Tsotsi Reaveals Dudu Myeni Eskom Influence

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

Zuma Admits Unlawful Nxasana Payment

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

Tencent Market Cap Overtakes Facebook

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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”.

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

 

Security Minister Bongo Bribary Scandal

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

No Free Education As Zuma Releases Report

President Jacob Zuma has finally released the report looking into the plausibility of free tertiary education in South Africa. The fee commission found that free education in South Africa could be feasible – but not across the board, and not for all. Key to this, the commission found that, despite the dire need for skills in South Africa, the state simply cannot afford to fund free education for all. However, there was room for fee-free education at Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutes in the country, which should be seen as a first-class options for those looking to further develop their skills, it said.

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Eskom Runs Out Of Cash

Eskom is in a precarious financial position and desperately trying to avoid a liquidity crisis that may render it unable to pay staff salaries and suppliers by January. The utility confirmed on Monday it had 20 times less cash than it needs to continue funding operations, and has written to the public enterprises minister alerting her of the impending calamity. By the end of January, the utility will run on a cash deficit of R5bn. This eventuality will come even as Eskom expects to successfully drawdown R3.8bn from existing credit facilities during the next few weeks.

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Zuma Says State Capture Doesn’t Exist

In an interview aired on ANN7, President Jacob Zuma says that state capture has been created ‘just to paint black a particular family and individuals.’ Zuma wants to know what people mean by state capture. “They can’t just make it sound so important and big, this state capture.” He says that the commission of inquiry that he will established will be tasked with answering this question. “What is a state capture? I am sure very keen to know.” The president believes the term was created for this reason. “It’s all fake and political, just to paint black a particular family and individuals.”

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Michael Sachs Resignation From Treasury Causes Concern

Former finance minister Pravin Gordhan has called the resignation of senior Treasury official Michael Sachs an “absolute tragedy”. Sachs‚ Deputy Director General in the budgeting office‚ resigned amid allegations that he and other Treasury officials are unhappy about a plan that President Jacob Zuma allegedly intends introducing free University education for families earning under R350‚000 annually. The Sunday Times reported that Sachs had threatened to resign if Zuma’s plan was implemented‚ because there had not been sufficient consultation or consideration of the long term ramifications..

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Why Not To Panic About Bitcoin Prices

The price of Bitcoin has dropped sharply in the past seven days, which has got cryptocurrency investors worried. Following Bitcoin reaching a high of $7,700 last week, the token dropped to a low of $5,600 this past weekend. The price drop has been linked to Bitcoin players suspending a plan to increase the block size in the Bitcoin blockchain through SegWit2X. Whether the suspension of SegWit2X is an axe blow to Bitcoin’s future remains to be seen, but what is certain is that the cryptocurrency has suffered big price drops before – and recovered. In the world of cryptocurrency, massive upward or downward movements are commonplace, with a daily increase of 140% not unheard of.

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Rand Hits One Year Low

The rand tumbled more than 1% and the risk premium on government bonds soared on Monday over news of a top Treasury official resignation, financial woes at the sole power utility and political jostling in the ruling party. At 1120 GMT the rand was at 14.5200 per dollar having tumbled as much as 1.1% to session-worst 14.5425, its weakest level since Nov. 18 2016. Government bond due 2026 also weakened. Yields on the paper climbed 14.5 basis points to 9.495%, its highest level since May 2016.

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Currencies: Bitcoin – R102,301 . Rand/USD 14.49 . Rand/GBP 18.97 . Rand/EUR 16.91

Big Petrol Price Jump In December

South African motorists should brace themselves for a massive fuel price increase in December. An increase in the global oil price – to 2-year highs of $64 dollars per barrel – would compound pressures seen in the South African US dollar exchange rate, and push the price of petrol up by around 60 cents in December.

Source: https://goo.gl/uCTnh7

Post Office To Take Over Grant Payments

According to Treasury and Minister Jeff Radebe the Post office will take over grants payments as of Friday this week (10 November). The Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) has also confirmed that the Post Office will build a new integrated IT system for Sassa grants. A joint meeting of Scopa and the Portfolio Committee on Social Development have agreed to receive a follow-up briefing from the IMC on Tuesday, 21 November 2017 on progress in addressing the finalisation of the appointment of an entity that will pay social grants after the expiry of the current contract with Cash Paymaster Services.

Source: https://goo.gl/bgyxhu

30% Of Bank Sector Jobs To Be Lost To AI and Blockchain

Industry experts believe that between 2 million and 6 million jobs will be lost over the next decade due to disruptive financial technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and blockchain. A report by Citigroup revealed that the downsizing of the bank workforce is about to accelerate as more technology takes over jobs humans used to do.

Source: https://goo.gl/uNV42q

 

Uber To Test Flying Taxis By 2020

Flying taxis sound like a futuristic idea, but Uber wants to test the idea in Los Angeles by 2020. Uber’s plan is to string together a network of electrical vertical take-off and landing vehicles, commonly called eVTOL, and make them available on-demand. Similar to helicopters, the eVTOL aircraft would take off and land on the tops of buildings and be able to cover distances more quickly and directly compared to cars stuck in traffic on Los Angeles congested roads.

Source: https://goo.gl/jkLYcu

Bitcoin Hard Fork Called Off – Price Rises

With the hard fork looming just a week and a day away, that coalition called off its plans Wednesday in a brief email sent by the lead developer on the team planning to hard fork, nicknamed SegWit2x for the two solutions it brought together in compromise (SegWit and a hard fork to a 2MB block). The move comes shortly after CME announced it would launch Bitcoin futures and the price of Bitcoin reached all-time highs, around $7,500, and its market capitalization jumped to north of $125 billion, perhaps due to new money flooding in.

Source: https://goo.gl/zkbCLq

Indicators: Bitcoin : R111,767 – Rand/USD 14.16 – Rand/GBP 18.52 – Rand/EUR 16.40

Zuma To Possibly Announce Free Education

President Jacob Zuma is reportedly planning to make a shock announcement, introducing free education across the board through a controversial funding plan. Specifically, the announcement would be contrary to the yet-to-be released findings of the Heher Commission, which found that universal free tertiary education was simply not feasible in South Africa. Insiders said that Zuma will make up the shortfall by cutting back departmental budgets across government to make R40 billion available for the 2018 academic year.

Source: https://goo.gl/MfazXt

Gigaba To Launch SARS Tax Inquiry

Finance minister Malusi Gigaba has announced that he will launch an inquiry into tax collection at the South African Revenue Service (Sars), specifically looking at why tax revenues have fallen. The inquiry will be led by a judge, and has already received approval from president Jacob Zuma. While the full terms of reference are not yet clear, Gigaba said that tax morality and institutional issues around governance will be core to process.

Source: https://goo.gl/P6bZyf

ETolls Could Be Scrapped

Transport Minister Joe Maswanganyi is due to discuss the viability of Sanral’s funding model with cabinet, following the continued resistance to e-tolls. According to a report by BusinessDay, Maswanganyi has been forced into making a decision after Sanral CEO Skhumbuzo Macozoma conceded that resistance to e-tolls had brought Sanral to the brink of collapse, and has brought into question the agency’s going-concern status (whether it will remain in business for the foreseeable future).

Source: https://goo.gl/uXzfxe

All Set For Grace Mugabe Deputy Presidency

The post of deputy president in Zimbabwe has become a poisoned chalice, following this week’s sacking — for the second time in three years — of a deputy president serving under President Robert Mugabe. The latest was Emmerson Mnangagwa who was relieved of his duties as deputy president on Monday for “disloyalty, deceitfulness and unreliability”, but this hardly masks the factional undercurrents in Zanu (PF) that resulted in him being fired. This paves the way for Grace Mugabe to take over.

Source: https://goo.gl/7Dqteq

Taxi Driver Strike Causes Havoc In Tshwane 

Commuters in Tshwane have been warned to find alternative means of transportation on Wednesday as the National Taxi Alliance (NTA) protests against the government. The infamous R80 highway in Tshwane is already packed with protesting drivers involved in the massive taxi strike. From about 5:30 taxis blocked the R80 and forced traffic to be disrupted.

Source: https://goo.gl/FybQW4

Indicators: Bitcoin R111,911 – Rand/USD 14.22 – Rand/GBP 18.68 – Rand/EUR 16.48

 

 

 

Paradise Papers Expose Apple Tax Lies

Apple’s advisers at one of the world’s top law firms, Baker McKenzie, canvassed one of the leading players in the offshore world — a firm of lawyers called Appleby — which specialised in setting up and administering tax-haven companies. Under this arrangement, the MacBook maker has continued to enjoy ultra-low tax rates on most of its profits and now holds much of its non-US earnings in $252bn cash offshore. This is despite CEO Tim Cook vehemently denying tax dodging in 2013

Source: https://goo.gl/4AvzQM

FirstRand A Step Closer To Aldermore Takeover

FirstRand‘s bid to take over UK-listed Aldermore received a major boost yesterday when the group said it would recommend that its shareholders accept the R2 billion cash offer from Africa’s biggest lender. FirstRand offered 313 per pence per share, valuing the UK specialist lender to £1.1 billion. The offer  represented a premium of 22 percent to Aldermore’s closing price on the day in which the the transaction was first announced in October.

Source: https://goo.gl/ZTJnGZ

Brian Molefe Cries Fowl About Eskom Probe

Former Eskom boss Brian Molefe says the Parliamentary inquiry into Eskom’s problems is unfair, as he has not been afforded an opportunity to state his case. In an interview with Business Day, Molefe said he had not been told yet when he will be called as a witness. Molefe reportedly said: “My concern is that they are going ahead with the inquiry and they have not indicated when they will call me. I haven’t even seen the terms of reference. Parliament is going into recess in December… and there are all these things people are saying about me and I haven’t been able to respond.”

Source: https://goo.gl/Tr9uav

Dont Send Your Bitcoin Cash To Luno

A cryptocurrency owner recently sent over R35,000 worth of Bitcoin Cash to his Luno wallet by mistake. As Bitcoin Cash is a fork of the Bitcoin blockchain and shares the same address structure, however, the transaction did not fail as it may have with two different cryptocurrencies. The customer was told his Bitcoin Cash was unrecoverable and he was left out of pocket.

Source: https://goo.gl/HTa2bt

Uber To Charge Extra For Keeping Driver Waiting

Uber has launched Paid Wait Time in South Africa, which will see riders pay an extra per-minute fee if they make their driver wait more than five minutes at their pick-up location. “Long wait times can be stressful for driver-partners. By the time they arrive at the pick-up location, the driver has already invested fuel, time, and effort in getting to a rider,” said Uber.

Source: https://goo.gl/8GRr4K

SAICA Launches Investigation Into KPMG Members

The South African Institute for Chartered Accountants (Saica) has convened an independent inquiry after reports that some of its members employed by KPMG have allegedly engaged in conduct which is in contravention of the Saica Code of Professional Conduct. https://goo.gl/96DTBT

Currencies: Bitcoin :R113,500 – Rand/USD 14.11 – Rand/GBP 18.55 – Rand/EUR 16.38

SAP Suspends Execs Over Gupta Leaks

Software multinational firm SAP has suspended South Africa’s management team after a #GuptaLeaks exposé by AmaBhungane and Scorpio revealed it allegedly paid a Gupta front R100m in kickbacks for state business. SAP has initiated an independent external investigation as well as an internal probe into the matter. The current management team has been placed on leave pending the findings of the review.

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MTN Accepts Rwanda Fine

frica’s cellular giant, MTN, confirmed it was in talks with the Rwandan authorities on how it would pay the R111 million fine for non-compliance. MTN landed itself in hot water for failing to comply with a directive precluding it from including its operation in that country into the IT hub it runs in Uganda. The company was fined $5.2 billion in Nigeria for failing to disconnect unregistered SIM- cards.

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Labour Broker Employees Now Entitled To Full Benefits

The Labour Appeal Court has ruled that employees hired via labour brokerage firms will be entitled to benefits if they remain employed by a company for more than three months. This effectively means that after the end of a three month period, labour broker employees cannot be treated any differently from a traditional employee. Employers will also no longer be able to simply cancel the labour contract and would have a number of obligations including full dismissal procedure under the Labour Relations Act.

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6 Million Verizon Customers Data Hacked

The security issue, uncovered by research from cybersecurity firm UpGuard, was caused by a misconfigured security setting on a cloud server due to “human error.” The error made customer phone numbers, names, and some PIN codes publicly available online. PIN codes are used to confirm the identity of people who call for customer service. No loss or theft of customer information occurred

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China Fertility Clinic Industry Booming

A paradox has emerged in China: As the country finally relaxes its one-child policy, factors like lower sperm counts, later pregnancies and other health barriers are making it harder for many to get pregnant. As a result, businesses from China to Australia, and even California are lining up to help — and profit from — the growing market of hopeful prospective parents. Families in the world’s most populous country are willing to pay top dollar for fertility therapies with some paying up to 100,000 yuan ($14,700) for each round. China’s market for IVF alone was worth $670 million in 2016 and is expected to surge to $1.5 billion in 2022, according to BIS Research

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Hyperloop One Has Successful Test

Hyperloop One recently completed its first test of its system.  The experiment, on a test track in Nevada, saw a sled magnetically levitated inside a full-scale tube and reach a speed of 112km/h in under six seconds. When Hyperloop One is operating at full capacity, it promises to deliver speeds of up to 1,125km/h. Hyperloop One announced in June that it plans to connect cities in Europe, with cross-country journeys set to take a fraction of the time of traditional train and car trips.

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Indicators : Oil 47.39 . Rand/USD 13.17 . Rand/GBP 16.99 . Rand/EUR 15.02

Bird Flu In Gauteng

The Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) H5N8 virus – commonly known as bird flu – has been confirmed on two new locations on farms in Gauteng and Mpumalanga, the department of agriculture, forestry and fisheries said on Tuesday. The export of raw meat, eggs and live birds from South Africa to some trade partners was disrupted, as one of requirements for the certification is country freedom from HPAI, which cannot be provided since June 22.

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Mkhwebane Opposes Zuma On State Capture

Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane said an inquiry into state capture must take place urgently, and President Jacob Zuma cannot decide which judge must hear it. Mkhwebane made these calls in her answering affidavit to a court application Zuma made in December to set aside former public protector Thuli Madonsela’s State of Capture report.

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Foreign Firms Make R550m From E-Tolls

Two overseas companies have earned more than R550m for providing e-tags to and printing and distributing invoices for South Africa’s loss-making e-toll system. Kapsch TrafficCom (a subsidiary of Austrian company Kapsch) received R167.2m (exclusive of VAT), while Q-Free got R58.3m (exclusive of VAT) for providing e-tags. The amounts reflect the total that Sanral paid for e-tags upon delivery since the inception of the e-toll system in December 2013. Sanral told Fin24 that the amounts paid to the two companies are exclusive of value-added tax (VAT), as it is claimed back by the companies.

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Trump Junior Reveals Explosive Emails

Donald Trump’s eldest son released e-mails on Tuesday showing that he embraced Russian efforts to support his father’s presidential campaign — a shocking disclosure likely to further fuel speculation over Moscow’s suspected role in the election. The revelation puts the US president’s son at the centre of a burgeoning scandal involving multiple US investigations into whether Trump associates colluded with Moscow in its efforts to tilt the 2016 election in the Republican’s favour. In a string of e-mails released on Tuesday, Donald Trump Jr was told by an interlocutor that he could get “very high level and sensitive information” that was “part of Russia and its government’s support for Trump.”

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Road Accidents Cost SA R143 Billion In 2015

Road accidents and fatalities in South Africa cost the economy a staggering R143billion in 2015. This was revealed at the 2017 Southern African Transport Conference and Exhibition being held in Pretoria. Road deaths cost the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) 3.4%, the gathering heard. Human casualty costs accounted for 69.3percent of the total crash cost, while vehicle repairs accounted for 14.9% and related incident costs 15.8%

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Dangote Aims To Double Africa Plants

Dangote Cement plans to invest about $4-billion in the next two to three years to nearly double its production capacity in Africa. Dangote, Africa’s biggest cement producer, has an annual production capacity of 45-million tonnes and in 2015, Dangote signed $4.34-billion worth of contracts with China’s Sinoma Engineering to build cement plants across Africa. At the time Dangote projected to reach 100-million tonnes production capacity by 2020.

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Indicators : JSE 52’712 – Oil 48.38 – Rand/USD 13.46 – Rand/GBP 17.27 – Rand/EUR 15.40