Latest news with #SouthAfrican-made
The South African
2 days ago
- Business
- The South African
Amid Scandals and Silence, Rheinmetall Expands in South Africa
Rheinmetall Denel Munition (RDM), the South African arms manufacturer jointly owned by Germany's Rheinmetall AG and South Africa's state-owned Denel, is expanding again. On June 2, Rheinmetall announced the formation of a new company: Rheinmetall Resonant, following the acquisition of a majority stake in local firm Resonant Holdings. In recent years, RDM has been at the centre of investigations, protests, and legal action over its role in exporting weapons to conflict zones. Much of the backlash stems from findings by Open Secrets, a South African civil society group, which previously documented how RDM-manufactured weapons were used in the Saudi-led war in Yemen. Critics argue that when Germany imposed export restrictions on Saudi Arabia over human rights concerns, Rheinmetall turned to its South African subsidiary as a loophole. With South Africa's arms regulations seen as more relaxed and oversight comparatively weaker, the company was able to continue supplying Gulf allies via RDM. This model of using foreign subsidiaries to bypass national restrictions has become a deliberate strategy. A report by Investigate Europe showed how Rheinmetall systematically relies on companies like RDM not just to manufacture weapons, but to build entire ammunition plants abroad often with limited transparency or scrutiny. This practice has raised serious concerns about how little control South African authorities exert over what happens to weapons once they leave the country. That concern surfaced again last year, when a major order of RDM's 155mm artillery shells destined for Poland was reportedly delayed over fears they might ultimately be sent to Ukraine. Although South Africa maintains a formal stance of neutrality in the Russia-Ukraine war, the incident raised uncomfortable questions about whether its arms industry is undermining that position. The most politically explosive allegations now involve Israel. Following the outbreak of war in Gaza, activists have warned that South African-made munitions may be reaching Israeli forces indirectly, through NATO or European allies. While there is no confirmed evidence of direct sales to Israel, arms shipped to Germany or Poland could be passed on through defence cooperation agreements. The possibility alone has caused public outrage, especially given that South Africa has filed a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have taken the lead in demanding accountability. Speaking on behalf of the party, Carl Niehaus accused the government of hypocrisy and called for a full inquiry into all RDM exports. He said South Africa cannot condemn Israel on the international stage while indirectly supporting its military through unchecked arms flows. He urged the government to shut down what he called a 'back door' route for weapons. Civil society organisations argue that South Africa's arms control system is outdated and effectively powerless. Once weapons are shipped, they say, authorities rely too heavily on end-user certificates—paper guarantees that mean little in practice, especially during war. Without transparent tracking or independent verification, the entire system rests on trust in a global industry notorious for secrecy and loopholes. Despite mounting concerns, Rheinmetall is tightening its grip on South Africa's defence sector. The launch of Rheinmetall Resonant underscores the company's confidence in using South Africa as a key manufacturing hub. But the expansion comes with no answers to deeper questions: is South Africa becoming a passive accomplice to foreign wars it publicly opposes? And who, exactly, is watching? As factories continue operating and new contracts are signed, the South African public is still waiting for clarity. According to a recent report by IOL, the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) has yet to respond to formal requests from the EFF for an investigation into RDM's factory and the potential routes its shells may be taking. The silence, critics argue, is only deepening the trust gap.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Purchase limits have tightened on Costco gold bars as popularity boomed
Gold has become such a hot commodity that Costco is apparently limiting how much its members can buy. The warehouse retailer began selling 24-karat gold bars to its members in 2023, with a limit of two bars per person. Now, that limit has changed to one per transaction and a maximum of two bars per 24 hours, when you look on the retailer website. The price tag for a 1-ounce South African-made gold bar? $3,279.99, much higher than the $2,000 they were going for 19 months ago, shortly after Costco began selling them. However, that price increase is understandable as gold prices have risen more than 70% over that time – hitting record highs in April. Noodles & Company: Could shutter up to 21 locations in 2025 Another listing, for the 1-ounce Gold Bar PAMP Suisse Lady Fortuna Veriscan, limits members to one item per transaction and a maximum of two items per 24 hours, down from a limit of five items per 24 hours in January. The same product had a cap of two purchases per membership in September 2023, according to an archived snapshot of the listing. The retailer also has limits on other precious metals including: 1-ounce American Eagle gold coin ($3,329.99; one per transaction and two per 24 hours) 10-ounce silver bar ($359.99; one per transaction and 10 per 24 hours) One option without a limit is the smaller 5-gram gold bar on an 18-karat gold chain, priced at $1,149.99. Costco did not respond to a request for comment from USA TODAY. The gold bars constantly sold out when they were first available online in 2023. "When we load them on the site, they're typically gone within a few hours, and we limit two per member,' Costco's then-chief financial officer Richard Galanti told analysts during the company's earnings call in September 2023, according to a transcript from S&P Global Market Intelligence. Sales of gold and other categories including jewelry were up double digits in the 24-week period ending Feb. 16, chief financial officer Gary Millerchip said. The retailer also began selling silver Canadian coins in March 2024. Costco could be making $100 million to $200 million a month by selling gold bars, Wells Fargo Equity Research estimated in April 2024. If gold prices remain high – prices rose more than 1% on Thursday, May 15 – and economic uncertainty continues, the bars could remain popular purchases. "You know things are getting weird when your mom starts eyeing gold bars at Costco like it's toilet paper in 2020," one social media user quipped. Contributing: Fernando Cervantes Jr., Mary Walrath-Holdridge and Anthony Robledo, USA TODAY. Mike Snider is a reporter on USA TODAY's Trending team. You can follow him on Threads, Bluesky, X and email him at mikegsnider & @ & @mikesnider & msnider@ What's everyone talking about? Sign up for our trending newsletter to get the latest news of the day This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Costco gold bars: Retailer tightened purchase limits as prices rose
USA Today
15-05-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Purchase limits have tightened on Costco gold bars as popularity boomed
Purchase limits have tightened on Costco gold bars as popularity boomed Show Caption Hide Caption What's really going on with gold prices? Gold recently reached a record high as geopolitical tensions pushed investors towards the traditional safe play. Merryn Somerset Webb explains what's going on - and where things could go from here. Bloomberg - Politics Gold has become such a hot commodity that Costco is apparently limiting how much its members can buy. The warehouse retailer began selling 24-karat gold bars to its members in 2023, with a limit of two bars per person. Now, that limit has changed to one per transaction and a maximum of two bars per 24 hours, when you look on the retailer website. The price tag for a 1-ounce South African-made gold bar? $3,279.99, much higher than the $2,000 they were going for 19 months ago, shortly after Costco began selling them. However, that price increase is understandable as gold prices have risen more than 70% over that time – hitting record highs in April. Noodles & Company: Could shutter up to 21 locations in 2025 Another listing, for the 1-ounce Gold Bar PAMP Suisse Lady Fortuna Veriscan, limits members to one item per transaction and a maximum of two items per 24 hours, down from a limit of five items per 24 hours in January. The same product had a cap of two purchases per membership in September 2023, according to an archived snapshot of the listing. The retailer also has limits on other precious metals including: 1-ounce American Eagle gold coin ($3,329.99; one per transaction and two per 24 hours) 10-ounce silver bar ($359.99; one per transaction and 10 per 24 hours) One option without a limit is the smaller 5-gram gold bar on an 18-karat gold chain, priced at $1,149.99. Costco did not respond to a request for comment from USA TODAY. Costco: Consumers still snapping up gold bars The gold bars constantly sold out when they were first available online in 2023. "When we load them on the site, they're typically gone within a few hours, and we limit two per member,' Costco's then-chief financial officer Richard Galanti told analysts during the company's earnings call in September 2023, according to a transcript from S&P Global Market Intelligence. Sales of gold and other categories including jewelry were up double digits in the 24-week period ending Feb. 16, chief financial officer Gary Millerchip said. The retailer also began selling silver Canadian coins in March 2024. Costco could be making $100 million to $200 million a month by selling gold bars, Wells Fargo Equity Research estimated in April 2024. If gold prices remain high – prices rose more than 1% on Thursday, May 15 – and economic uncertainty continues, the bars could remain popular purchases. "You know things are getting weird when your mom starts eyeing gold bars at Costco like it's toilet paper in 2020," one social media user quipped. Contributing: Fernando Cervantes Jr., Mary Walrath-Holdridge and Anthony Robledo, USA TODAY. Mike Snider is a reporter on USA TODAY's Trending team. You can follow him on Threads, Bluesky, X and email him at mikegsnider & @ & @mikesnider & msnider@ What's everyone talking about? Sign up for our trending newsletter to get the latest news of the day
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Despite US tariffs pause, southern African economies under threat
Washington's 90-day pause on higher tariffs is of little comfort to southern African economies facing the collapse of a preferential trade deal and a 25-percent hike on car imports, analysts say. The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) -- which provided duty-free access to the US market for some African products -- had enabled certain sectors to flourish, for example allowing seven large automakers in South Africa to export tax-free to the United States. The region's citrus industry and textiles manufacturers, notably Lesotho's jeans factories, were also beneficiaries. They all expect to suffer under the 10-percent tariffs applied on imports to the United States by President Donald Trump, even though he announced a pause Wednesday of higher hikes announced for several countries. "Mauritius, Madagascar, Lesotho, South Africa in particular will be impacted," director of the Africa programme at the Chatham House think-tank, Alex Vines, told AFP. "Textile exports will be massively hurt and the 25-percent tariff on car exports is very problematic for South Africa," he said. Washington has not officially cancelled the AGOA, which is up for review in September, and there is "no clarity currently" on its status, Vines said. In the confusion, Madagascar's Trade Minister David Ralambofiringa has told journalists he considered the trade deal still applied "for the time being". But his South African counterpart, Parks Tau, said the 10-percent baseline tariffs essentially "nullify AGOA benefits". - 'Devastating' for auto - The United States is the third-largest market for South African-made cars, importing 25,000 vehicles annually for about 35 billion rand ($1.8bn), according to the Automotive Business Council known as Naamsa. About 86,000 jobs in the automobile industry directly depend on the AGOA, rising to 125,000 when subcontractors are included, Naamsa says. "With the broader impact (of the tariffs) on the global industry, it's unlikely South Africa could find an alternative market," Vines said. "It would be devastating to South Africa, which already suffers from exceptionally high unemployment," of 32 percent, he said Mercedes-Benz South Africa told AFP it was "assessing the impact of the recently announced US-tariff lines". It refused to disclose vehicle sales volumes for "competitive reasons". "Mercedes-Benz supports free and fair trade that ensure prosperity, growth and innovation," the company said. "It is now important that the affected countries and the US enter into a constructive dialogue." - 'Disastrous' for Lesotho - The new US tariffs regime will hit the small kingdom of Lesotho particularly hard, said Richard Morrow, analyst at the Brenthurst Foundation. Its textile industry, supplying jeans to the United States, was long described as an AGOA "success story". The United States "is only South Africa's third-largest export market in terms of automobiles, so there is a buffer," he said. But Lesotho is "one of those small economies which have relied almost exclusively on AGOA as a means of sustaining their economies," he told AFP. "The clothes and textiles industry contribute as much as 10 percent of Lesotho's gross national income," he said. "In those economies where you have a low- or semi-skilled workforce, which has been largely built around one or two particular industries, it could have a disastrous effect." The success of Lesotho's jeans-for-export industry gave the impoverished country a large trade surplus with the United States. This was used to calculate Trump's now-suspended "reciprocal tariffs" of 50 percent on Lesotho -- the highest for any individual nation. The country stood to lose up to 40,000 jobs if the AGOA was terminated, Lesotho's King Letsie III told AFP last month. Botswana, South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe -- all citrus-producing countries under the AGOA -- were also among countries designated by Trump as the "worst offenders" and hit with high import taxes, which could return after the 90-day pause. In South Africa alone, "should the reciprocal tariff be applied, 35,000 jobs will be threatened," said Citrus Growers' Association CEO Boitshoko Ntshabele. clv/jcb/br/rmb
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Despite US tariffs pause, southern African economies under threat
Washington's 90-day pause on higher tariffs is of little comfort to southern African economies facing the collapse of a preferential trade deal and a 25-percent hike on car imports, analysts say. The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) -- which provided duty-free access to the US market for some African products -- had enabled certain sectors to flourish, for example allowing seven large automakers in South Africa to export tax-free to the United States. The region's citrus industry and textiles manufacturers, notably Lesotho's jeans factories, were also beneficiaries. They all expect to suffer under the 10-percent tariffs applied on imports to the United States by President Donald Trump, even though he announced a pause Wednesday of higher hikes announced for several countries. "Mauritius, Madagascar, Lesotho, South Africa in particular will be impacted," director of the Africa programme at the Chatham House think-tank, Alex Vines, told AFP. "Textile exports will be massively hurt and the 25-percent tariff on car exports is very problematic for South Africa," he said. Washington has not officially cancelled the AGOA, which is up for review in September, and there is "no clarity currently" on its status, Vines said. In the confusion, Madagascar's Trade Minister David Ralambofiringa has told journalists he considered the trade deal still applied "for the time being". But his South African counterpart, Parks Tau, said the 10-percent baseline tariffs essentially "nullify AGOA benefits". - 'Devastating' for auto - The United States is the third-largest market for South African-made cars, importing 25,000 vehicles annually for about 35 billion rand ($1.8bn), according to the Automotive Business Council known as Naamsa. About 86,000 jobs in the automobile industry directly depend on the AGOA, rising to 125,000 when subcontractors are included, Naamsa says. "With the broader impact (of the tariffs) on the global industry, it's unlikely South Africa could find an alternative market," Vines said. "It would be devastating to South Africa, which already suffers from exceptionally high unemployment," of 32 percent, he said Mercedes-Benz South Africa told AFP it was "assessing the impact of the recently announced US-tariff lines". It refused to disclose vehicle sales volumes for "competitive reasons". "Mercedes-Benz supports free and fair trade that ensure prosperity, growth and innovation," the company said. "It is now important that the affected countries and the US enter into a constructive dialogue." - 'Disastrous' for Lesotho - The new US tariffs regime will hit the small kingdom of Lesotho particularly hard, said Richard Morrow, analyst at the Brenthurst Foundation. Its textile industry, supplying jeans to the United States, was long described as an AGOA "success story". The United States "is only South Africa's third-largest export market in terms of automobiles, so there is a buffer," he said. But Lesotho is "one of those small economies which have relied almost exclusively on AGOA as a means of sustaining their economies," he told AFP. "The clothes and textiles industry contribute as much as 10 percent of Lesotho's gross national income," he said. "In those economies where you have a low- or semi-skilled workforce, which has been largely built around one or two particular industries, it could have a disastrous effect." The success of Lesotho's jeans-for-export industry gave the impoverished country a large trade surplus with the United States. This was used to calculate Trump's now-suspended "reciprocal tariffs" of 50 percent on Lesotho -- the highest for any individual nation. The country stood to lose up to 40,000 jobs if the AGOA was terminated, Lesotho's King Letsie III told AFP last month. Botswana, South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe -- all citrus-producing countries under the AGOA -- were also among countries designated by Trump as the "worst offenders" and hit with high import taxes, which could return after the 90-day pause. In South Africa alone, "should the reciprocal tariff be applied, 35,000 jobs will be threatened," said Citrus Growers' Association CEO Boitshoko Ntshabele. clv/jcb/br/rmb Sign in to access your portfolio
