Public servants demand 12% wage hike, and Postbank cheated out of R100 million

Here’s what is happening in and affecting South Africa today:

• Public servants demand 12% wage hike: Union leaders are pushing for a 12% wage increase for 1.3 million government workers, along with other demands such as a R2,500 housing allowance, a R1,000 danger allowance, performance bonuses, bursary schemes, and permanent positions for certain workers. These demands could impact the R700 billion public sector wage bill and complicate Treasury’s fiscal policy. Both the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council and the Public Service & administration Department declined to comment. [Business Day]

• Postbank’s R100 million scam: A KPMG probe has revealed that a criminal syndicate stole over R100 million from Postbank by hacking and cloning Sassa accounts, with the involvement of some Postbank employees. The syndicate exploited weak IT controls and oversight to perform thousands of ATM withdrawals. The report, presented to Parliament, highlighted poor access management and monitoring at the bank, making it difficult to pinpoint those responsible. Postbank CEO Nikki Mbengashe stated that R109 million was stolen in five major incidents. [News24] 

• Mthatha ‘traditional leader’ implicated in school extortion scheme killed: A traditional leader from Mthatha West, linked to alleged school extortion claims, was killed in a shootout with police’s National Intervention Unit (NIU). The traditional leader, who was not at home when police initially searched his house, later allegedly confronted the NIU base with two armed men. The confrontation escalated into gunfire, resulting in the alleged extortionist and his companions being killed. [Daily Maverick]

• AG casts doubts over Transnet’s turnaround: The Auditor-General’s (AG’s) office has raised concerns about Transnet’s turnaround strategy due to its high liabilities, growing debt, and significant maintenance backlog. Transnet reported a R7.3 billion loss for the 2023/24 financial year. Presenting to SCOPA, the AG’s office said that little progress has been made on past audit issues, raising alarms about its heavy debt load and insufficient funds for infrastructure upkeep. With total borrowings of R136 billion, questions about the company’s ability to repay its debt have been highlighted. [EWN]

• Markets: The rand strengthened against a weaker dollar on Wednesday after U.S. jobs data showed a softening labour market. On Thursday (5 September), the rand was trading at R17.87 to the dollar, R23.53 to the pound, and R19.80 to the euro. Oil is trading at $72.97 a barrel. [Reuters]