Transnet has launched a new company, Transnet International Holdings (TIH), in order to facilitate multiple rail, port and pipeline projects in the rest of Africa.

According to the press, TIH, with a capital injection of R100 million, held its inaugural general meeting this week to appoint board members.

Transnet chief executive Siyabonga Gama said that the new entity would commence on 1 April 2018, adding that TIH would not be a burden on Transnet’s balance sheet.

“The idea is to ring fence TIH to make sure that it does not take risks that are not managed,” said Gama.

After a seven month voyage to navigate the globe the INSV Tarini, along with its all female crew, finally arrived in Cape Town this weekend. The vessel will remain moored at the Royal Cape Yacht club until its departure on 14 March.

A UCT study, completed every ten years, focusing on small plastic fragments on South Africa’s beaches has found that most plastic pollution derives from local sources.

According to the press, the study indicates that the significance of this is that distant nations with far larger plastic industries can no longer be blamed for the poor state of many of our beaches and adjacent coastal waters.

“All available evidence indicates that the amount of litter entering the system continues to grow.  Identifying key source areas is critical in designing and implementing effective mitigation measures to reduce the amounts of plastic entering marine and freshwater systems,” says the study’s lead author Professor Peter Ryan.