Business

5 important things happening in South Africa today

Staff Writer

 ·3 Aug 2017

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

• South African Airways is effectively bankrupt as it has now run out of cash, and fears are emerging that salaries will not be able to be paid in the coming months. According to cash-flow analysis provided to MPs, the airline went into the negatives in July after a R570 million payment, with R1.85 billion expected to flow out of the group in August and September. This does not include R6.8 billion which needs to be paid out for loans.

• The latest from the Gupta leaks shows that SARS commissioner and Zuma ally, Tom Moyane, was in Dubai at a critical time – when the Gupta family was also in the country busy negotiating business deals for the family. At the same time, president Zuma’s son Duduzane, and sons of Free State premier Ace Magashule – as well as public enterprises minister Lynne Brown’s assistant – were also all in the country.

• Following its first-ever loss in 2016, South African mobile operator MTN has swung back into profit in the first half of the 2017 financial year. On Thursday it reported headline earnings up to R3.9 billion, compared to the R4.9 billion loss posted in 2016. The group’s loss in 2016 was driven by once-off costs relating to a fine it had to pay in Nigeria. With that out of the way, the group is back in the black.

• The new SABC board has said it will go after disgraced former COO, Hlaudi Motsoeneng to recoup million of rands lost due to his ‘90% local’ policy at the broadcaster, saying that it could withhold his pension to make up the loss. However, Motsoeneng’s lawyer says that the legal proceedings against the former COO will fail, as only a court could make an order to seize his assets. The SABC board is confident it will win its case of mismanagement.

• South Africa’s rand recovered from three-week lows on Wednesday as fears of possible credit-rating downgrade eased, while stocks fell on profit-taking after they reached record highs. On Thursday the rand was trading at R13.25 to the dollar, R17.52 to the pound and R15.70 to the euro.