IEC Strike Averted

A potential strike by permanent Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) workers belonging to the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) has been averted. Nehawu and the commission reached an agreement after two days of marathon negotiations to resolve the outstanding issues. Workers had threatened not to report for duty on Wednesday, which may have disrupted voting on election day.

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Steinhoff To Present Restated 2017 Financials

Steinhoff is set to release its restated and audited financial results for 2017 on Tuesday, giving investors insight into how a yearlong forensic probe by PwC has altered the multinational retailer’s financial position. The Stellenbosch-headquartered retailer has not made the full PwC report public, but published an 11-page overview stating that a “small group” of former executives inflated the group’s profit and asset values for years.

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Boeing Admits 737 Max Mistakes

Boeing on Sunday said that a key alert system linked to faulty sensors was sold as an optional feature on Boeing 737 MAX planes. Boeing has taken heat in recent months, following the crash of Lion Air Flight JT610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET302, which both featured Boeing 737 MAX planes. Investigators have linked the crashes to a sensor called the angle of attack (AOA), which delivered faulty readings and triggered a mechanism on the MAX planes to automatically push the nose of the plane downwards, causing them to plummet.

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System Crash At OR Tambo Causes Chaos

Passengers boarding international flights subsequently queued behind the check-in desks of Terminal A, with the line of passengers stretching all the way to Terminal B. Airport staff moved throughout the line attempting to get passengers onto their flights on time, while others took the opportunity to ask people for tips in return for helping them make it through immigration in time for their flights. At the time of reporting on this issue, Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) did not provide comment on the problem, but OR Tambo management has subsequently released a statement on the issue.

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New R1.2 Billion Pretoria Mall Gets Green Light

McCormick Property Development (MPD) has announced that it will begin moving ahead with Capital Mall, a R1.2 billion mega-development in Pretoria West. The development has been stuck in limbo, but an appeal to halt the development was overturned during a sitting of the City of Tshwane’s Municipal Appeals Tribunal (MAT) in April, the developers said. The development node includes a 150-bed private hospital, value retail centre, motor dealerships, affordable housing, student housing, schooling and community facilities

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Currencies : Rand/USD 14.46 – Rand/GBP 18.96 – Rand/EUR 16.21

iPhone Sales Drop At Record Pace

Sales of Apple’s iPhones fell at their steepest-ever rate, according to data for the three months to the end of March. The firm said revenue from the iPhone dropped by 17%, compared with the same period a year earlier, to $31bn. However, Apple chief executive Tim Cook said sales were stronger towards the end of March, including in China where it cut iPhone prices to boost demand.

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Most State Owned Companies Show Improvement

A Moneyweb analysis on the latest results of South Africa’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) shows that most performed satisfactorily in the year to March 2018, but 13 of the 30 are still performing dismally. Nine of these – Eskom, SAA, SA Express, the SABC, the Post Office, Denel, roads agency Sanral, PetroSA and passenger rail agency Prasa – continue to bleed so much cash they dwarf the positive results from the rest. The nine struggling companies posted total losses of nearly R20 billion over the 12 months.

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MTN Plans To Sell Jumia Stake

MTN Group Ltd. plans to sell at least half of its $655 million interest in newly listed Jumia Technologies AG as Africa’s biggest wireless carrier looks to pay down debt and enter new markets. A selldown of the 19 percent stake in the online retailer could happen before the end of the year, said the people, who asked to remain anonymous as the deliberations are private. Johannesburg-based MTN first needs to wait out a half-year investor lock-in period that followed Jumia’s successful share sale in New York, they said.

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Congestion Tax And Other Road Taxes Planned

The Department of Transport plans to introduce a number of regulatory changes in an effort to cut down on South Africa’s greenhouse gas emissions. The Department of Transport said that it will prepare the following regulatory actions targeted at encouraging the modal shift from road to rail and from private vehicle use to public transport: Congestion tax, Environmental levy, Car life limits etc

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Putin Signs Russia Private Internet Law

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed the law on providing stable operation of the Russian Internet (Runet) in case it is disconnected from the global infrastructure of the World Wide Web. Under the legislation, assuming it actually works in practice, the government would deal with “threats to the stable, safe and integral operation of the Russian Internet on Russian territory” by centralizing “the general communications network.” Put more simply, the law sets in train plans for an alternative domain name system (DNS) for Russia in the event that it is disconnected from the World Wide Web, or, one assumes, in the event that its politicians deem disconnection to be beneficial. Internet service providers would be compelled to disconnect from any foreign servers, relying on Russia’s DNS instead.

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Druglords Mistakenly Send Elderly Couple R100m In Meth

An elderly couple in Australia were the surprise recipients of an illegal drug shipment after signing for a wrongly delivered parcel containing millions of dollars’ worth of methamphetamine, police said Thursday. The Melbourne couple immediately called police when they discovered bags containing the white powder in the parcel on Wednesday, a police spokesman said. The package contained what police said were 20 kilograms of methamphetamine with an estimated street value of AU$10 million (R100 million).

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Currencies : Rand/USD 14.44 – Rand/GBP 18.85 – Rand/EUR 16.18

 

 

SARS Goes After Top ANC Officials

Top officials, politicians and businessmen of the ANC are facing tax claims of more than R250m on income earned from Bosasa, the services company at the heart of a widespread corruption scandal, the Johannesburg Sunday Times reports. Those on the list include Dudu Myeni, Nomvula Mokonyane, Vincent Smith and Zack Modise. Angelo Agrizzi, Bosasa’s chief operating officer from 1999 to 2016, is set to continue his testimony at the state capture commission and it’s alleged that he has more explosive evidence to provide which could take down more people. It’s a tough time being an ANC member

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DA and ANC In Election Trouble According To Polling Data

The poll, conducted between March and April 2019 using a demographically representative sample of over 3,600 people, continues a trend seen in many other pre-election polls – showing a drop in support for the DA and ANC, while support for the EFF rises. According to the latest results, published by the City Press, the ANC’s support has dropped from around 61% in its March poll to 56.9% in April. This is down from a 62.2% share of the vote in the 2014 national election. The DA has dropped even further from 18% in March to just 15% in April. The DA secured 22% of the vote in the 2014 elections, so should these snapshots carry through to the election, it would represent a significant drop in support.

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54c/l Petrol Price Jump For May

The price of petrol will increase by 54c/l at midnight on Tuesday, the department of energy confirmed on Sunday. The price was adjusted on the basis of local and international factors. “International factors include the fact that South Africa imports both crude oil and finished products at a price set at the international level, including importation costs,” the department said in a statement. Petrol will increase by 54c/l, diesel with 0.05% sulphur will increase by 1c/l, while the price of diesel with 0.005% sulphur will remain unchanged, the department said.

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Uber Set For Year’s Biggest IPO

Over the past decade, Uber Technologies Inc. proved itself to be one of the most prolific young fundraisers ever. It pulled together more than $20 billion from private investors. After burning through more than half that amount in just the last three years, Uber will soon see whether it can recreate that magic on the stock market. The ride-hailing company entered the final stretch of the ultimate capital-raising exercise on Friday, when it disclosed details of an initial public offering expected to net the company and its backers another $8 billion or more. Executives and bankers plan to hit the road next week to promote the stock to public investors and then ring the bell on the New York Stock Exchange floor on May 10, when the shares start trading, according to a plan obtained by Bloomberg.

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Pick n Pay Earnings Up 26.1%

Retailer Pick n Pay said on Friday its diluted headline earnings per share were up 26.1% during the 53 week weeks to March 3 and declared a final dividend of 192 cents per share. The company also said Aboubakar Jakoet would be retiring as group chief finance officer of the Pick n Pay but had agreed to remain in the post until a successor was appointed. Pick n Pay said its South Africa performance mitigated some operating challenges experienced outside its borders, with earnings from the Rest of Africa division down 16.2% year-on-year, reflecting difficult economic conditions in Zambia and the once-off impact of currency devaluation in Zimbabwe.

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Military Spending Around The World Booming

 

THE WORLD is arming itself to the teeth. That is the conclusion of a new report published on April 29th by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), a think-tank. Global military spending last year rose to $1.8trn, says SIPRI—the highest level in real terms since reliable records began in 1988, during the cold war, and 76% higher than in 1998, when the world was enjoying its “peace dividend”. Military spending as a share of global GDP has fallen in recent years, but that offers little reassurance in a world of rising geopolitical tension.

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Currencies : Rand/USD 14.38 – Rand/GBP 18.60 – Rand/EUR 16.04

 

 

Shocking Revelations From PIC Inquiry

Evidence heard so far from past and present employees has painted a bleak picture of the quality of PIC’s internal governance standards. It has also shone a light on claims of undue influence wielded by the asset manager’s former head, Dan Matjila.Two senior PIC executives were suspended in the first week of the inquiry – the group’s Head of Listed Investments, Fidelis Madavo and its Assistant Portfolio Manager, Victor Seanie. The pair learnt of their suspensions on the morning of the same day that Madavo testified. They were suspended following a probe of their roles in the PIC’s R4.3bn investment in AYO Technology Solutions in 2017. AYO is linked to businessman Survé. Survé has denied there was anything wrong with the deal.

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Boeing Admits Fault Caused Crashes

Boeing has admitted a key sensor malfunctioned on an Ethiopian Airlines flight which crashed, killing all 157 people on board. An investigation found the pilots complied with procedure but “were not able to control” Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET302 after it nosedived on March 10.

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Facebook To Be Fined For Terrorist Content

Technology firms including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter face “substantial” fines or a U.K. ban under a new law if they don’t act swiftly enough to remove content that encourages terrorism and child sexual exploitation and abuse. The companies’ directors could also be held personally liable if illegal content is not taken down within a short and pre-determined time-frame, the Home Office said. The exact level of fines will be examined during a 12 week consultation following the legislation’s launch on Monday. The spread of fake news and interference in elections will also be tackled.

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Eskom Power Situation Set To Get A Lot Worse

An electricity-supply crisis is looming in South Africa that could make intermittent outages in the past few months seem trivial by comparison. Eskom, which supplies almost all the nation’s power, will lose more than a quarter of its current generating capacity over the next decade as it shuts ageing coal-fired plants. Replacing that output and adding capacity needed to meet rising demand will take years and cost more than R1 trillion, according to government estimates. The problem is likely to worsen exponentially after 2030 as more plants reach retirement age.

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Zimbabwe To Compensate White Farmers After Land Grabs

Zimbabwe plans to complete land valuations by the end of May to determine the level of compensation to be paid to former white commercial farmers who lost their properties during the government’s land reform programme. “Given the significant progress made to date, it is anticipated that that this comprehensive farm improvements valuation exercise will be completed by end of May,” the government said in a statement on Sunday.

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Currencies : Rand/USD 14.17 – Rand/GBP 18.52 – Rand/EUR 15.91

No Salary Increases For Ministers

“President Ramaphosa has determined that there will be no annual salary increase for the Deputy President, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, the Speaker of the National Assembly, the Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly and the Deputy Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces,” the presidency said. Members of provincial legislatures will, however, receive a 2.5% salary increase. This is a great move but in my view, there should be no bonuses either but there was no mention of what will happen in that regard.

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Shivambu’s R1.46 Million VBS Home Loan

Despite not qualifying for a loan, VBS Mutual Bank gave Brian Shivambu’s company Sgameka a R1,46m home loan after his brother Floyd Shivambu had private discussions with VBS chair and kingpin in the bank robbery Tshifhiwa Matodzi, leaked emails show. This VBS home loan was given to Sgameka Trading on top of the illicit R16,1-million that Brian Shivambu received in a fronting scheme on behalf of his brother, EFF president Julius Malema and the Economic Freedom Fighters. When asked about the home loan, Floyd Shivambu had this to say, “Fraudulent activities are dealt with by the criminal justice system and not some imaginations of a lousy journalist… I think your narrative is bullshit and pure drivel driven by narrow obsession. Please give me the proof that I received R10-million from VBS.” Personally, i think there is a lot for Shivambu to answer for and these allegations keep piling up. Thus far he hasn’t provided any evidence to clear himself and its getting worse.

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Crunch Brexit Vote Looms

With less than 48 hours to go before May faces the reckoning of her MPs, few of the 100-plus rebels who have vowed to vote against her deal showed any sign of altering their positions. The prime minister is under intense pressure from aides and senior ministers to considering pulling the vote on Tuesday, a move Downing Street has emphatically denied will happen, though a final decision is unlikely to be made until the 11th hour.

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National Minimum Wage Of R20 From 1 January

The national minimum wage will kick in on January 1, meaning no South African worker will earn less than R20 an hour in the new year, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Friday. My hope is that there will be minimal job losses but the fact is that the economy is struggling and businesses are feeling the strain. There will most definitely be more job losses.

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House Prices Down 21% Since 2007

In real terms, including the impact of inflation, house prices have declined by 20.8% since August 2007, the peak of the pre-2008 boom period. This is according to November’s FNB House Price Index, published by John Loos, now property sector strategist at the bank’s commercial property finance division. Property intelligence outfit Lightstone reports even lower house price inflation, at just 3.5% in its latest report (for October). FNB saw (downwardly) revised growth of 4.1% in October.

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America Opens Case Against Huawei CFO

On Friday, the U.S. began a market-shaking case against the Chinese telecoms giant in a Vancouver courtroom, alleging that Meng had hidden ties between Huawei and a company called Skycom that did business in Iran, said a lawyer representing Canada during the court hearing. Canada is presenting the case on behalf of the U.S., which wants to extradite Meng. Meng, 46, daughter of Huawei’s founder, spent the weekend in jail after a decision on whether to grant bail was not reached. The case will continue today.

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Zuma To Make First Court Appearance

Almost 11 years after he was first served an indictment in the graft case against him, former president Jacob Zuma will finally have his day in court on Friday when he appears in the High Court in Durban. Zuma is facing 16 charges — one count of racketeering, two counts of corruption, one count of money laundering and 12 counts of fraud.

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Steinhoff Drops Director Bonuses Plans

Steinhoff International Holdings NV shelved a plan to pay director bonuses after lawmakers questioned whether it was appropriate to release extra funds given the retailer has lost more than 90% of its market value amid an accounting scandal. The owner of Conforama in France and Mattress Firm in the US was planning to ask shareholders to approve payouts to board members including Chairman Heather Sonn as a reward for their work trying to keep the company afloat.

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Unpaid Etolls Now Valued At R9.2 Billion

President Cyril Ramaphosa has taken charge of Gauteng’s e-toll headache, bringing hope that the impasse between motorists and the provincial government could soon be resolved. In November 2017, motorists in the province owed R9.2bn. Motorists claim the funding model was not adequately canvassed and the levy will further impoverish poor workers. Gauteng Premier David Makhura in February conceded that the highly contested e-tolls system was a failure. He said a new model was needed to fund road development.

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Consol Glass To relist On JSE

Glass packaging manufacturer Consol Holdings on Thursday announced its intention to list its issued ordinary shares on the main board of the JSE. Consol, which provides glass packaging products to customers in a variety of industries including beer, wine, flavoured alcoholic beverages, non-alcoholic beverages, spirits and food, said it expects to be listed in the Industrials: Containers and Packaging sector of the JSE.

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Govt Wage Bill Now At R587 Billion

Government’s public wage bill has become so big, that it’s fast becoming the single-biggest problem in the budget – siphoning funding from other vital functions, like service delivery. As it stands, the government wage bill is almost a full third of the annual budget, sitting at R587 billion. National Treasury has warned that the size of the public sector wage bill needed to be reined in as departments were starting to hit their “compensation ceilings”, noting further that public sector wages had increased 10.3% annually since 2009, significantly higher than the rate of inflation.

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Sappi Signs Govt Power Plant Deal

Sappi has signed an agreement with the Department of Energy to build a renewable energy plant at its mill in Mpumalanga. Sappi and consortium partners KC Africa and African Rainbow Energy and Power would spend a combined R1.8bn on a 25MW biomass energy unit at the company’s Ngodwana mill, said Sappi Southern Africa CEO Alex Thiel. Sappi will have a 30% stake in the facility, which is expected to contribute to the national grid from July 2020.

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Currencies: Bcoin R82,576 . Ether R4,722 . R/USD12.01 . R/GBP16.80 . R/EUR14.69

 

 

72c Petrol Price Jump Next Month

Fuel prices in Gauteng are set to go up by 72 cents a litre for 95 octane petrol, 69 cents for 93 octane petrol, and 65 cents for both grades of diesel. The main reasons for the fuel price adjustments are due to the increase in the fuel and road accident fund levies of 22 cents per liter and 30 cents per litre, respectively.

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R20Million For Magashule Farewell Party

Former premier Ace Magashule handed over to new Premier, Sisi Ntombela, at a farewell bash attended by several ministers in Bloemfontein on Wednesday. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) charge the celebration cost government R20 million. Magashule, the African National Congress (ANC)’s newly-appointed Secretary General, leaves behind an office filled with scandal since he assumed office in May 2009.

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EFF Guns For Athol Trollip

Eyes will be on a sitting of the Nelson Mandela Bay council on Thursday as the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) tries to remove mayor Athol Trollip. The red berets filed a motion of no confidence against Trollip earlier this month following the Democratic Alliance (DA)’s decision not to support a motion on land expropriation without compensation which was a passed in the National Assembly.

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Interest Rates Cut By 25 Basis Points

South Africa’s Reserve Bank cut its benchmark repo rate, at which it lends to commercial banks, by 25 basis points to 6.5 percent on Wednesday, saying the risks to the inflation outlook had subsided. “While the increase in the value-added tax rate to 15 percent places temporary upside pressure on inflation, this is mitigated by the stronger exchange rate which has contributed to the changing inflation risk profile,” Governor Lesetja Kganyago told a news conference.

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Cape Town Wants 27% Increase In Water Tariff

Cape Town’s executive mayor Patricia de Lille has called for a massive increase in water tariffs across the city. Presenting the city’s budget speech on Wednesday (28 March), de Lille said that the tariffs are set annually to ensure that the city can deliver the level of services required by the its residents.

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SASSA Wont Cover Beneficiary Banking Fees

Grindrod Bank announced on Wednesday that as of April 1‚ the South African Security Agency (Sassa) will no longer carry the cost of bank accounts of recipients – putting the burden of those costs onto grant recipients. Grindrod provides banking services for Sassa grant recipients‚ paying 17-million grants to 10.6-million cardholders‚ amounting to R11-billion per month.

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Currencies: Bcoin R94,220 . Ether R5,199 . R/USD11.75 . R/GBP16.56 . R/EUR14.49

Interest Rate May Be Cut Tomorrow

Thanks to Moody’s stable outlook for SA, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the SA Reserve Bank (SARB) will likely reduce the repo rate by 25 basis points on Wednesday.  This is the conclusion of Nedbank’s Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) division after it analysed its latest Interest Rate Barometer. A 25 basis points cut would lower the repo rate, the rate at which banks borrow money from the SARB, to 6.5% and the prime lending rate to consumers to 10%.

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Minimum Wage To Be Delayed

Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant confirmed on Monday evening that it will not be possible to implement the new minimum wage legislation on the envisaged date of May 1 because the parliamentary process will not be completed by then. Oliphant said that the bills were highly contested and “it has become apparent that the ambition for the National Minimum Wage Bill to become law by May 1 2018 may not be practical given the high volumes of public submissions.

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Listeriosis Will Cost Rainbow An Estimated R75 million

Its best estimate of the direct and identifiable cost of the listeriosis outbreak is R75 million, Rainbow Chicken’s parent company RCL told shareholders on Monday afternoon. That includes the costs of recalling its chicken polony, destroying recalled products, testing costs, and advertising and in-store communication. Those are hard to estimate, RCL said, but could be around R20 million in profit lost a month, every month, until things return to normal.

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Mkhwebane Investigating DWS & SAP Contract

The Public Protector is investigating a R671 million ($60 million) government contract with German software firm SAP , which has admitted misconduct in separate deals involving friends of ousted president Jacob Zuma. The Public Protector’s office said it had received an anonymous letter alleging due process was not followed in the award of a contract to SAP in 2016 to provide IT and support services to the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS).

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MTN To Launch Namibian Operation

MTN plans to enter Namibia’s mobile-operator market through a tie-up with a state telecommunications firm. MTN Business Solutions Namibia, which is 30% owned by local shareholders, and local company Demshi Investment Holdings, will enter the market from June 2018 as mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs). Both operators were in negotiations to use state-owned TN Mobile’s 3G and LTE network. TN has a market share of just 4.5%, while MTC, another state-owned operator, has a share of 95.5%.

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Capitec And Sanlam Announce Bancassurance Deal

Capitec is expected to announce a bancassurance joint venture with Sanlam, alongside its financial results due Tuesday. In an interview with Moneyweb, Sanlam chief executive Ian Kirk said the joint venture would see Sanlam become an insurance partner to the banking group. “We are delighted with the opportunity to partner with Capitec. We like the bank, we think they are quite innovative, they’ve grown well and they’ve identified the need to offer insurance and savings plans to their client base to broaden their offerings and to improve their positioning with their clients in South Africa.

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Western Cape Considering Provincial Fuel Levy

The Western Cape provincial government is looking to introduce a provincial fuel levy, over and above the national levy currently imposed on all South African motorists – but it likely won’t be coming for a while. The decision taken in April/May 2017 by the Western Cape Cabinet is that before any consultation can happen, the fuel levy research which was done in 2005 will have to be updated.

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Currencies: Bcoin R98,550 . Ether R5,648 . R/USD11.66 . R/GBP16.59 . R/EUR14.52

 

Zuma In new Bribery Scandal

Jacob Zuma is reportedly being investigated by the Hawks, following claims that he received a bribe of R1 million to ensure that a cabinet minister did not leave his post. According to a report by the City Press, the cash bribe was allegedly paid by a Western Cape abalone dealer in exchange for keeping Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Senzeni Zokwana in Zuma’s Cabinet.

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Guptas To Appear Before Indian Tax Authority Today

Atul‚ Ajay and Rajesh initially were to appear on March 16‚ but the tax authorities granted them a 10-day extension. The brothers could reportedly be charged with money laundering and fraudulently amassing properties. Amrendra Kumar‚ a senior income tax official in India’s Uttar Pradesh state‚ previously told Reuters the Gupta brothers were suspected of finding ways to bring “illicit money” into India.

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Steinhoff Wants To Pay Directors Huge Bonuses

It wants to pay Steve Booysen and Heather Sonn €200 000 (±R2.9 million) each, and Johan van Zyl €100 000 (nearly R1.5 million). Booysen is head of the audit and risk committee, while Sonn has been acting Steinhoff chairperson since Christo Wiese stepped down on December 14 2017. Separately, the three independent directors were appointed members of an independent board subcommittee in early December.

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Black Business Council Technically Insolvent

As at February 2017, the BBC had total liabilities of R6.2m, compared with assets of R3.6m, which means that its liabilities exceeded its assets by R2.6m, making it technically insolvent, which means the business lobby could struggle to pay its bills at some point. On the same date, the BBC had an accumulated loss of almost R2.6m, up from an accumulated loss of just more than R1mat the end of February 2016.

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FNB Downtime Causes Outrage

Scores of FNB customers took to social media to lambast the financial services provider after downtime hit users on Sunday. In a tweet the company said it was aware of intermittent connectivity issues on select services.

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10 to 15% Less Booking In Cape Town Hotels Due To Drought

Hotels surveyed indicated that they did between 10% and 15% worse in terms of bookings in January and February compared to the same period last year. These hotels also indicated that the situation for the upcoming period from April to September looks worse with bookings down a lot. What is even more concerning to Wesgro is that the survey indicated that hotel reservation books for 2019 are basically “empty” so far compared to 2017.

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Currencies: Bcoin R103,999 . Ether R6,411 . R/USD11.69 . R/GBP16.55 . R/EUR14.46

Drought Declared A National Disaster

Government has declared a national state of disaster to deal with the country’s drought and water crisis. Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) Minister Zweli Mkhize made the announcement on behalf of the Inter-Ministerial Task Team on Drought and Water Scarcity during a media briefing in Cape Town on Tuesday. It comes after ratings firm, Moody’s Investors Service warned on Monday that Cape Town would need up to spend up to R12.7 billion ($1 billion) over the next five years on water and sanitation infrastructure to deal with its water crisis.

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Zuma’s Spy Tapes Legal Bill Over R15Million

Former president Jacob Zuma spent R15.3m of the taxpayers’ money in his legal battles to avoid prosecution. Ramaphosa revealed this information to the DA on Tuesday in a bid to settle legal action brought by the opposition party over Zuma’s refusal to disclose his legal fees in what is known as the spy tapes case.

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R385Million Fund Stuck In VBS Bank

A fund, the beneficiaries of which are children of deceased mine workers, has about R385m on deposit with VBS Mutual Bank, which the Reserve Bank placed under curatorship on Sunday. The Financial Services Board (FSB) confirmed that the Bophelo Beneficiary Fund, which with its administrator, Bophelo Benefit Services was placed under curatorship by the board in June 2017, had R385m deposited with VBS. The board was in talks with the Bank to recover this money for the orphans’ fund.

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SASSA Has No Back Up Plan

The South African Social Security Agency’s (Sassa’s) contingency plan to manage the cash component of the social grants system, were the Constitutional Court to deny an extension of the invalid CPS contract, was only work in progress. The plan however, would be “very inconvenient” and there is still no “feasible” contingency plan that will guarantee cash payments on April 1.

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Coinbase Gets E-Money License In The UK

Coinbase is officially expanding digital money services in the U.K. and EU. The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority granted Coinbase an e-money license, the company announced Wednesday. The license now enables the company the ability to provide payment services and issue digital cash alternatives, which can then be used to make card, internet or phone payments.

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Currencies: Bcoin R113,599 . Ether R8,605 . R/USD11.77 . R/GBP16.45 . R/EUR14.59