Brian Molefe Says He Never Left Eskom

On 11/30/2017 By The Turk ReportIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Brian Molefe is adamant he should be reinstated to his position as Eskom’s CEO. He insists he and Eskom made an honest mistake when they agreed on his early retirement from the power utility five years too early. The DA, EFF, and Solidarity went to court on Wednesday to have Molefe’s R30-million pension payout declared unlawful and set aside.

Tegeta Threatens To Cut Eskom Coal Supply

On Friday last week, Tegeta Exploration and Resources threatened to shut down the conveyor belts that supply coal to Hendrina power station. Tegeta – owned by the Guptas, Trillian founder Salim Essa, and the president’s son Duduzane Zuma – wanted Eskom to increase the R150/ton it pays to Tegeta for coal from the Optimum mine. According to leaked minutes of an Eskom meeting on Friday, Eskom retaliated by threatening to approach the court. “Legal counsel was instructed to prepare the interdict and a meeting was held with [Tegeta] this morning, to discuss actions to be taken. Verbal commitment [were] made by [Tegeta] at 12:30 that they will not stop the conveyor belt to [Hendrina]; Eskom requested written confirmation by 15:00 today. If it is not delivered urgent legal action will be taken,” the minutes read.

Multichoice’s R500m “Bribe” To SABC

Minutes of a high-level 2013 meeting between South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) executives and MultiChoice suggest the Naspers pay-TV subsidiary tried to use a R500m payment for an SABC news channel as cover to secure influence over government policy on encryption. Analysts said MultiChoice saw encryption as a threat to its dominance of the pay-TV market and the company was determined to reverse government policy and ensure set-top boxes were not encrypted.

SAA Losses To Hit R4Billion

Losses at South African Airways are set to widen to R4 billion ($292.86 million) in 2017/18 – up from a previous estimate of R2.8 billion, according to Chief financial officer, Phumeza Nhantsi. Last week, SAA said even with a government injection of R10 billion, the struggling airline will remain under-capitalised with a negative equity position of over R9 billion. Vuyani Jarana, SAA’s CEO, said the airline had outstanding debt of R13.8 billion($1.01 billion) as of this month and that it needed to pay back domestic lenders and U.S. bank Citi R4 billion by March 2018.

Naspers Interim Profits Up 65%

Group core headline earnings, the board’s measure of sustainable operating performance, was US$1.5 billion – a 65% increase year on year. Naspers, which owns a 34% stake in Tencent, said headline earnings climbed to $1.5 billion, or 350 cents per share, from $914 million, or 212 cents per share. The group said that it delivered a solid performance for the six months to 30 September 2017 with group revenue, measured on an economic-interest basis, increasing 33% year on year to US$9.0 billion (or 39% in local currency and adjusted for acquisitions and disposals).

Bitcoin Breaks $11000 Barrier

The price of the cryptocurrency bitcoin smashed through $11,000 on Wednesday — less than 12 hours after bursting through the $10,000 mark. Hitting almost $11,400 per coin, the digital currency has now gained about 1,000% year-to-date. Bitcoin’s rise in 2017, according to the Guardian, has been the largest of any asset class. But, drawing comparisons between previous rallies the cryptocrrency has enjoyed, the price is only up about 5,000% since it hit a low in January 2015. Previous rallies, from July 2010 to mid-2011, and from 2012 to 2014 have seen bitcoin soar just less than 40,000% and 55,000% respectively.

Big Changes To Parental Leave Law

The Labour Laws Amendment Bill‚ which was passed by the National Assembly on Tuesday‚ is a landmark achievement for parental rights as it allows for all parents to access parental leave‚ regardless of gender. In terms of the Bill‚ an employee who is a parent and who is not entitled to maternity leave‚ is entitled to ten consecutive days’ parental leave when their child is born or when an adoption order is granted.

Currencies: Bitcoin R162,331 . Ether R7,001 . R/USD13.66 . R/GBP18.36 . R/EUR16.20

Time Magazine Sold TO Rivals

On 11/28/2017 By The Turk ReportIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Time magazine is about to have new owners — including the billionaire Koch brothers.
Media company Meredith (MDP) announced Sunday that it has agreed to buy the 95-year-old magazine’s publisher, Time Inc., for $2.8 billion. Acquiring the legendary magazine business gives Meredith control of dozens of other big titles such as People, Sports Illustrated, Fortune and Entertainment Weekly. Meredith already publishes several top magazines, including Parents, Shape and Better Homes & Gardens.

New Govt Plan To Battle Downgrades

The government is looking to implement R30bn in tax hikes and more than R50bn of spending cuts in 2018 as it struggles to stabilise the ballooning public-debt ratio and respond to the concerns of ratings agencies and investors.

Water Dept To Throttle Municipalities

An ongoing culture of nonpayment by local municipalities has exacerbated the water troubles South Africa faces, with the Department of Water and Sanitation currently owed R10.7-billion. The Minister has now issued notices to 30 municipalities that the department would terminate bulk water supply should they fail to pay their water debts by December 8.

Mining Charter Court Case Postponed

The showdown between the mining sector and Mining Minister Mosebenzi Zwane over the controversial Mining Charter will now only take place next year, after the charter’s court review was postponed. The hearing was moved to mid-February next year at the request of the Chamber of Mines, which voiced concerns that the two days set aside in December was not enough time to argue the case properly.

China Pollution Harming The Economy

China has transformed over the past four decades from an economic backwater to an unrivaled industrial power that consumes huge amounts of raw materials and energy. The tremendous change has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, but also polluted the country’s air and water. The government has already undertaken initiatives to promote clean energy vehicles and sideline polluting industries. Beijing has signed the Paris Climate Accord and is working on a plan to eventually phase out cars powered solely by fossil fuels. The changes are coming at the expense of economic growth, which has dropped from above 10% in 2010 to below 7% in recent years.

New Eskom Board To Be Announced Soon

Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown will present the names of the proposed members of the Eskom board to the cabinet on December 6. In his medium-term budget policy statement last month, Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba said that a new Eskom board would be appointed before the end of this month. Business Report understands that this week’s cabinet meeting has been postponed until next week. Zethembe Khoza has been Eskom’s interim chairperson since the unexpected resignation of Ben Ngubane in June this year.

Bitcoin Billionaire Estimates Rise To $40000 By End Of 2018

Bitcoin was hovering just $300 shy of the vaunted $10,000 mark at one point on Monday but it could “easily” reach four times that amount by the end of 2018. That’s according to former Fortress hedge fund manager Michael Novogratz. “Bitcoin could be at $40,000 at the end of 2018. It easily could,” Novogratz said on the CNBC show Fast Money, Monday. “Ethereum, which I think just touched $500 or is getting close, could be triple where it is as well,” he added.

Currencies: Bitcoin R170,675 . Ether R8,197 . R/USD13.77 . R/GBP18.32 . R/EUR16.39

Farmers Warn Of Rocketing Food Prices

On 11/27/201711/27/2017 By The Turk ReportIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

South African consumers are about to be hit by high food prices this festive season because of the lingering effects of drought, Agri SA warned on Friday. It said things would get tougher due to the recent drought that hit large parts of the country and affected food production in provinces such as the Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Northern Cape. Already, South Africa has witnessed an average increase in meat prices of 15.5%, while milk, cheese and eggs increased by 2.7%, the last also attributed to avian flu.

SA Downgraded TO Junk By S&P

Global ratings agency S&P Global Ratings on Friday evening downgraded South Africa’s long-term local currency rating to ‘BB+’, or junk, from ‘BBB-‘ with a stable outlook, while Moody’s has placed the country on review to be downgraded. S&P also further lowered SA’s long-term foreign currency debt to ‘BB’ from ‘BB+’, meaning this debt is now on the second rung of non-investment grade. Moody’s Investors Service then announced that it had placed the Baa3 long-term issuer and senior unsecured bond ratings of the government of South Africa on review for downgrade.

Britian Now Out Of Worlds Top 5 Economies

Britain has officially abandoned its claim to be the world’s fifth largest economy. While there are several ways to measure the size of an economy, the U.K. Treasury pointed to GDP forecasts published by the International Monetary Fund in October to back up his statement. The numbers show that France will narrowly squeak ahead of Britain in the group’s 2017 ranking of global economies, with its advantage predicted to widen considerably in 2018.

SARS Pays R18.5 Billion To Taxpayers

The SA Revenue Service (SARS) paid R18.5bn to 2.22 million taxpayers at the close of the tax season for non-provisional taxpayers on Friday November 24. This is a 26% increase compared to last year, SARS said in a statement issued on Sunday. It explained that these refunds apply to returns filed for the 2016/2017 tax year, which have been submitted during Tax Season 2017 from July 1 to November 24.

Bitcoin Smashes Through $8500 Mark

Bitcoin has reached another all-time high, breaking through the $9,000 mark on international exchanges and R150,000 on Luno. The price of Bitcoin has continued to climb despite the calling off of a switch to SegWit2x.SegWit2x would have been the culmination of a compromise that was set in motion earlier this year, through “The New York Agreement” and a document called BIP91 (Bitcoin improvement proposal 91). Despite the consensus achieved through BIP91, increasing Bitcoin’s block size remained a controversial change – and it has since been suspended due to a lack of buy-in from many Bitcoin players. Bitcoin has seen huge growth since the start of 2017, with the token trading at around R12,000 at the beginning of the year.

Witnesses Fail To Testify In Koko Case

The prosecution in Eskom’s disciplinary process against Matshela Koko was forced to close its case prematurely on Saturday after witnesses declined to testify against the suspended former acting CEO. Evidence leader Cassim Moosa told advocate Mzungulu Mthombeni, chairman of the hearing, that a number of witnesses had declined his invitation to testify against Koko. This means Eskom will struggle to prove the serious allegations against Koko, paving the way for him to be reinstated and to assume the “rotating” CEO’s seat that was vacated by Brian Molefe in 2016. This entire thing has been a sham and tailor made for Koko to get off unscathed.

Ex Zim Finance Minister Facing Corruption Charges

Ignatius Chombo, Zimbabwe’s finance minister until the military seized control of the country, was charged with three offenses including corruption, abuse of office and fraud. Chombo appeared in a Harare court on Saturday to face the charges, which were listed in a document handed to reporters at the court by his lawyer, Lovemore Madhuku. The court ruled that Chombo must remain in custody until Monday when his team can apply for bail.

Hawks Investigating Brian Molefe Pension

The NPA said in papers that the office of the Hawks is probing those involved in the alleged pension fund saga. Solidarity has asked the court to order that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) investigate the matter. Earlier this year, the union filed an affidavit in which it asked the court to overturn Eskom’s decision to reappoint Molefe as CEO, as well as the approval of the payout

Currencies: Bitcoin R160,553 . Ether R7,873 . R/USD13.89 . R/GBP18.47. R/EUR16.56

Black Friday Causes Site Crashes & Chaos

On 11/24/2017 By The Turk ReportIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

The annual Black Friday discount bonanza happening in South Africa and around the world has some outlets offering discounts of up to 50%. Stores experiencing problems are; retail giant Takealot, online fashion store Superbalist.com. and websites across The Foschini Group (TFG) have been experiencing technical difficulties due to the Black Friday craziness. There is also gridlocked traffic around shopping malls as people rush to get deals.

IDC To Sue Oakbay After They Miss Deadline

Gupta-owned Oakbay Resources & Energy’s woes have escalated with news that the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) is suing it for its failure to meet a demand to pay R293m by Thursday. The claim arises from the alleged unlawful manipulation of the Oakbay share price ahead of the company’s listing on the JSE in November 2014. The allegations, investigated by the Financial Services Board, were that a Singaporean entity funded by the Gupta family bought shares in Oakbay just prior to its listing in order to boost the share price.

Reserve Bank Leaves Interest Rates Unchanged

The Reserve Bank kept interest rates unchanged on Thursday‚ when the monetary policy committee (MPC) wrapped up its last meeting for the year. That leaves the repo at 6.75%‚ where it has been since July’s cut of 25 basis points — the first cut in five years.

Fitch Leaves SA Credit Rating Unchanged

On Thursday at about 5.30pm, Fitch held SA’s sovereign credit rating at the BB+ “first tier of junk” level it downgraded the country to on April 7. Fitch maintained its outlook at stable, and the outlooks of the big three ratings agencies are important clues as to their next actions. At about 11pm on Friday night, S&P Global Ratings and Moody’s are scheduled to release their latest verdicts on the creditworthiness of South African government bonds.

Vodacom Facing Lawsuit Over Disappearing Airtime

In an attempt to quell customer dissatisfaction, the network began the process of “gifting” their customers with 500 megabyte once-off data bundles. Despite the action Vodacom denied robbing it’s customers purchased data, instead saying, “the reality is that data is not disappearing – we are just using more data at a much faster rate. “The reason for the higher data use is because our smartphones are becoming more entrenched in all our daily activities,” Vodacom said. Despite it’s claims, Vodacom is now facing a class action lawsuit for tens of millions for “unauthorised fees” that it has charged it’s subscribers. Bidvest Car Rental executive, William Douglas has decided to take action against the network giant over his Vodacom account allegedly being “billed without consent for content services.”

British Salaries Could Be Frozen For 17 Years

The Resolution Foundation, a non-partisan think tank, said that average earnings, when adjusted for inflation, are likely to stay below the level they hit before the global financial crisis until the start of 2025. That means 17 years without a pay hike. The Institute for Fiscal Studies, the country’s leading independent economic research institute, gave a similarly dire warning. Britain’s independent Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) on Wednesday slashed its growth forecast for this year from 2% to 1.5%. The watchdog said that weak productivity means growth won’t pick up until 2021, and it cited Brexit as one factor.

Mitshubishi Admits Falsifying Data

Mitsubishi Materials said Thursday that it had falsified data on multiple products — including components used in cars and airplanes — for more than a year. Mitsubishi Cable Industries had been misrepresenting data on rubber sealants used in automobiles and aircraft, the company added. Data was falsified for around 270 million units sold between April 2015 and September 2017 to a total of 229 customers. Another subsidiary, Mitsubishi Shindoh, had been fudging details of some of its metal products for at least the past year, including brass and copper parts used in the automotive and electronics industries. At least 29 companies are believed to have bought the parts in question.

Currencies: Bitcoin R132,546 . Ether R6,462 . R/USD13.94 . R/GBP18.48 . R/EUR16.49

Tsotsi Reaveals Dudu Myeni Eskom Influence

On 11/23/2017 By The Turk ReportIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Former SAA chair Dudu Myeni met with former Eskom chairman Zola Tsotsi in President Jacob Zuma’s Durban home‚ where she told him to institute an inquiry and suspend three top Eskom executives. These shocking claims were among explosive evidence given by Tsotsi in his testimony to Parliament’s Public Enterprises committee. Tsotsi said Myeni had told him that because of Eskom’s financial distress‚ an inquiry should be instituted and three executives – acting CEO Tsediso Matona‚ Dan Marokane and Mathsela Koko – should be suspended.

Gigaba Seems To U Turn On Nuclear

Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba appeared to backtrack on his nuclear stance on Wednesday, saying in Parliament that SA would pursue the nuclear build programme at a pace and scale the government could afford. In his maiden medium-term budget policy statement in October, Gigaba suggested SA had neither planned for spending on nuclear nor could the country afford it. It is estimated the nuclear build programme could cost R1-trillion.

Gupta’s To Appear Before Eskom Inquiry

Tony, Ajay and Atup Gupta, President Jacob Zuma’s son Duduzane, former SAA boss Dudu Myeni, Eric Wood and Salim Essa are to be “invited” to appear before the parliamentary inquiry into state capture. All have been implicated in testimony heard by the committee over the past month. Members of the public enterprises portfolio committee – which is conducting the probe – said on Wednesday afternoon that they should first be invited to attend, but agreed that if this failed, the seven should be served subpoenas.

China Bans Skype

Skype, Microsoft’s internet phone call and messaging service, has disappeared from app stores in China including that of Apple, indicating the latest setback for a foreign tech service in the country. Apple, responding to questions about Skype’s absence, late on Tuesday said it had removed several internet phone call apps from its App Store in China after the country’s government said they violated local laws.

Uber Fined R123 Million Due To Unqaulified Drivers

The Colorado Public Utilities Commission said its probe found violations that included 12 drivers with felony convictions, 17 drivers with major moving-vehicle violations and three drivers with a type of driver’s license required after recent drunk-driving convictions. Since the findings, Colorado has ordered Uber to pay a fine of $8.9 million (R123.95 million). Uber Technologies Inc said in a statement that it recently discovered an error in its background check process in Colorado and began working to correct the issue.

Interest Rates Unlikely To Change

A rate cut will be unlikely given the “significant event risk” of another credit rating downgrade by the end of this week, according an analyst. News that inflation eased to 4.8% for October will not have much influence on the interest rate decision of the Reserve Bank’s monetary policy committee on Thursday, explained FNB’s senior economic analyst Jason Muscat.

Currencies : Bitcoin R124,977 . Rand/USD 13.85 . Rand/GBP 18.41 . Rand/EUR 16.37

Zuma Admits Unlawful Nxasana Payment

On 11/22/201711/22/2017 By The Turk ReportIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

President Jacob Zuma made yet another major admission in court on Tuesday, conceding that the R17m golden handshake offered to former National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) boss Mxolisi Nxasana was unlawful. Zuma’s lawyer, Ishmael Semenya, said that the payment to the former national director of public prosecutions was unlawful and that Nxasana should pay back the money. The applicants have all argued that Shaun Abrahams should vacate his position and pave the way for Nxasana.

Molefe Denies Having Resigned

Molefe says that in October he received letters from both the Minister of Public Enterprises Lynne Brown and the chairman of the Eskom board‚ Ben Ngubane‚ confirming his appointment. Neither contained any limitation on the period of employment. Also in October‚ he signed his executive employment contract‚ which states that it would continue for an indefinite period. Molefe disputed reports that he had received a R30 million pension when he decided to take early retirement. While this was the total amount due to him‚ he said he had received only around R7 million of this – R4.3 million of which was his Transnet pension‚ which he had transferred. The money and its return are now the subject of court processes after Molefe was made to revoke his retirement‚ returned to Eskom and was then removed again.

Uber Covered Up Massive Data Hack

Hackers stole the personal data of 57 million customers and drivers from Uber Technologies Inc., a massive breach that the company concealed for more than a year. This week, the ride-hailing firm fired its chief security officer and one of his deputies for their roles in keeping the hack under wraps, which included a $100,000 payment to the hackers. Compromised data from the October 2016 attack included names, email addresses and phone numbers of 50 million Uber riders around the world.

SA Smartphone Sales Climb 28%

South African smartphone sales climbed by nearly a third in the third quarter of 2017 compared to last year, helped by falling prices, data from an industry monitoring group showed on Tuesday. Sales rose 28% year-on-year to three million units during the quarter, while basic mobile phone sales were up 6% to 1.6 million units, according to point-of-sale tracking data from GfK South Africa.

Maria Sharapova Investigated For India Property Fraud

Former world No. 1 Maria Sharapova is under investigation by Indian police for cheating and criminal conspiracy after the collapse of a luxury housing project that she endorsed, a lawyer said yesterday. The firm behind the development is alleged to have taken millions from homebuyers before the project folded. The five-time Grand Slam champion travelled to India in 2012 to launch the complex, named Ballet by Sharapova, which prospective buyers were told would house a tennis academy as well as a clubhouse and a helipad.

Major Worries Over Sassa And SAPO Handover

The interministerial committee on social security has given the South African Post Office (Sapo) and the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) three weeks to develop a pass-over plan which will ensure the lawful, efficient and cost-effective provision of grants in 2018. However, the panel of experts appointed by the Constitutional Court has raised concerns about the committee’s work and flagged the Post Office’s involvement in grant distribution as potentially expensive because a competitive bidding process was absent.

Currencies : Bitcoin R122,288 . Rand/USD 13.98 . Rand/GBP 18.50 . Rand/EUR 16.42

Tencent Market Cap Overtakes Facebook

On 11/21/2017 By The Turk ReportIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

China’s social media and video game giant Tencent overtook Facebook in market value on Tuesday as investors sent the company soaring to the top five list of the world’s biggest firms. Tencent’s shares, traded in Hong Kong, have doubled in value this year as the tech company’s earnings have repeatedly outmatched analysts’ expectations. By Tuesday afternoon Tencent’s market capitalisation had reached 4.15 trillion Hong Kong dollars ($531bn), surpassing the US social network’s $519bn. Tencent has nearly one billion users on its popular WeChat phone platform, where people can chat, post photos, play games, transfer money and pay for a variety of services in China.

Zuma Allegedly Bribed Nxasana

President Jacob Zuma tried to “bully” former National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) head Mxolisi Nxasana out of office by using an inquiry into his fitness, the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria heard on Monday. “He tries to bribe him, seduce him with public money,” Wim Trengove SC, representing Freedom Under Law (FUL) said. FUL, Corruption Watch and the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (Casac) are seeking an order declaring Nxasana’s removal invalid. Nxasana accepted a golden handshake from Zuma worth R17.3m and left the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in 2015.

Glencore Facing Another Scandal

Two weeks after the Paradise Papers leak brought a wave of scrutiny over Glencore’s dealings in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the company is facing another scandal. The issues stem from Katanga Mining, a Congolese copper producer owned by Glencore. An internal review found among other problems that Katanga had failed to disclose compensation paid to some executives and overstated copper output in 2014. In some cases, senior management and executive directors were responsible for overriding control processes.

Brian Molefe And Zola Tsotsi TO testify In Eskom Inquiry

Former Eskom chief executive Brian Molefe and former chairperson Zola Tsotsi will give evidence in the Eskom inquiry conducted by Parliament’s public enterprises portfolio committee on Tuesday. Molefe and Tsotsi’s names have been raised countless times during the inquiry, which has seen damning testimonies from former and suspended executives, business rescue practitioners, consultants and pension scheme officials. Tsotsi was chair from 2011 to 2015 and Molefe was chief executive from 2015 to 2016.

Water Shortages Hit Joburg Areas Due To Outstanding Payments

The water supply to several areas just south of Johannesburg has failed after bulk water authority Rand Water has reduced the pressure to its client Emfuleni Local Municipality by 60% for defaulting on its debt. The affected areas include the townships of Sebokeng, Golden Gardens, Evaton North, Lakeside and others. These areas have been without water for consecutive weeks. The Department of Water and Sanitation has put the debt to Rand Water at R400m. Rand Water said R81.8m was due now and that R372.5m was overdue.

Rosatom Confirms Widespread Radioactive Contamination

Russia’s meteorological service on Monday confirmed “extremely high” concentrations of the radioactive isotope ruthenium-106 in several parts of the country in late September, confirming European reports about the contamination this month. The highest concentration was registered at the station in Argayash, a village in the Chelyabinsk region in the southern Urals, which had “extremely high pollution” of Ru-106, exceeding natural background pollution by 986 times, the service said. Rosatom are said to the preferred nuclear provider for South Africa yet they are hiding such widespread radiation

SA’s First Commercial Solar System Insurance Launched

South African firms All Power Systems and Synthesis said on Monday they had launched the country’s first commercial solar savings insurance to protect companies from risks associated with adverse weather and system failure. All Power Systems and Synthesis Power Holdings had partnered with a global reinsurer to develop a unique solar savings insurance product to underwrite savings guarantees for companies, CEO Jay Naidoo said.

Rand Weakens On Possible Downgrade

he rand weakened yesterday, bowing to a firming dollar and growing concerns over possible credit downgrades of the country’s local-currency bonds to “sub investment” at the end of the week. Risks are focused on Friday’s expected ratings announcements by S&P Global and Moody’s. Both currently have South Africa’s local bond rating a notch above “junk”.

Currencies : Bitcoin R121,390 . Rand/USD 14.07 . Rand/GBP 18.61 . Rand/EUR 16.53

Security Minister Bongo Bribary Scandal

On 11/20/2017 By The Turk ReportIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

New State Security Minister Bongani Bongo is embroiled in a new bribery scandal. This time Bongo is accused of offering a bribe, in a form of “blank cheque”, to the evidence leader of parliament’s state capture inquiry — Advocate Ntuthuzelo Vanara. Vanara has made the shocking allegation in a sworn statement submitted to National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete. Mbete has referred the matter to parliament’s joint ethics committee for further investigation.

Presidency To Spend R48Million On Six Ministerial Houses

The state has paid almost R700,000 to build a braai area for one of President Jacob Zuma’s ministers. These revelations were made by the Department of Public Works in parliament this week. It also emerged that the department plans to spend R48-million to purchase six houses for Zuma’s ministers. Bassie Kgasoane, the chief director of prestige property at public works, confirmed the expenditure.

Job Cuts Expected If Eskom Price Increase Approved

The proposed 19.9% electricity hike by Eskom will result in job losses in the steel and engineering sector, warned an economist for the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa. The sector has already lost a total of 25 000 jobs in the three years between July 2014 and June this year.

Multichoice Plans To Drop ANN7

MultiChoice plans to drop the Gupta-backed news channel ANN7 from DStv when its contract expires in June 2018. It follows a public outcry after the revelation that MultiChoice is paying to broadcast ANN7. The agreement was amended to increase the annual fee for ANN7 from R50 million per year to R150 million. MultiChoice would also not have the right to cancel ANN7 should it not perform well.

Brian Molefe Earning R57k A Month From Army

Former Eskom CEO Brian Molefe has been called up to serve as a colonel in the army, earning R57,000 a month. City Press said that he was initially appointed in 2009 as an honorary colonel of the SA Irish regiment, a part-time unit. It said that that this post is akin to a ceremonial role.

Bitcoin Breaches $8000 Mark

Bitcoin topped $8,000 for the first time, as investors set aside technology concerns that had derailed its advance earlier this month. Bitcoin rose 4.8% to $8,071.05 as of 7:17 a.m.. It’s now up more than 700% this year after shrugging off a tumble of as much as 29% earlier this month. It’s been a tumultuous year for the largest cryptocurrency, with three separate slumps of more than 25 percent in value all giving way to subsequent rallies.

Currencies : Bitcoin R118,770 . Rand/USD 14.04 . Rand/GBP 18.49 . Rand/EUR 16.46

DaVinci Painting Sells For Record $450.3m

On 11/16/2017 By The Turk ReportIn Africa, Bitcoin, Business, markets, Money, Opinion, South Africa, WorldLeave a comment

That was the reaction of mega art dealer Larry Gagosian after a rediscovered painting by Leonardo da Vinci became the most expensive work ever sold, soaring to $450.3m (almost R6.5bn) at a Christie’s auction in New York on Wednesday.

McKinsey Will Repay Eskom Money

Global consultancy firm McKinsey has set aside the R1bn that Eskom has demanded that it repay and was keen to do so, the head of the firm’s public and social sector practice, David Fine, said on Wednesday. Fine was giving evidence at the inquiry into state capture held by Parliament’s public enterprises portfolio committee. The money was paid for McKinsey’s work on a turnaround plan, but the Treasury had not approved the contract. “McKinsey does not want any tainted money. We went into a relationship with Eskom in good faith,” Fine said.

Bitcoin Soaring In Zimbabwe After Coup

Demand for Bitcoin in Zimbabwe has surged amid a shortage of hard currency. Golix processed more than $1 million of transactions in the past 30 days, compared with turnover of $100,000 for the whole of 2016, according to data on the exchange’s website. Zimbabwe doesn’t have its own currency, with the government adopting the US dollar and South African rand, among others, as legal tender in 2009 after hyperinflation rendered the local dollar worthless.

Eskom Set To Make Massive Losses

The low electricity price increase granted by energy regulator Nersa for the 2016/17 financial year, coupled with declining sales volumes, rising costs and debtor payment challenges, are all working to put Eskom’s revenue, cash flow and bottom line under severe pressure. As a result, the Eskom Group profit of R6.38bn for the six-month period ending 30 September 2017 is projected to reflect a loss of some R3.55bn by financial year-end.

Naspers Hits record High

Tencent sales for the quarter were 65.2 billion yuan ($9.8 billion), compared to analyst expectations for 61 billion yuan. Net income surged 69 percent to 18 billion yuan, also blowing past projections for 15.8 billion yuan. Tencent’s shares closed 1.3 percent lower, before earnings were announced. Naspers Ltd., a major stockholder in the company, climbed as much as 4.1 percent to a record high in Johannesburg.

MTN To Introduce Biometric Security

Cellphone service MTN has announced it is today introducing “an industry-first biometric system” to protect its customers against ID theft. The biometrics will be used to authenticate the identity of post-paid subscribers when they undertake a range of transactions‚ including applying for a new contract or an additional SIM‚ performing an upgrade or SIM swap and loading of chargeable value added services.

Currencies : Bitcoin – R112,999 . Rand/USD 14.39 . Rand/GBP 18.91 . Rand/EUR 16.94

Military Coup In Zimbabwe

On 11/15/2017 By The Turk ReportIn Africa, Banking, markets, Money, Opinion, South AfricaLeave a comment

Soldiers deployed across the Zimbabwe capital Harare and seized the state broadcaster on Wednesday after 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe’s ruling Zanu (PF) party accused the head of the military of treason, prompting frenzied speculation of a coup. Since then, the army has taken control of the national broadcaster, arrested senior politicians and those in Mugabe’s inner circle and former vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa has returned to the country.

Eskom Employees Reveal Lynn Browne Lies

Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown came under scathing attack on Tuesday from an Eskom GM, who accused her of being incompetent, a liar and captured by the Guptas.

Water Departments R30Million Bonuses

Minister of Water and Sanitation Nomvula Mokonyane has admitted that her department paid out R30-million worth of bonuses to its employees‚ despite the department being found wanting in the management of its financial books. In a reply to a written question from Democratic Alliance MP Anchen Dreyer‚ Mokonyane said 1.5% of the total provision for salaries was allocated towards performance reviews. She said 1‚959 officials between salary levels 1 and 12 got the bulk of the R30-million in performance bonuses. Two officials in salary levels 13 and 14 got a bonus of R58‚092.82 and R69‚069.60 respectively.

Senior Eskom Boss Resigns Over State Corruption Allegations

France Hlakudi, a senior manager at the centre of allegations of corruption at Eskom’s Kusile power station in Mpumalanga, has resigned with immediate effect, Eskom confirmed yesterday. Eskom said Hlakudi resigned on Monday, leaving the troubled power utility under a cloud. His resignation could have far reaching implications for suspended executive Matshela Koko’s ongoing disciplinary process as he is one of the witnesses the power utility has lined up. As a former employee, he has no obligation to participate in the hearings.

SA Debt Soars

National Treasury had no trouble selling a record amount of debt at its weekly fixed-rate auction on Tuesday. The sale attracted bids of R10.9bn for the R3.3bn of notes of four maturities, with clearing yields on all four bonds jumping. Securities maturing in 2044 were the most popular, with demand of four times the amount on offer. The clearing yield of 10.405%, however, was 46 basis points higher than when the notes were last sold on October 17.

Application To have SA Express Liquidated Withdrawn

The threat of state-owned airline SA Express being liquidated has been removed as the complainant‚ Solenta Aviation‚ has withdrawn its application for liquidation. Instead SA Express and Solenta have agreed to deal with their dispute by means of arbitration. Solenta brought the application in the Gauteng High Court in June with SA Express giving notice that it would oppose it. The application arose from the non-payment by SAExpress of monies allegedly owed to Solenta.

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