As part of a rebranding strategy to showcase its full spectrum of services, electromechanical contractor and facility management services provider, BUTEC Group has rebranded its subsidiaries in South Africa to BUTEC. As previously reported in Engineering News, the group is currently rebranding its subsidiaries Thermaire as BUTEC – an electromechanical solutions provider – and Ampair as BUTEC Services – a facility management and maintenance service provider.

Having secured permission to operate five aged power stations under existing minimum emission standards (MES) plant limits until their closure in 2030, Eskom has confirmed that it will be applying for exemption from the MES timeframes and limits for four stations that will remain operational post-2030. On May 23, the State-owned utility received confirmation from then Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy that it could continue to operate Hendrina, Grootvlei, Arnot, Camden and Kriel at existing MES plant limits until March 31, 2030.

Ahead of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s much anticipated new Cabinet appointments, the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse is urging him not to reappoint Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe, Higher Education Minister Dr Blade Nzimande and Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga. Outa also suggests that Ramaphosa consider reducing the size of the new Cabinet. Outa CEO Wayne Duvenage cited systemic inefficiencies, mismanagement, irregularities in procurement processes and corruption, which he said had been observed in all three departments. “Reappointing these Ministers would perpetuate poor performance, with more negative consequences for the country, further impacting service delivery to the people,” he said. Duvenage said that it believed meaningful change for the better would come if Ramaphosa appointed “the right people” to Cabinet, noting that under Mantashe, the mining cadastre system had collapsed, impacting negatively on transparency and investment in South Africa’s mining sector. “In addition, the lack of transparency when it comes to diesel procurement for Eskom’s peak power usage and other dubious activities on his watch, coupled with his alleged involvement in State capture transactions as reported by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, make Mantashe unfit for any Cabinet role,” he said. In discussing Nzimande’s alleged shortcomings, Duvenage pointed to procurement irregularities in the sectoral education and training authorities, universities, technical and vocational education and training colleges, and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme. Meanwhile, he highlighted that Chikunga’s short tenure as the Minister of Transport and her previous role as deputy minister has been disappointing, pointing to challenges with road safety, corruption in driver’s licence testing and inefficiencies in the Natis vehicle registry system.

On June 24, 501 days after two South African men were allegedly unlawfully arrested in Equatorial Guinea, their families are going to hand over a formal request to Pan-African Parliament (PAP) president Chief Fortune Zephania Charumbira, in Midrand, to ask the institution to help secure the urgent release of engineers Frik Potgieter and Peter Huxham. It is part of the PAP’s mandate to protect the human rights of African citizens, the families say, adding that they will also stage a peaceful demonstration at the PAP’s offices on the day.

Copper producer Aurubis has named Toralf Haag as its new CEO, completing an overhaul of its board in the wake of a giant raw-materials fraud. Haag will take over from Roland Harings, after the company’s supervisory board terminated his contract early in January, along with two other executive board members. The move followed Aurubis’s decision to carry out an independent legal probe into a criminal scam that cost the copper producer about €169-million ($184-million) last year.

As Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese Premier Li Qiang wrapped up separate meetings in Southeast Asia this week, the two partners in the BRICS economic bloc encountered a region keen to join a group seen as a hedge against Western-led institutions. During an interview with Chinese media ahead of Li’s visit to Malaysia, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim declared his intention to apply to the bloc after it doubled in size this year by luring Global South nations — partly by offering access to financing but also by providing a political venue independent of Washington’s influence.

The University of Fort Hare, where the offspring of mineworkers were the first graduates, has agreed a R12.5-million, initial ten-year academic partnership with gold mining major AngloGold Ashanti, which no longer mines in this country and is now domiciled in London. Fort Hare is the university where the globally illustrious Nelson Mandela began his incompleted studies for a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Canada-based McEwen Mining is developing a new mining operation at the Stock property of the Fox Complex, in Timmins, Ontario. The Stock property, which includes the former Stock mill and mine, has yielded about 137 000 oz of gold from an underground operation between 1989 and 2005.

ASX-listed unhedged gold mining company West African Resources (WAF) has fully drawn down the $265-million secured loan facility from Sprott Resource Lending and Burkina Faso-based Coris Bank International for the development of the company’s Kiaka gold project, in Burkina Faso, and other corporate purposes.

China Baowu Steel Group has completed its purchase of a stake in the Simandou project in Guinea, as China’s top steelmaker looks to expand its interest in the world’s largest untapped iron ore mine. Baowu bought an undisclosed stake from Winning Consortium Simandou, which owns the two northern blocks of the project, the Chinese steel mill said in a statement on Thursday. The consortium that sold the stake comprises Singapore’s Winning International Group and aluminum maker China Hongqiao Group.