Woolworths can’t promise they won’t (They’re definitely going to – Ed) take a further write-off on their investment in troubled, or even embattled, Aussie retailer David Jones, after the R7bn bath they took on the investment in early ’18. That write off will boost future returns, as it will be based on a lower capital cost; any future impairments will be based on whether the new David Jones business plan works out or not. In much, much better news from the Dapper One, Woolies pies have become the first food products in South Africa to be certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), in their commitment under the Good Business Journey to source only certified sustainable palm oil for their branded products by 2020.

Comment: Woolies is in the trenches somewhat, at the moment. But they’re continuing to do the right thing, even when they’re not doing particularly well. That’s a business.

Storied billionaire Patrice Motsepe has, as you may or may not know, has just launched Africa’s first digital-only bank, as a wholly-owned subsidiary of African Rainbow Capital. What you may not fathom, just yet, is the Pick n Pay connection. Over to you, TymeBank CEO Sandile Tshabalala: “We have partnered with 33 Pick n Pay and Boxer stores, which offer a point-of-presence for customers to interact with the bank and we will continue to roll out kiosks throughout the country.” Thank you sir. The kiosks will serve as the only locations for cash deposits; punters may withdraw at other participating retailers, and will also be able to earn discounts and rewards if they shop at partner retailers with their debit cards.

Comment: Another great stride in reducing the ranks of the unbanked, and kudos to PnP and Boxer for getting in on the ground floor.

Karan Beef has doubled its export volumes since bringing China on-board as a market last year, shipping 4.34million kilograms of the juicy stuff to that growing power in the year to November. Karan runs a Texas-scale operation, pumping a mix of feed which includes molasses and gluten into its massive herd round the clock, and producing tons of South African meat, characterized by its ruby hue and lean appeal to healthier carnivores. In October, you may recall, the Karan family sold 90% of their stock to the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) and black-owned Pelo Agricultural Ventures for R5.2bn – having refused an earlier offer of R6bn from Chinese investors, a decision that was, apparently, patriotically motivated.

Comment: Karan is looking at acquiring more cattle from the small farmers who own 40% of the country’s livestock, another upside to the company’s ongoing success.

SAB’s Newlands Brewery has just received a five-star water rating from the City of Cape Town, which knows a thing or two about the clear and sparkling stuff. The facility uses no – zero – municipal water in the production of its beer, and through its integrated water management system has reduced water use from 3.73 to 2.8 hectolitres of water for every one hectolitre of beer. So where is the brewer getting its water? Newlands Spring, short answer, which is located onsite, and for the use of which SAB has water-use authorisation from the National Department Of Water and Sanitation (DWS), and from borehole water. This frees up 1.7 million litres of water for the use of Cape Town’s other thirsty residents.

Comment: Necessary measures in a city and at a time in which the real value of our most precious asset is finally being recognised.

Personal Care head Alan Jope has been appointed to succeed Paul Polman as CEO of Unilever globally, surprising observers whose attention was focused on various other options within the business. Jope comes to Personal Care via China where he received praise from Polman for his handling of operations in the world’s most important market, and has also served his time in the food business, and in Mother Africa, ticking some very big boxes. A good pick, then, but with some major shoes to fill. Polman has served the business as CEO for almost a decade now, during which time he has transformed Le Grand Bleu’s approach to sustainability – in fact to the making of money itself – and put a new focus on products that improve wellbeing.

Comment: Any thoughts? Anonymous Unilever Insider: “Alan is a dyed-in-the-wool Unilever guy who will want to continue to balance short- and long-term value creation.”

Whohoohooohoohoooah! That, my friends, is the sound of the South African economy rocketing out of recession and roaring skyward on +2.2% growth! Preach!!! So what got us there? Manufacturing, that’s what. Just your standard production of basic iron and steel and other metal products and machinery; wood and paper; petroleum products; and motor vehicles, which grew +7.5% in the third quarter, its biggest jump since 2016. This was closely followed by agriculture, driven by strong growth in the production of field crops, horticultural cultivation and animal products at +6.5%, then transport, storage and communications at +5.7%, and finance, real estate and business services at +2.3%. Trade, under which we must assume falls this great sector we call home, came in at a solid +3.2%, which augurs well for a more robust fourth quarter, encompassing as it does those great spiritual holidays of Christmas, Hanukkah and Black Friday. On the downside: mining shrank by -8.8%.

Comment: This is very good news. Not a panacea, by any means, but it shows there’s life in the old fiscus yet.

A handsome showing for our retailers in the Ipsos Influential Brands survey: four made the top ten, with Pick n Pay in pole, Shoprite Checkers in at second Spar at sixth and Woolies at ninth. Apart from WhatsApp, every other brand on the list was a consumer product – Koo, Coke, Vaseline, Colgate and Sunlight. Our industry here in the Beloved Country has a genius for this.

Tesco and VW are building the UK’s biggest free car-charging network, with bays for as many as 2,500 vehicles outside around 600 stores. And believe us, they are not just doing it out of the goodness of their hearts: bye-bye petroleum, in the not so distant future. Here in Africa, another partnership: Carrefour is teaming up with African e-commerce player Jumia to launch an online grocery store for punters in geographies like Kenya, Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon and Senegal. And in news of the upstanding, a bunch of teenagers had the bright idea of dedicated shelve-edge labels for products suitable for donation to foodbanks, pitched it to Sainsbury’s, and what do you know? It works, tripling donations straight off the bat.