence. Some observers would, however, prefer two words – severe turbulence.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

SA-German scientists collaborate on 40 projects
More than 40 scientific and technical projects are either in progress or have been completed since the signing of the South African-German science and technology agreement in 1995, and the subsequent signing of the agreement between the German Research Association and the South African National Research Foundation in December 1999.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

Exhaust firm explains plant closure
The economies-of-scale in South Africa and globally make consolidation of exhaust manufacturing essential in order to increase efficiencies and remain competitive in the domestic and export markets.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

Tenders invited for 500 MW Nigeria power plant
Sponsoring company Agip Nigeria will begin accepting tenders to build Nigeria's first power plant operated by an oil company, the company has announced.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

SA’s networking industry in a slump
Last year was a disastrous one for the South African networking industry, says BMI-T networking analyst Craig Kolb, who attributes the sharp decline to a number of factors, both psychological and economic.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

Submarine project continues despite probe
The project work on the three class 209 type 1400 SAN submarines for the South African Navy that form part of the defence deal package is proceeding on a routine basis, reports representative of the German submarine consortium Captain Siegfried Netzband.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

Energy-hungry world relooks at nuclear
The golden age of nuclear energy ended nearly 30 years ago, but its return to favour is on the horizon at a time when energy needs are getting bigger, electricity plants are getting smaller and environmental pressures are getting stronger.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

240 km Free State–Gauteng water pipeline being studied
Water utility Rand Water’s investigation into the feasibility of constructing 240-km-long large-diameter pipelines to gravity-feed the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) water from Clarens, in the Free State, to its existing facilities in the vicinity of Johannesburg – thereby bypassing the Vaal river system – should be completed by year-end, reports Rand Water strategic projects engineer Lourens Human.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za )

Telecoms cable switch-on by 2002
Constuction of Africa's $630-million undersea fibre-optic cable system is on schedule to be used for communication in the first quarter of next year.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

Moz becomes entrenched as a world aluminium hub
Canadian company SNC and South Africa’s Engineering Management Services, contracted to implement the brownfields project to double primary aluminium production at the Mozal smelter, in Mozambique, are already on site and the new plant is expected to receive initial raw material shipments in late 2003.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

Hendrina moves to reduce pollution
Power utility Eskom has embarked on the second phase of the Hendrina power station particulate emission retrofit programme as part of the national utility’s commitment towards cleaner thermal power.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

Airport buys docking bay
German materials-handling and lifting systems company Pfaff-silberblau International has clinched a R5,5-million contract to supply lifting equipment for an aircraft-maintenance dock to be installed at Johannesburg International Airport by mid-September.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

Retailers weigh up their property portfolios
THREE retailing groups are rumoured to be selling their substantial property portfolios as the tide of sentiment turns firmly in favour of retailers leasing rather than owning premises. Peter Blankenberg, the MD of Richway Retail Properties, said recently that a number of retailers had tried property ownership in the past, but it tended to be a cyclical phenomenon.
( ©www.bday.co.za )

Durbanville project on track
HNS Building Group is bringing a R27m residential property development on 2ha in the upmarket area of Vygeboom in Durbanville, Western Cape, to market. Durr Estates International has been awarded the sole marketing mandate for the development of Vygeboom Estate, which has 11 single residential erven, five luxury units in a secure village and the existing three-storey, 1600m² Manor House, which is to be renovated.
( ©www.bday.co.za )

The real land crisis
THE Kempton Park land invasions have turned the spotlight on a gaping hole in state policy how to cater for desperately poor urban people whose priority is not formal housing, but a plot of land on which to erect a basic shelter.
( ©www.bday.co.za )

Squatters, PAC to fight eviction
The illegal occupants of land at Bredell near Kempton Park have decided - with the support of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) - to remain, despite a Pretoria High Court order allowing the government to evict them if they have not moved within 48 hours.
( ©www.bday.co.za )

PAC-led land invasion indicative of housing crisis
THE PAC's cheap politics (Business Day July 5), in organising a R25 subscription to land invasion on the Reef if viewed from a world perspective rather than a narrow "Zimbabwe tainting us" perspective is yet another flashing red light about the pressures of urbanisation and the need for our housing/transport policy to bring about change.
( ©www.bday.co.za )

Grahamstown sees rise in house prices as buyers run from crime
GRAHAMSTOWN, Eastern Cape's university town, is seeing a general increase of property prices as big-city dwellers run for cover from crime and congestion. The town recently recorded a house sale price of R1,9m, the highest price yet achieved in Grahamstown. "The buyers are here and looking for houses in the R220000-R350000 price range, as well as up to about R1m," says Colleen Rippon of the Pam Golding franchise office that clinched the R1,9m transaction.
(©www.bday.co.za )

The Value of Project Management
This week we start a brand new series on project management.There are some companies that have built reputations for being able to consistently manage projects effectively. However, the vast majority of organizations have a more spotty reputation. Follow the series and soon you will be applying the TenStep project management process in your firm.
( ©www.tenstep.com )

Playing catch up
Construction projects are notorious for getting behind programme. As Roger Knowles explains, with substantial sums in the contract for liquidated damages, contractors are anxious to accelerate works to finish on time.
( ©www.industryclick.com )

Webmaster's break
I will be away for the next three weeks taking in the sights of Budapest and Koper on the Adriatic coast... you will still receive your weekly newsletter but regular ASAQS news updates may have to wait on my return.

New members to the CUG
We wish to welcome the following new member to the CUG:
Andries Mellet
Siyabonga Myataza
Cobus de Jonge
Nigel Forfar
Yolande Nieman

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.

Now read the rest of Did you Hear? in the Financial Mail