5 important things happening in South Africa today
·19 Sep 2017
Here’s what is happening in and affecting South Africa today:
- The DA has set global consultancy firm McKinsey firmly in its crosshairs, with the opposition party planning to lay criminal charges against the firm for fraud, racketeering and collusion. McKinsey is yet another multinational caught up in the ongoing Gupta scandal, accused of scoring millions through dodgy contracts with state companies.
- SARS commissioner Tom Moyane says that the KPMG report on a ‘rogue unit’ within the revenue service is not flawed, and still stands – despite KPMG, the auditors who compiled it, saying the exact opposite. Analysts say that Moyane was backed into a corner, and is now willing to risk ‘complete exposure’ to push back at those who would threaten him and his position.
- The South African Post Office has posted an almost R1 billion loss for the latest financial year. The group reported a loss of R978 million, which is an improvement from the loss of R1.1 billion previously. The department of telecoms and postal services has allocated R650 million for the group to recapitalise itself.
- Investors are very upbeat about emerging markets – except for South Africa, that is. Investment firm UBS Wealth Management has expressed optimism for many emerging markets, including Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt, but says that South Africa’s political infighting and weak fundamentals mean there is little to be bullish about.
- South Africa’s rand dipped to its weakest level in a month on Monday, with a slide by emerging market currencies against the stronger dollar made worse by a fresh wave of political concerns locally. On Tuesday the rand was trading at R13.27 to the dollar, R17.98 to the pound and R15.91 to the euro.
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