Business

5 important things happening in South Africa today

Staff Writer

 ·31 Aug 2022

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

• Dodging Questions: President Cyril Ramaphosa dodged questions about his Phala Phala farm during a parliamentary Q&A on Tuesday, telling MPs that investigations are ongoing and that he has been given legal advice not to speak about it until they are concluded. The non-answer from the president riled up opposition parties, and the session was ultimately abandoned. Reports are drawing parallels between Ramaphosa and former president Jacob Zuma who used similar tactics to avoid accountability during his many scandals. [Daily Maverick]

• Unexplained wealth: Several regulatory and investigative agencies in South Africa are coming together to pilot a new initiative to root out taxpayers with unexplained wealth. SARS, the Financial Intelligence Centre, the Hawks and the NPA are coming together to use existing legislation to obtain court orders and warrants to confiscate unexplained wealth in the country. If the pilot proves unsuccessful, creating a single law to enable this will be considered. [BusinessLive]

• Selling oil: The Strategic Fuel Fund has taken the first steps to sell a portion of the country’s crude oil reserves by issuing a tender for the sale. The group is looking to sell almost 5 million barrels of oil – out of a stock of around 10 million – to recover funds for the recent fuel price interventions, which saw the government remove R1.50 from the general fuel levy for a couple of months. The sale differs from the illegal sale conducted by former energy minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson in 2015 as it is going through the appropriate processes. [News24]

• Pay back the money: Collapsed banking group VBS has been permitted to seize R6.5 million worth of former president Jacob Zuma’s assets to pay back money owed on his bond. When Zuma was questioned about so-called ‘security upgrades’ done on his Nkandla home in 2011, the former president said he had a R7.8 million bond with VBS, which was issued in 2016. He has defaulted on paying this loan back. VBS collapsed due to rampant looting of depositor funds and is now under curatorship. [ENCA]

• Markets: South Africa’s rand was flat in trade on Tuesday, as the dollar struggled to regain momentum after being beaten back from a two-decade high by a reinvigorated euro. Analysts said that with the local currency trading at R16.85, there is expected to be further consolidation in an R16.70/R17.00 range, with traders following any dollar moves. On Wednesday, the rand was trading at R16.89/$, R16.96/€ and R19.75/£. Brent crude is trading at $100 a barrel. [Reuters]