Business

5 important things happening in South Africa today

Staff Writer

 ·14 Jun 2017

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

• The latest from the Gupta leaks show how the family had a hand in getting former acting Eskom CEO Collin Matjila appointed – and subsequently scored R43 million in sponsorship for the Gupta media business breakfasts shorty after. The emails show that Matjila’s CV was circulated among the family and president Jacob Zuma’s son prior to him being appointed. Matjila approved the multi-million rand sponsorship against legal advice.

• Immigration experts have hit back at finance minister Malusi Gigaba’s explanation for fast-tracking the Gupta family’s citizenship, saying that, despite Gigaba’s claims it was by the book, there are some glaring issues. Firstly, Gigaba didn’t tell Parliament about these approvals, as is necessary, and other experts point out that a blanket approval for a whole family in one letter is also not proper process.

• As reactions to Helen Zille’s apology and removal from DA leadership come in, party leader Mmusi Maimane says that the decision had nothing to do with threats from the EFF that it would pull all its DA-supportive votes if the party did not rid itself of her. Maimane said the DA does not consult with the EFF – while the EFF itself backtracked and said it is not in a coalition with the DA, so it actually has no relationship with the party.

• New revelations by Moneyweb show that PR firm Bell Pottinger was undoubtedly behind pushing the Gupta family and president Jacob Zuma’s narrative of white monopoly capital and ‘economic emancipation’. The news group’s mining editor has shared his account of interactions with the company, and the emails sent pushing that exact narrative, trying to get it to take hold in the public domain.

• South Africa’s rand inched higher on Tuesday, adding to the previous session’s gains, with political and economic uncertainty in Britain and the United States encouraging investors to search for higher yields elsewhere. On Wednesday the rand was trading at R12.76 to the dollar R16.26 to the pound and R14.31 to the euro.