Cape Town —
Hlaudi Motsoeneng Must Pay Back SABC Money
Former SABC chief operations officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng has lost his bid to overturn a court ruling ordering him to repay R11.5 million to the public broadcaster, TimesLive reports. This follows a December 2021 ruling by the Johannesburg High Court that he repays the money given to him by the SABC Board in questionable circumstances, for his negotiations with Multichoice for broadcasting rights and for access to the SABC Archives.
Eskom Denies Discouraging Solar Users
Fin24 reports that Solar Photovoltaics (PV) users could pay over R900 per month for Eskom’s grid-tied electricity per month, based on the 2020/21 proposal from the power utility. However, Eskom says it is not trying to disincentivise people from opting for Solar PV and intends to submit a new tariff proposal to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) in August 2022 – it will apply from 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024. It will be based on the principles of the 2020 plan, on which Nersa did not make a decision.
Biggest Passion Fruit Farm Moving to Ghana
The country’s biggest granadilla fruit farm in White River Mpumalanga is moving to Ghana. The move is due to problems experienced at Transnet ports. The farm owners said delays and inefficient cooling systems cost it millions as fruit was spoilt, reports Business Insider South Africa and Farmers Weekly. The farm with 200 hectares of granadilla orchards, is rooting out its trees. The land will be used to grow Macadamia nuts which would be less susceptible to being affected by port disruptions. According to a farm shareholder, Ghana has favourable climatic conditions for passion fruit.