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        <title>Engineering News | Opinion</title>
        <description><![CDATA[Regular columnists and guest writers offer their commentary and opinions as well as analysis of current events in the energy, transport and economy sector to name but a few.]]></description>
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            <title>Firm timetable needed</title>
            <link>https://newsletter-en.creamermedia.com/article/firm-timetable-needed-2026-06-26</link>
            <description><![CDATA[The deadline has arrived for the Eskom Restructuring Task Team (ERTT) to deliver its detailed proposal and implementation plan for establishing a new State-owned Transmission System Operator (TSO). The contents will be heavily scrutinised given the importance of the TSO to the transition to a competitive market where the playing field is level for all participants.]]></description>
            <author>Terence Creamer</author>
            <category>REAL ECONOMY: ELECTRICITY</category>
            <pubDate>Fri, 26 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
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        <editor>Terence Creamer</editor>
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            <title>Degrees, jobs and African farms</title>
            <link>https://newsletter-en.creamermedia.com/article/degrees-jobs-and-african-farms-2026-06-26</link>
            <description><![CDATA[There was a time when a university degree came with an almost implicit guarantee: a desk, a payslip, and a place in the middle class. African parents sold cattle and made extraordinary sacrifices because higher education was seen as the surest escape route from poverty. Today, that promise rings increasingly hollow. Across the continent, graduates are discovering that while their degrees are easier to obtain than ever before, jobs are not. Some spend years searching for formal employment and others cycle through temporary contracts, internships, and poorly paid gigs. Many eventually confront an uncomfortable reality, which is that the economy is simply not producing enough white-collar jobs to absorb the growing ranks of educated young people.]]></description>
            <author>Martin Zhuwakinyu</author>
            <category>AFRICA BEAT</category>
            <pubDate>Fri, 26 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <a_id>723353</a_id>
        <updated>1782112866</updated>
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        <editor>Martin Zhuwakinyu</editor>
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            <title>Investors’ African blind spot </title>
            <link>https://newsletter-en.creamermedia.com/article/investors-african-blind-spot-2026-06-26</link>
            <description><![CDATA[One of the many pertinent questions a panel interviewer asked me at the recent Cambridge Africa Business Conference was what has changed, and what do global investors consistently get wrong, about risk in Africa. As I write this on June 12, Nigeria’s Democracy Day, the answer must be the consistent shift to democratic rule. On June 12, 1993, Chief Moshood Abiola won Nigeria’s democratic elections, which were to end the corrupt military that had been in power for a decade back to barracks. The results of those elections – considered Nigeria’s freest and fairest – were cancelled. A military triumvirate led by General Sani Abacha intervened, imprisoned Abiola and continued its corrupt mismanagement for another six years.  ]]></description>
            <author>Tara O’Connor</author>
            <category>AFRICA IN FOCUS</category>
            <pubDate>Fri, 26 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <a_id>723512</a_id>
        <updated>1782112866</updated>
        <published>1782424800</published>
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        <editor>Martin Zhuwakinyu</editor>
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            <title>Escape clause</title>
            <link>https://newsletter-en.creamermedia.com/article/escape-clause-2026-06-26</link>
            <description><![CDATA[South Africa on June 8 joined the ‘escape club’, ‘North, east, west, south, all in the same house’, with all due acknowledgement to the English pop-rock band The Escape Club. It joins the 2026 group of 11 countries and one economic union which together constitute 27 member countries, bringing the total to 38. The members of the club, with their notified initiations in brackets, are as follows: Australia (1), Canada (2), EU (1), India (1), Madagascar (4), Morocco (1), New Zealand (1), the Philippines (2), Russia (2), South Africa (1), Türkiye (3) and Zimbabwe (2).]]></description>
            <author>Riaan de Lange</author>
            <category>TRADE@WORK</category>
            <pubDate>Fri, 26 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <a_id>723531</a_id>
        <updated>1782112867</updated>
        <published>1782424800</published>
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        <editor>Melissa Zisengwe</editor>
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            <title>South Africa must pursue every viable  route to greater industrialisation</title>
            <link>https://newsletter-en.creamermedia.com/article/south-africa-must-pursue-every-viable-route-to-greater-industrialisation-2026-06-26</link>
            <description><![CDATA[In a period where change is proving to be rapid and consequential, South Africa’s public and private sectors should go all out to collaboratively pursue every viable route to greater industrialisation. Wherever meaningful opportunities present themselves, strong steps must be taken to align infrastructure, investment and skills development. It is good that an organisation as respected as Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM) has already spotted that hydrogen has the ...]]></description>
            <author>Martin Creamer</author>
            <category>FIRST WORD</category>
            <pubDate>Fri, 26 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <a_id>723561</a_id>
        <updated>1782119611</updated>
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        <editor>Martin Zhuwakinyu</editor>
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            <title>Bridge﻿, not destination</title>
            <link>https://newsletter-en.creamermedia.com/article/bridge-not-destination-2026-06-19</link>
            <description><![CDATA[How do people in Gauteng know when motorists are driving under the influence? They are driving straight! It is to this type of sardonic humour that residents in all three of Gauteng’s metros have turned as a coping mechanism against the proliferation of potholes, the near absence of road markings, and the reality that all too many streetlights and traffic signals are simply not working.]]></description>
            <author>Terence Creamer</author>
            <category>REAL ECONOMY: MUNICIPAL GOVERNANCE</category>
            <pubDate>Fri, 19 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <a_id>723028</a_id>
        <updated>1781513980</updated>
        <published>1781820000</published>
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        <editor>Terence Creamer</editor>
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            <title>Davids fight third-country deportation Goliaths</title>
            <link>https://newsletter-en.creamermedia.com/article/davids-fight-third-country-deportation-goliaths-2026-06-19</link>
            <description><![CDATA[Every so often, Africa surprises its critics. Just when one begins to despair that the continent’s human rights institutions are little more than expensive talk shops, along comes a legal challenge to Donald Trump’s third-country deportation arrangement with Equatorial Guinea at the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR).]]></description>
            <author>Martin Zhuwakinyu</author>
            <category>AFRICA BEAT</category>
            <pubDate>Fri, 19 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <a_id>723108</a_id>
        <updated>1782118570</updated>
        <published>1781820000</published>
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        <editor>Creamer Media Reporter  </editor>
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            <title>Political settlements and the just transition</title>
            <link>https://newsletter-en.creamermedia.com/article/political-settlements-and-the-just-transition-2026-06-19</link>
            <description><![CDATA[Political settlements theory helps us understand the drivers of systemic change, holding that the ambition of elites who control a country’s political and economic apparatus to decarbonise economies is as deep as the extent to which they see changes benefiting themselves. Another way to think of political settlements is to draw on Luke Kemp’s seminal book, Goliath’s Curse, which takes a close look at the reasons why States flourish or collapse. Kemp suggests that most States and empires arose because someone figured out how to extract surplus from the rest of the populace. It may be suggested that if all States are extractive, what makes them stand out is their degree of humanity or lack thereof.]]></description>
            <author>Saliem Fakir</author>
            <category> LOW-CARBON FUTURE</category>
            <pubDate>Fri, 19 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <a_id>722981</a_id>
        <updated>1781248177</updated>
        <published>1781820000</published>
        <expires>99999999999</expires>
        <editor>Martin Zhuwakinyu</editor>
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            <title>Where tariff ﻿investigations really stall  </title>
            <link>https://newsletter-en.creamermedia.com/article/where-tariff-probes-really-stall-2026-06-19</link>
            <description><![CDATA[A tariff investigation that should have taken the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (Itac) four to six months lasted 644 days (more than one-and-a-half years) from initiation to implementation. The most striking finding about it is not that Itac exceeded its own timeline, but that more than half that delay occurred after Itac had finished its work. Let’s look a bit deeper into how the 644 days were accumulated. Itac published a tariff application for an “Increase in the ‘General’ rate of customs duty applicable to rails … from 5% to 10% ad valorem” in the Government Gazette of August 23, 2024. A period of four weeks (28 days) was allowed for comments, which were due by September 20, 2024.]]></description>
            <author>Riaan de Lange</author>
            <category>TRADE@WORK </category>
            <pubDate>Fri, 19 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <a_id>723050</a_id>
        <updated>1781248178</updated>
        <published>1781820000</published>
        <expires>99999999999</expires>
        <editor>Martin Zhuwakinyu</editor>
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            <title>South Africa must go all out to get the  very best out of its rich natural resources</title>
            <link>https://newsletter-en.creamermedia.com/article/south-africa-must-go-all-out-to-get-the-very-best-out-of-its-rich-natural-resources-2026-06-19</link>
            <description><![CDATA[While South Africa is well-endowed with minerals, the full potential of these minerals is no longer being achieved. At best, their contribution is flat, which makes the call by the far-thinking PyroFuZA initiative something that needs to be heeded. PyroFuZA spells out that all South Africans will benefit significantly if distinctive steps are taken to get the very best out of our natural resources. PyroFuZA is correct to be insistent that South Africa's minerals energy complex can be effectively reformed if there is a strong collective will to do so. Proper public-private partnership will provide an enduring outcome and it is incumbent on all of us to push for effective value addition and competitive reindustrialisation. ]]></description>
            <author>Martin Creamer</author>
            <category>FIRST WORD</category>
            <pubDate>Fri, 19 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <a_id>723103</a_id>
        <updated>1781513924</updated>
        <published>1781820000</published>
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        <editor>Martin Zhuwakinyu</editor>
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            <title>Distribution dilemma</title>
            <link>https://newsletter-en.creamermedia.com/article/distribution-dilemma-2026-06-12</link>
            <description><![CDATA[During a recent joint meeting of the portfolio committees on electricity and energy and cooperative governance and traditional affairs it became clear there is some sympathy for Eskom when it comes to the issues of nonpayment by municipalities. The problem is large, with Eskom confirming that the backlog now stands at more than R114-billion, while warning that it could exceed R300-billion by 2030 if left unchecked and will threaten its financial turnaround.]]></description>
            <author>Terence Creamer</author>
            <category>REAL ECONOMY: ELECTRICITY</category>
            <pubDate>Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <a_id>722839</a_id>
        <updated>1780989982</updated>
        <published>1781215200</published>
        <expires>99999999999</expires>
        <editor>Terence Creamer</editor>
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            <title>Britain’s costly Rwanda misadventure</title>
            <link>https://newsletter-en.creamermedia.com/article/britains-costly-rwanda-misadventure-2026-06-12</link>
            <description><![CDATA[In the annals of public procurement, few projects rival one that cost £290-million, resulted in the relocation of just four unwanted immigrants to a faraway country and survived three Prime Ministers and numerous court challenges. This description perfectly fits Britain’s scheme to offload would-be asylum seekers arriving on small boats from across the English Channel onto Rwanda, a policy hatched by Boris Johnson’s administration in 2022 and activated through the passage of the Safety of Rwanda Act in 2023 when Rishi Sunak, a Conservative like Johnson, was at the helm. Liz Truss also supported the deal during her very short-lived stint as Johnson's successor as both Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader. ]]></description>
            <author>Martin Zhuwakinyu</author>
            <category>AFRICA BEAT</category>
            <pubDate>Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <a_id>722782</a_id>
        <updated>1780988423</updated>
        <published>1781215200</published>
        <expires>99999999999</expires>
        <editor>Martin Zhuwakinyu</editor>
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            <title>Trade tensions confirmed</title>
            <link>https://newsletter-en.creamermedia.com/article/trade-tensions-confirmed-2026-06-12</link>
            <description><![CDATA[There is “growing strain on the rules-based trading system” – as outlined by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) – “amid escalating trade tensions and compliance challenges”. These words were expressed by WTO members at the WTO Council for Trade in Goods meeting held on May 20 and 21. This might well be confirmation of what you already know.]]></description>
            <author>Riaan de Lange</author>
            <category>TRADE@WORK </category>
            <pubDate>Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <a_id>722704</a_id>
        <updated>1780988422</updated>
        <published>1781215200</published>
        <expires>99999999999</expires>
        <editor>Martin Zhuwakinyu</editor>
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            <title>Public-private collaboration is proving worthwhile</title>
            <link>https://newsletter-en.creamermedia.com/article/public-private-collaboration-is-proving-worthwhile-2026-06-12</link>
            <description><![CDATA[An important step towards stabilising the operations of important value-adding South African companies, preserving the jobs that go with them, and promoting a more sustainable future for them, has been masterfully achieved through admirable public-private collaboration. As a consequence of Eskom, the Department of Electricity and Energy, and the National Electricity Regulator of South Africa putting their heads together with private-sector producers, a pricing framework has been approved that enables the many smelting operations of two major ferrochrome companies to grasp commercial continuity in the immediate term while they continue to hunt down a more sustainable future. What South Africans are witnessing is conscientious public-private collaboration that is proving very worthwhile.]]></description>
            <author>Martin Creamer</author>
            <category>FIRST WORD</category>
            <pubDate>Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <a_id>722499</a_id>
        <updated>1780989890</updated>
        <published>1781215200</published>
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        <editor>Martin Zhuwakinyu</editor>
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            <title>Virtue of necessity</title>
            <link>https://newsletter-en.creamermedia.com/article/virtue-of-necessity-2026-06-05</link>
            <description><![CDATA[Following an embarrassing false start, the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies has set a deadline of early next year for the finalisation of a new draft of the national AI policy. In April, the department officially withdrew the initial draft after News24 reported that AI-hallucinated sources had been included in the list of references. Minister Solly Malatsi told lawmakers last week that generative AI had been “used irresponsibly during the drafting process” and confirmed that two department officials had been placed on precautionary suspension.]]></description>
            <author>Terence Creamer</author>
            <category>REAL ECONOMY: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE</category>
            <pubDate>Fri, 05 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <a_id>722221</a_id>
        <updated>1780384417</updated>
        <published>1780610400</published>
        <expires>99999999999</expires>
        <editor>Terence Creamer</editor>
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