Steinhoff exec jailed, and Limpopo council dissolved

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

• Steinhoff CFO sentenced: Ben la Grange, the former chief financial officer of troubled Steinhoff, has been sentenced to an effective 5 years in prison. This comes after he entered a plea and sentence agreement with the state for one count of fraud amounting to over R367 million. The fraud is related to the manipulation of financial statements and failure to report fraudulent activities. [eNCA]

• Hit squad assassination: A veteran police officer stands accused of being the mastermind behind a hit squad connected to the assassination of a whistleblower. He now faces additional charges for violating his bail conditions. Authorities are investigating a secret network of influence at the maximum security prison where he was held. [News24]

• Emfuleni workers get their due: After more than two weeks without pay, municipal workers in Emfuleni have finally received their salaries. Thousands of workers were left in limbo after Eskom attached the municipality’s bank accounts due to its failure to pay its electricity provision bill. This delayed the payment of the municipal workers’ salaries for September. [EWN]

• Limpopo Municipal Council dissolved: The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) has approved the decision of the Limpopo Provincial Executive Council to dissolve the Thabazimbi Municipal Council. Parliament’s Select Committee on Cooperative Governance and Public Administration has determined that the municipality has collapsed and is dysfunctional. [SABC]

• Markets: The South African rand fell against a strong dollar on Thursday as tensions continued in the Middle East after Iran’s missile attack on Israel. On Thursday (4 October), the rand was trading at R17.44 to the dollar, R22.91 to the pound, and R19.24 to the euro. Oil is trading at $77.51 a barrel. [Reuters]