25 February 2010 — Less than a year after a 31.3% price hike, the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) yesterday approved an additional 24.8% rise, with further increases in the pipeline: 25.8% in 2011 and 25.9% in 2012. According to Rennie Property, South Africa’s leading specialist commercial property management company, this will have a significant impact on the tenants of commercial property and as a result, the owners as well.

So it is now more important than ever before for owners, property managers and tenants to work together to reduce electrical expenditure. Ironically, with an upswing in the economy, increased activity is helping to drive electrical use this year.

Although Nersa did not simultaneously introduce the controversial energy conservation scheme penalties for large electrical users, it is expected that this may still be launched later this year.

We are still waiting for the details of the price rise, and just how commercial property will be affected. However it seems likely, that similar to last year, commercial property and larger residential users will contribute through higher rates towards subsidies for low-income domestic users.

Unsurprisingly, electricity continues to be the largest operational cost for commercial property, according to the August 2009 South African Property Owner’s Association (SAPOA) report. Expenditure on electricity rose to more than 27% of total opex, from 22.6% in December 2008.

Henry Truter, director at Rennie Property, said: “If the 2009 price hikes were a wake-up call to the property industry, these latest price hikes are a startling reminder that power consumption needs to be high on property owners’, managers’ and tenants’ agendas.

“The expected increases over the next few years means the cost per square meter for electricity in a commercial building can go up to R 30 or more.

“Last year we advised stakeholders on how to set up an energy management plan for their buildings, and this year we will continue to work with owners and tenants to help them reduce power consumption, within the scope of their individual situations.”

South Africa’s power utility, Eskom, requested the price hike in order to fund a R 385 billion capital expansion plan over the next five years.

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Notes to editors:

Some of the advice Rennie Property will be giving stakeholders includes:

· The three pillars on which energy conservation rests are:

1. Human attitude: the highest savings are achieved when everyone works together.

2. Update: retrofit old equipment with new energy efficient products.

3. Technology: use new technology such as building management and other control products to achieve maximum savings.

Rennie Property

Rennie Property, known as South Africa’s top-performing specialist commercial property management company, offers property management, broking and consulting services. It was established in 1997, and for the past 13 years has looked after some of South Africa’s most prestigious buildings including Melrose Arch in Johannesburg, and the ABSA Centre in Cape Town. Its present portfolio of properties under management is valued at over R6 billion.

For more information please visit: www.rennieproperty.co.za

Released on behalf of Rennie Property by:

Vanessa Clark
Twokats Communications
Ph: +27 82 335 1117
Email: vanessa.clark@twokats.com

19 February 2010 – TEAMtalk media, the leading digital sports content producer in South Africa and a BSkyB subsidiary, recently announced the winners of its Football365 African Cup of Nations 2010 Predictor competition, with the PSL and Premier League versions of the competition in full swing.

The Football365 Predictor competition allows football fans to predict the outcome of individual games in various tournaments and score points for each correct forecast. Competitors’ teams are listed on an online leader board, where they fight it out for first place at the end of the tournament. Winners receive a cash prize, and of course bragging rights with other football fans.

Dino F. picked up a cool R2,000 for his football predictions during the recent AFCON tournament, with the runners up winning R1,000 and R500 each. The winners of the Predictor competition guaranteed their places at the top of the leader board with a series of consistently accurate predictions throughout the tournament.

Johannesburg-based Dino’s advice for future contestants is: “Follow your instincts. You’ll get a lot of advice from your friends, but the best thing to do is go with the results you think are right.” Dino is a lifelong Fiorentina supporter, and is backing Bafana and Greece in the upcoming World Cup.

“This is a great way for our readers to test their skills and knowledge of the game against friends and other football fans,” said Richard Ferraris, editor of Football365.co.za. “And we trust that the in-depth news and analysis that our team provides gives our readers the information they need to make the best predictions.”

There is no entry fee to play one of TEAMtalk media’s Predictor games, and the competitions can be accessed via the web or mobile phones. Two points are awarded for a correct win, and three for the accurate prediction of a draw. Bonus points are given for getting the outcome of the entire week’s games correct.

Predictor competitions currently on the go include the South African PSL and English Premier League, with a FIFA 2010 World Cup competition set to kick off later this year.

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Word count: 346

ABOUT TEAMtalk media

One of South Africa’s leading digital content producers, TEAMtalk media creates sports content for radio, print, online, TV and mobile – providing quality content for the Sky network of sports sites, which reaches 25 million unique readers, as well as its media syndication partners.

Its network includes: Sky Sports, Sporting Life, Sport365, Football365, Golf365, Cricket365, Extreme 365, Oddschecker, Planet Rugby, Planet F1, and football365.co.za. Additional offerings are: Sky News, Sky News Radio, Sky Text.

f365.co.za, the mobile version of popular local football site football365.co.za was selected as a finalist in the mobile publishing category for the 2009 Bookmark Awards, which rewards online excellence.

The company consists of four main business units: editorial, mobile, an award-winning customer support service, and ad campaign management. TEAMtalk Media’s South African editorial team - which works in tandem with the UK team - is comprised of seasoned sports journalists who are leaders in their respective fields.

The mobile division of TEAMtalk Media generates cutting edge sports graphics, ring tones, animations and a host of additional bespoke mobile entertainment content, for use by the internal network of sites as well as for syndication.

TEAMtalk Media is a proud division of British Sky Broadcasting.

For more information visit: www.teamtalkmedia.co.za

Issued by TWOKATS COMMUNICATIONS on behalf of TEAMtalk media

For more info:

Contact: Vanessa Clark
Tel: 082 335 1117
Email: vanessa.clark@twokats.com

Firstly I am going back to my tech B2B roots with Jon Maliepaard and the team at eNetworks. This is a 10-year-old ISP and Internet services company that has been building enormous enterprise-grade networks for some of South Africa’s biggest companies. They are obsessed with customer service, and one of their clients calls them “networking angels”. They also kick ass with WiFi. eNetworks has been flying under the radar up until now - so watch this space to find out more about them.

This week I also signed up JobCrystal, the only online passive recruitment service. Karl Westvig and Kevin Laithwaite have been plotting how to improve how people get hired and how companies hire staff for some time, and JobCrystal is the result. I’ll be working hard over the next few months to raise brand awareness and let recruiters and candidates know there is a better way to go about things. (Oh, and there is a sweet referral programme too, refer a friend and earn a commission when they get placed).

I am delighted to included these guys in my current list of Twokats Communications clients.

You can take a listen here: Episode 55

Don’t forget to enter the competion. Visit the Breadline Africa site and donate now.

Launched during of South Africa’s tour of India in February 2010, the mobile site has already gained significant traction in 2009 while it was still in beta. Live running commentaries keep readers up to date wherever they are, and in-depth scorecards satisfy the most demanding of stats lovers.

“It doesn’t matter whether our readers are accessing the web via computer or mobile phone. They get the same level of immediate, top-class cricket coverage from our team of expert sports journalists. C365.co.za content includes breaking news, match results, fixtures and in-depth analysis – all available on the go,” said Lashias Ncube, editor-in-chief at TEAMtalk media.

In addition to regular Cricket365 content, mobile readers can also download cricket-related wallpapers and register to customise their home page according to the team they support.

This latest addition to TEAMtalk media’s South African mobile stable joins f365.co.za and www.planet-rugby.mobi, as well as a raft of third party mobile sites.

“There is no doubt that mobile content is a natural complement to our online publications as each medium has its own strengths and features. Especially in South Africa, where the vast majority of the population are expected to start accessing the Internet via a mobile phone,” said Barrie Jarrett, TEAMtalk media founder.

[ENDS]

Word count: 268

ABOUT TEAMtalk media

One of South Africa’s leading digital content producers, TEAMtalk media creates sports content for radio, print, online, TV and mobile – providing quality content for the Sky network of sports sites, which reaches 25 million unique readers, as well as its media syndication partners.

Its network includes: Sky Sports, Sporting Life, Sport365, Football365, Golf365, Cricket365, Extreme 365, Oddschecker, Planet Rugby, Planet F1, and football365.co.za. Additional offerings are: Sky News, Sky News Radio, Sky Text.

f365.co.za, the mobile version of popular local football site football365.co.za was selected as a finalist in the mobile publishing category for the 2009 Bookmark Awards, which rewards online excellence.

The company consists of four main business units: editorial, mobile, an award-winning customer support service, and ad campaign management. TEAMtalk media’s South African editorial team - which works in tandem with the UK team - is comprised of seasoned sports journalists who are leaders in their respective fields.

The mobile division of TEAMtalk media generates cutting edge sports graphics, ring tones, animations and a host of additional bespoke mobile entertainment content, for use by the internal network of sites as well as for syndication.

TEAMtalk media is a proud division of British Sky Broadcasting.

For more information visit: www.teamtalkmedia.co.za

Issued by TWOKATS COMMUNICATIONS on behalf of TEAMtalk media

For more info:

Contact: Vanessa Clark
Tel: 082 335 1117
Email: vanessa.clark@twokats.com