COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

Ster-Kinekor slashing jobs, closing cinemasMYBROADBAND Ster-Kinekor has announced plans to lay off 236 employees in a restructuring effort in the face of declining attendance numbers.This comes just two years after Ster-Kinekor exited business rescue.Ster-Kinekor said factors like the challenging economic environment, load-shedding, and the impact of the Hollywood strikes had resulted in substantially lower cinema attendance.It added that the strikes in Hollywood meant titles scheduled for release in 2023 and 2024 were moved out to 2025.“As these are forces largely out of the business’s control and the financial impact is likely to endure for some time, Ster-Kinekor Theatres has had to review its cost structure to ensure the continued survival and sustainability of its business,” the company said.It served staff with a section 189(3) notice on 13 February 2024, beginning the retrenchment of 236 of Ster-Kinekor’s 728 employees.“Ster-Kinekor Theatres issued a notice to all staff informing them of the company’s intention to proceed with a restructure under Section 189 of the Labour Relations Act, and to begin the consultation process,” the company said.Affected positions include those in the CEO’s office, marketing, sales, human capital, business operations, content, finance, head office, regional operations, and information technology.SA asks World Trade Organisation to resolve citrus dispute with the EUBUSINESS REPORT South Africa has initiated a dispute at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in relation to phytosanitary trade regulations imposed on the country’s citrus by the European Union (EU).This was announced by the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (Dalrrd) and the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition on Monday evening.SA said this action was initiated to find a lasting solution to the EU&#039;s phytosanitary regulations on Citrus Black Spot (CBS), in order to protect the livelihoods of tens of thousands of people in the local citrus industry.CBS is a fungal infection that could result in cosmetic blemishes on the affected fruit.Despite the world’s leading scientists proving that CBS cannot be transmitted through the actual fruit as a pathway, the EU has continued to enforce measures on South African citrus growers.These involved a detailed spray programme and inspections at orchard and packhouse level with significant financial burden and other unintended consequences for the South African Industry.Agriculture minister Thoko Didiza also highlighted the importance of jobs in the citrus industry.“Rural economies throughout the country depend on the export of citrus for their income. Currently, the industry cannot afford the almost R2 billion that is needed to comply with the EU’s trade restrictive regulations,” Didiza said.Earlier this month, the Citrus Growers&#039; Association of Southern Africa (CGA) said it hoped the government would soon call for the establishment of an independent WTO panel that could adjudicate on the False Codling Moth (FCM) matter, given the high stakes involved.UN forum calls for more funding, steps towards slavery reparationsREUTERS A United Nations forum on people of African descent opened on Tuesday with calls for extra funding to support its work and progress towards reparations for transatlantic slavery and its legacies in contemporary society.For over four centuries at least 12.5 million Africans were kidnapped, forcibly transported thousands of kilometres (miles)by mainly European ships and merchants and sold into slavery. Those who survived the brutal voyage ended up toiling on plantations in the Americas, mostly in Brazil and the Caribbean, while others profited from their labour.In a video message at the opening of the third session of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent (PFPAD) in Geneva, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres reiterated that racism was based on centuries of enslavement and colonialism. He said reparations should be part of efforts to tackle it.The idea of paying reparations or making other amends for transatlantic slavery has a long history and remains deeply disputed, but has been gaining momentum worldwide."There can be no real discussion about development without a discussion about reparations," said Gaynel Curry, appointed by the Bahamas as a member of the PFPAD, which had its first session in 2022.The PFPAD suggested last year that a special tribunal should be established to address reparations.Justin Hansford, a Howard University law professor backed by the U.S. State Department to serve at the forum, called on U.N. member states to fund the PFPAD so it can continue doing its work. "Back up your words with action," Hansford said.At the session, which wraps up on Friday, the U.S. Special Representative for Racial Equity and Justice, Desiree Cormier Smith, said the United States had to confront its past of "profound racial injustice"."Although my country has never fully lived up to the values of freedom and equality for all, we have also never walked away from them - and that&#039;s largely thanks to civil society."Full UN membership won&#039;t help Palestinians on statehood: US envoyREUTERS U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said on Wednesday she did not see a U.N. resolution recommending the Palestinian Authority become a full U.N. member helping lead to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.Thomas-Greenfield made the comments at a news conference in Seoul, after being asked whether the United States was open to recognise the request by the Palestinian Authority to have full U.N. membership."We do not see that doing a resolution in the Security Council will necessarily get us to a place where we can find... a two-state solution moving forward," said Thomas-Greenfield.She said U.S. President Joe Biden had categorically said that Washington supported a two-state solution and was working on the ground to get that in place as soon as possible.The Palestinian Authority is expected to push the 15-member Security Council to vote, as early as Thursday, on a draft resolution recommending it become a full member of the world body, diplomats said. Security Council member Algeria circulated a draft text late on Tuesday.A U.N. Security Council committee considering the application "was unable to make a unanimous recommendation" on whether it met the criteria, according to the committee report seen by Reuters on Tuesday.An application to become a full U.N. member needs to be approved by the Security Council - where the United States can cast a veto - and then at least two-thirds of the 193-member General Assembly.Little progress has been made on achieving Palestinian statehood since the signing of the Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the early 1990s.Among the obstacles are expanding Israeli settlements, and Israel&#039;s U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan has said that the Palestinian Authority had not met the required criteria for statehood.The Palestinian Authority, headed by President Mahmoud Abbas, exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank and is Israel&#039;s partner to the Oslo Accords. Hamas in 2007 ousted the Palestinian Authority from power in the Gaza Strip.IMF warns financial risks linger amid &#039;soft landing&#039;REUTERS The International Monetary Fund is cautioning against overexuberance in markets as investors look for central bankers to pull off a "soft landing" in their years-long inflation battle.In its latest semi-annual Global Financial Stability Report, the IMF noted that markets have turned "quite optimistic" since the October edition, when investors were still recovering from spring turmoil in the banking sector.Now, downside risks are receding, but the IMF is cautioning against complacency, noting that stretched valuations across a range of asset classes, geopolitical tensions, and rising debt levels could all pose problems if central bankers have to keep rates higher for longer to contain stubborn inflation."Confidence in a soft landing for the global economy is growing," the IMF wrote in its report. "However, global inflation remaining persistently above those targets could challenge this narrative and may trigger instability."Specifically, the IMF said central bankers and other policymakers need to move cautiously as inflation eases, and push back against "overly optimistic expectations of the pace of disinflation and monetary policy easing."The report comes days after stronger than expected inflation numbers trimmed hopes the Federal Reserve could start cutting rates soon."The primary risk there is the extent to which central banks, particularly in the U.S. ... may in fact not end up delivering the cuts," said Fabio Natalucci, deputy director of the IMF’s Monetary and Capital Markets Department.

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