The Weekend Property & Construction News
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The Weekend Property & Construction News The Weekend Property and Construction Newsletter The Association of South African Quantity Surveyors Saturday 1 September 2001 CONVENTION UPDATE Property and Construction related articles featured on the Internet for the past week brought to you by www.asaqs.co.za . News specific to the quantity surveying profession is ASAQS is arranging a convention on reflected at the bottom of this newsletter. Click on the blue headline if you wish to read the full article on the Internet. sustainable development CPD POINTS Gauteng Chapter announces CPD opportunity JOHAN RUPERT KNOCKS CGT ...says CGT will be unfair and cannot be implemented Construction and development news in brief 35000 NEW CONSTRUCTION JOBS AT COEGA PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT, ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION La Mercy airport may fly on arms spin-off Durban - The government is considering funding the construction of a new airport at La Mercy, north of Durban, using the offset programme linked to the R43 billion arms deal. Sources close to the department of transport said yesterday that Saab and BAE Systems, the suppliers of Gripen fighter aircraft to South Africa, were interested in investing in the planned R893 million relocation of Durban International Airport to La Mercy to meet their inward investment obligations. However, no deal had been sealed and other funding options for the initiative were under consideration. (©www.busrep.co.za) Northern Province projects will boost residential demand Demand for residential property in Northern Province centres is set to increase as new commercial and industrial projects worth billions of rands come on stream in the region, says Jack Schofield, regional convener for the Homenet estate agency group. Projects worth more than R2,5bn are under way, including a maximum security prison and a platinum ore smelter, he says. (©www.bday.co.za) Cape Town to become a mini-Hollywood Two Hollywood-style film studios, which could generate up to R500-million a year for Cape Town, are in the pipeline for Century City and the Good Hope Centre. And Paramount Pictures has also approached the unicity to run a script-writing competition in Cape Town, adjudicated by the international film-making company. (©www.bday.co.za) Thousands of jobs from Coega The government is hoping phase one of the Coega development in the Eastern Cape will create up to 35 000 jobs in the construction industry and as many as 6 000 in manufacturing. (©www.news24.co.za) Value of industrial stands still declining file:///C|/Users/Bert%20vd%20Heever/Documents/My%20Websites/ASAQS/News/Issues/010901.htm[2012/10/23 19:06:41] The Weekend Property & Construction News Values of vacant industrial stands in major cities are continuing to decline a trend property consulting group Rode says is cause for concern. The latest Rode Report on the SA property market focuses on the declining value of industrial stands in the central Witwatersrand area over the past decade. It points out that this has been a result of a slowdown in demand for industrial vacant stands, which in turn paints a bleak macroeconomic picture. (©www.bday.co.za) The ironic tale of two S African steel mills It could be described as the tale of two steel mills. One is old, the other new. The first is landlocked, the other coastal. One a symbol of blast- furnaces past, the other the epitome of the new mini-mill age. Indeed, it should have been a simple chronicle of the old yielding to the new, but reality has veered quite radically from the script. The old mill in question, Iscor's Vanderbijlpark, in Gauteng, is confounding the sceptics, growing stronger and more efficient by the hour, while its infant sibling, the Iscor–Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) joint venture Saldanha Steel, struggles for its very life. (©www.bday.co.za) M&R gets ready to hit the acquisition trail Construction group Murray & Roberts is on the acquisition and expansion trail, as it comes to the end of a radical internal overhaul. CE Brian Bruce told analysts this week that the group had approved a R475m capital expenditure programme for the year, representing a jump of 87% on the previous annual figure. Bruce said that Murray & Roberts had "significant capacity" to take on new acquisitions. The company generated R500m cash in the year to June, and financial director Roger Rees said that net cash has risen to R850m from about R400m a year ago. (©www.bday.co.za) SA prickles with industrial-zone initiative In line with the South African government’s commitment to foster sustainable industrial development in areas where poverty and unemployment are at their highest, Trade and Industry Minister Alec Erwin has published his intentions to designate an industrial development zone (IDZ) at East London in the Eastern Cape and has issued an invitation for written comments on the decision. (©www.engineeringnews.co.za) R3,2bn paves way for hi-tech road Johannesburg - Leo Rohrig, the chief executive of Bakwena Platinum Corridor Concessionaire (BPCC), confirmed yesterday that the company had received the R3,2 billion in funding for South Africa's first electronic toll highway, which would stretch for about 290km. BPCC had a 30-year concession to toll the highway running on the N1 north from Pretoria to Warmbaths and on the N4 west from north of Pretoria to the Botswana border. Making the highway "electronic" would involve business transport companies using electronic tags rather than cash at toll stops. (©www.busrep.co.za) Green light for platinum highway SA's third big toll road project, the R3,2bn Platinum Toll Highway, has been given the green light after local and foreign investors finalised a new funding arrangement which will see R300m in direct foreign investment flowing into the country. (©www.bday.co.za) Southern African railways : is it sunrise or sunset? The SADC railway network is a regional physical communication and integration network of enormous importance and potential, but which faces major challenges and needs radical reform. (©www.engineeringnews.co.za) Road versus rail – the war continues The Road Freight Association is lobbying hard to ensure that road transport continues to be the preferred haulage method. It has file:///C|/Users/Bert%20vd%20Heever/Documents/My%20Websites/ASAQS/News/Issues/010901.htm[2012/10/23 19:06:41] The Weekend Property & Construction News already had four meetings with Minister Dullah Omar, the last of which was intended to discuss his position that overloading is damaging road infrastructure and is, as a result, the hidden cost behind the road freight industry. (©www.engineeringnews.co.za) NEWS FROM AFRICA Work starts on $3bn Angola oil platform Italian energy giant Eni has started work on a $3-billion offshore Angola deepwater oil plant, in which it has a 20% stake. “Eni has started constructing plants for the largest deepwater development project in West Africa,” Eni said in a statement. The Kizomba A deepwater oil project offshore of Angola, owned by Eni, Esso, a division of Exxon, BP and Statoil, contains a billion barrels of recoverable reserves and is targeting production of 250 000 barrels per day (bpd). (©www.engineeringnews.co.za) Contracting firm still high on Dubai South Africa’s biggest contracting company, Murray & Roberts, has won $300-million-worth of construction work in Dubai, Engineering News Online can today report. Chief operating officer Andre J de Nysschen reports that the contracts involve the building of a large new hotel and new office for a leading petroleum company. (©www.engineeringnews.co.za) Mozal potline contract awarded The contract for the extension to the Mozal potlines has been awarded to the joint venture consisting of Basil Read, Murray & Roberts and Grinaker-LTA. The award value for Basil Read is around R35-million, with the possibility of further work being added. The contract is set to start immediately and the project will be completed over ten months. (©www.engineeringnews.co.za) HOUSING NEWS AND LAND ISSUES District Six beneficiaries pick land option Cape Town - So far about 85 percent of the 1 800 beneficiaries of the District Six land restitution claim had chosen the land redevelopment option rather than the cash the government had offered as compensation for forced removals during apartheid, Anwah Nagia, the spokesperson for the District Six community trust, said yesterday. (©www.busrep.co.za) Market disregards Zimbabwe unrest The latest wave of lawlessness gripping Zimbabwe is having little if any negative effect on the Johannesburg residential property market. (©www.news24.co.za) MINING NEWS Avmin, Impala looking for black partner Empowerment stake could stand at 10%. Anglovaal Mining (Avmin) and Impala Platinum are looking to work with a black empowerment partner on their Two Rivers Platinum joint venture. This was said at the announcement of Avmin's results for the year to June. CE Rick Menell said Avmin was in advanced discussions with its partner Impala on the principle of including an empowerment partner. (©www.bday.co.za) Avmin reports weaker 2001 earnings file:///C|/Users/Bert%20vd%20Heever/Documents/My%20Websites/ASAQS/News/Issues/010901.htm[2012/10/23 19:06:41] The Weekend Property & Construction News The mining group's year figures are down but this is skewed by the previous year's royalties from Saturn, which had been sold to De Beers in fiscal 2000 (©www.bday.co.za) Anglo American profit expected to drop UK mining analysts estimate the company will report a 3% fall in net earnings before exceptional items and goodwill amortisation to around $920-million (©www.bday.co.za) Mines shut eyes to dump hazard Many communities on West Rand and East Rand are exposed to health risks GOLD mines remain reluctant to rehabilitate their mine dumps in Gauteng, despite the fact that there are 260 mine dumps on the Witwatersrand deemed to pose a health risk to mainly township dwellers.