1951: Delegates of the Dalai Lama sign the Seventeen Point Agreement to affirm Chinese sovereignty over Tibet. According to Tibetan officials, the document was signed under duress and is, therefore, invalid.
Today is dedicated to the tortoise with water wings, on World Turtle Day.

PUBLIC SECTOR WAGE BILL THROTTLING STATE FINANCES

SA’s ZAR587 billion public-sector wage bill had shot through the ceiling and the government would have to cut back on critical services if it failed to rein in pay increases, public services and administration minister Ayanda Dlodlo said yesterday. Salaries for public servants have been growing at rates higher than inflation and consumed 35% of expenditure in 2017, up from 32.9% in 2007. In 2018, public servants are set to receive above-inflation wage increases of between 6% and 7%. Although public-sector unions are yet to sign the agreement, the government can implement it unilaterally after 30 days. The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union was the only union to sign the draft agreement on Monday. Four other unions rejected the proposed agreement, while five are still consulting their members for mandates. The government had budgeted 7.3% for wage hikes. (BDLive)

DERAILMENTS PUSH KUMBA TARGETS OFF TRACK

Kumba, SA’s largest iron-ore producer, told overseas customers it could not meet contractual supply agreements because of an unusually high number of derailments on the railway line linking its Northern Cape mines to the Saldanha port. The incidents contributed to a 1% drop in the company’s export sales in Q1 2018 compared with the same period a year earlier. International sales fell 12% from the previous three months. Kumba had declared force majeure on March 14, which remained in force, CEO Themba Mkhwanazi said yesterday. Companies declare force majeure when something unexpected happens that prevents them from complying with a contract. Weather and other natural disasters are examples of potential causes.  (BDLive)

GOVERNMENT WANTS CAR MAKERS TO UP THEIR GAME

South Africa is proposing automakers including Toyota, Ford and BMW more than double production, in return for tax breaks so generous that the companies can ship the cars all the way to Europe. The auto industry accounts for about 7% of South Africa’s GDP and has been one of the few highlights of a period of sluggish economic growth, according to the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA). That can be put down to a state-incentive programme that expires at the end of 2020, which both the carmakers and trade and industry minister Rob Davies are keen to extend for another 15 years. With talks under way, the two parties are at odds on several issues – especially the state’s targets for what it wants the industry to achieve by 2035, according to NAAMSA Ddrector Nico Vermeulen. A production increase over that period to 1% of global output, or as many as 1.5 million vehicles per year, is overambitious, he said. South Africa produced about 600 000 units in 2017, the majority for export, and NAAMSA forecasts an increase to 850 000 in 2020. A second point of contention is a government demand for the automakers to double the size of their combined workforce to about 225 000, a tough ask given the global industry’s shift toward robotics and automation, he said. (Fin24)

STEINHOFF LESSONS TAKEN ON BOARD, SAYS CORONATION

Coronation, bloodied from a ZAR14 billion loss on Steinhoff, was applying a "higher level of scepticism" to its investment approach, CEO Anton Pillay said yesterday. The asset manager, one of the country’s largest, continued to suffer outflows from its retail and institutional funds over the period but at a slower rate. Coronation’s losses from Steinhoff’s share price collapse spread across 11 portfolios. Coronation held 5%-6% of Steinhoff in early December, which translated into 2.3% of its assets under management, said Pillay. By the end of December this holding had fallen to 0.2% of its assets, due to the fall in Steinhoff’s share price. Most of the Coronation funds that held the stock outperformed their average competitors for the 12 months to December 2017. Coronation had decided to stay invested in Steinhoff and had been interacting closely with the new board to ensure "accountability is felt across the group", said portfolio manager Neville Chester. It planned to take legal action against the company. (BDLive)

JSE RIVAL EYES ETP MARKET

A2X Markets looks set to become an even bigger threat to the JSE as it trains its sights on the bourse’s ZAR83 billion exchange-traded products (ETP) market. The challenger exchange — which in April listed one of the country’s largest companies, Sanlam — has applied to Financial Services Conduct Authority to amend its licence to enable it to offer secondary listings to exchange-traded funds (ETF) and exchange-traded notes (ETN). This process was in the public comment phase and A2X hoped to offer a secondary listings platform to ETPs in the coming months, CEO Kevin Brady said yesterday. A2X has a market capitalisation in excess of ZAR200 billion, still a fraction of the JSE’s ZAR11.8-trillion valuation, but many times the size of newer rivals. (BDLive)

CHRONIC ILLNESS WORRY FOR MEDICAL AID INDUSTRY

The proportion of medical scheme members with chronic illnesses has been steadily increasing since 2011, posing a growing financial risk to the industry, the Council for Medical Schemes warned in a report yesterday. "Patients registered on chronic programmes are sicker and claim more. That should be a concern for medical schemes," said the council’s GM for research and monitoring, Anton de Villiers. The council analysed data provided by medical schemes for the period 2011 to 2016 and found a significant increase in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes, which rose 35.4% to 31.5 cases per 1  000 members. The prevalence of high cholesterol rose 19.7% to 41.2 cases per 1 000 beneficiaries and hypertension ticked up 10.6% to 91 cases per 1 000 beneficiaries, it said in its report. The prevalence of HIV soared 135% to 22 cases per 1 000 beneficiaries. (BDLive)

AEEI MOOTS BONANZA TO SHAREHOLDERS

The pending sale of African Equity Empowerment Investments’ (AEEI’s) 30% stake in British Telecoms SA (BTSA) could deliver a bonanza to shareholders, with the group weighing up paying a sizeable special dividend. Speaking at a presentation of the results for the half year to February, Khalid Abdulla, CEO of AEEI, which holds controlling stakes in JSE-listed Premier Fishing and Ayo Technology Solutions, confirmed the group would be cash flush after concluding the proposed sale of its 30% stake in BTSA to recently listed Ayo for almost ZAR1 billion. If the fair-value gains were stripped out, AEEI showed a tripling of operating income to ZAR117 million and a more than five-fold increase in profit before taxation to ZAR188 million after marked gains in investment income to ZAR54 million and profit from equity accounted investments to ZAR29 million. (BDLive)

H&M SCOUTING FOR DOMESTIC SUPPLIERS

Swedish clothing retailer H&M is considering sourcing some of its merchandise from local suppliers, with teams from abroad in the country to assess potential partners, a spokesperson said yesterday. "It is still in [the] very early stages," said Amelia-May Woudstra.Woudstra would not say which companies H&M was eyeing as potential suppliers. The world's second-largest retailer currently imports all its merchandise sold in South Africa – to the chagrin of labour unions, which have criticised the H&M business model since it arrived in the country in 2015. (Fin24)

FACEBOOK FOUNDER LEARNS TO SAY SORRY

“Sorry” no longer seems to be the hardest word for Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who offered European Union lawmakers his latest mea culpa for the social network’s role in a privacy scandal that tarnished his company’s reputation. Just over a month after giving an apology for his company’s recent mistakes during two gruelling days of US congressional hearings, Zuckerberg has had rather less time to respond to members of the European Parliament who demanded answers - and contrition - after 2.7 million European Facebook users were compromised by political data firm Cambridge Analytica. (Fin24)

“not another one”

(Handling difficult people)

Handling chronic complainers, time stealers, loudmouths, emotional vampires, and other difficult people. 
These people create negativity throughout the workplace like, a lack of productivity, poor attitude and reluctance to come to work.
Learn how to better manage your relationships with challenging people and leave with coping techniques to put into practice.

Session details:
 

•    Date:    6 June 2018
•    Venue:  PMB, KZN  
•    Time:    08:30 to 12:30
•    Cost:     R620 pp or R550 pp for 2 or more attending
•    Booking essential

Book Now:  Shari@shancade.co.za
(Terms and Conditions Apply)

Further Information
Shan Cade |  shan@shancade.co.za  | 078 801 0896
www.shancade.co.za