Elon Musk scam, and South Africa’s crime academies

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

• Elon Musk scam: This year, hundreds of South Africans were tricked into investing by AI-manipulated deepfake videos of famous figures like Elon Musk speaking to a South African news anchor about a radical new investment scheme that has “alarmed the major banks”. Some victims are reporting personal losses of over half a million rand. [News24]

• Crime academies: KwaZulu-Natal police are concerned about an increase in organised crime being orchestrated from prison cells. According to KZN police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, prisons are not facilities of reform but academies of crime. He says criminals are using prisons to recruit, train and control gangs. [EWN]

• Steinhoff’s dirty laundry to be aired: Ibex Group, formerly Steinhoff, has decided not to appeal against a decision by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) that it must hand over a sensitive fraud report by PwC that brought the company to its knees and cost pension funds billions of rands to the media today (18 December). [Business Day]

• RAF after Discovery: Following high court dismissing with costs Discovery’s bid to make the RAF pay for the past medical expenses of road accident victims who were members of medical aids, the funds CEO Collins Letsoalo said Discovery Health must know that “we are coming for our money they [Discovery] have claimed illegally from the RAF”. [Moneyweb]

• Markets: The South African rand weakened against a stronger dollar on Tuesday as investors anticipated the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision on Wednesday. The market expects a 25 basis point cut, with a focus on the Fed’s outlook for rates in the coming year. On Wednesday (18 December), the rand was trading at R18.09 to the dollar, R22.98 to the pound, and R19.01 to the euro. Oil is trading at $73.25 a barrel. [Reuters]