Pietermaritzburg Chamber of Business

VODACOM DURBAN JULY CORRECTION

A gremlin in Friday's story about Vodacom presenting its 5G technology at the weekend’s Vodacom Durban July erroneously made reference to MTN. The event is of course sponsored by Vodacom. We apologise for any confusion.

WHAT FINANCIAL HARDSHIP RELIEF IS IN THE OFFING?

In two weeks’ time‚ president Cyril Ramaphosa will announce economic measures to help South Africans deal with rising fuel prices and the recent VAT increase. According to a statement by parliament on Friday‚ Ramaphosa said: “Our people reside far from workplaces and that simply means having to spend more on travelling and fuel cost. But also small businesses are the engine of growing the economy and job creation‚ which are the objectives of this administration.” (BDLive)

CEO PUT A SCORE TO CONFIDENCE IN RAMAPHOSA

CEO confidence tumbled back to pre-Ramaphoria levels in the second quarter, a survey sponsored by Merchantec Capital found. Merchantec’s CEO confidence index, which jumped from 45.9 points in Q4 2017 to 60 points in Q1 2018 when Cyril Ramaphosa replaced Jacob Zuma as SA’s president, fell back to 47.4 points. "Most CEOs hoped that the election of president Ramaphosa would bring drastic cabinet reshuffles, as well as radical economic policy changes that would potentially create an upturn in business confidence, but the anticipated effect has not translated in this quarter’s results of the survey," Merchantec said. Asked to give Ramaphosa a score from one worst to 10 best, 47% of the CEOs polled gave the new president a borderline pass mark of five. No CEOs rated Ramaphosa 10, 5% gave him nine, and 37% eight. CEOs cited five major contributors to their change in disposition: the "Zuma Hangover"; uncertainties surrounding expropriation of land without compensation; the VAT increase; the fuel price hikes; and the Rand/Dollar exchange rate volatility." (BDLive)

BLACK-CONTROLLED LAND NOT TARGETED FOR EXPROPRIATION

South Africa’s push for the right to seize land without compensation won’t target property that belongs to black citizens or is controlled by traditional leaders, according to Zweli Mkhize, the minister of cooperative governance and traditional affairs. The government met with representatives of the National House of Traditional Leaders over the group’s concerns about the planned redistribution process, Mkhize’s ministry said in an emailed statement on Friday. "A wrong impression has been created that the discussion on land expropriation includes land in the hands of traditional leaders,” said Mkhize. "When government talks about land expropriation, we are referring to the 87% of the land, not the 13% that is under the control of traditional leaders and black people." (Bloomberg)

MCKINSEY TO POCKET INTEREST ON ESKOM PAYBACK

McKinsey today will pay back ZAR902 million of the ZAR1.6 billion that Eskom awarded it in 2016, but will keep millions in interest it earned on the fee. The global consulting company will, through its new global managing partner, also make a public apology and "talk frankly" about how it "handled the situation" relating to its work at the power utility. Even as it claims "full and final settlement", McKinsey will, however, not be paying the balance, which it instructed Eskom to pay over to the Gupta-linked Trillian Capital in 2016. At the prime lending rate of 10% a year, interest on the full amount would be about ZAR320 million for the two years since Eskom paid the money. (BDLive)

MORE TIME FOR CONSULTATION ON MINING CHARTER

Public consultations on the draft Mining Charter have been extended to end of August to allow further engagements, mineral resources minister Gwede Mantashe said yesterday at the end of a two-day mining summit in Boksburg. Mantashe said the extension was a requested by stakeholders during the meeting. He rejected suggestion that the extended period would derail the finalisation of the charter. The charter is now projected to be finalised by October or November 2018. The minister said that a number of processes - including taking the draft Charter to Cabinet and aligning it with BEE policies - will take place while consultations were ongoing. (Fin24)

VBS PLUNDER MAKES FOR GOBSMACKING READING

The “epic” scale of the alleged fraud perpetrated at VBS Mutual Bank is detailed in an explosive new affidavit by VBS curator Anoosh Rooplal, including the wanton creation of millions in fake deposits and bribes paid to politicians and “senior officials” of the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) and the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) to get them to deposit public money in the bank. The directors of VBS Mutual Bank and its majority owner, Vele Investments, stole more than ZAR1.5 billion from the bank’s depositors, claims the affidavit. It accompanied an urgent application to liquidate Vele, which was filed on Friday. Applications to sequestrate the bank’s executives will follow shortly. Most of the shocking details come from evidence provided by VBS’s former treasurer, Phopi Mukhodobwane, who revealed how he and his colleagues allegedly pillaged depositors’ money. The crux of the fraud was that VBS bosses, in effect, fabricated money by manually entering fictitious “deposits” into the VBS system. These would either be transferred into their own VBS accounts from a so-called suspense account – or be simply fictitiously entered directly into their accounts and the accounts of their other companies, alleges Rooplal. “VBS fell prey to a fraudulent scheme of epic proportions, which has resulted in a loss to the bank of at least ZAR1 521 925 280.46,” claims Rooplal. (Fin24)

GRINDROD SET TO LOSE LUCRATIVE WELFARE BUSINESS

Grindrod is seeking to retain as many as possible of the 5.4 million bank accounts it is set to lose following SA’s decision to appoint a new distributor of welfare grants, tempting recipients with affordable banking services such as EasyPay. The government has asked the Post Office to handle more than ZAR13.5 billion of annual social security payments after cancelling an arrangement with Net1 UEPS earlier in 2018. Grindrod’s banking arm had a partnership with Net1’s Cash Paymaster Services, in which millions of welfare beneficiaries that used banks were automatically Grindrod clients because that was how they accessed their cash. Grindrod Bank earned 50c per account per month under the CPS agreement, according to Polkinghorne. (Bloomberg)

NEW TWIST TO MURRAY AND ROBERTS TAKE OVER SAGA

The potential hostile takeover of Murray & Roberts (M&R) by Aton has taken a new twist with the German investment group buying more than a quarter of the target company of its target company. Aveng issued a regulatory filing on Friday saying Aton is now its 25.42% owner. Aton appears to have used Aveng’s recent rights issue to acquire its stake. Aton’s decision to invest in Aveng contradicts its previous stance, that the proposed deal "clearly demonstrates that M&R’s management is putting its interests ahead of those of shareholders and other stakeholders". (BDLive)

NEW OPERATING OFFICER FOR ESKOM

Eskom has appointed Jan Oberholzer as its chief operating officer, it announced on Friday. Oberholzer will be part of a three-person team that will also include CEO Phakamani Hadebe and a yet to be appointed chief financial officer. Hadebe was made permanent CEO in May and Oberholzer’s appointment is another step in Eskom’s bid to strengthen governance and entice investors back. Eskom has said a chief financial officer will be appointed in the coming weeks. Oberholzer has spent 24 of his 38 years of work experience at Eskom, holding various positions, including that of chief operating officer of its distribution division. Most recently, he successfully led the improvement of a number of hydro-power plants in Zambia, Eskom said in a statement. (BDLive)

COPPER A BELLWETHER FOR IMPACT OF TRADE TARIFFS

Copper’s flashing a powerful warning about expectations for economic growth after US president Donald Trump chose to embark on a major escalation of his administration’s global trade war, imposing tariffs on US$34 billion (about ZAR460 billion) of imports from China, which vowed to respond in kind. The metal has lost more than US$1 000 since closing at a four-year high of US$7 332 a metric ton on June 7. The slump deepened on Friday, with prices down 0.8% to US$6 297.50 on the London Metal Exchange, set for the biggest weekly loss since 2015. “Copper has become the lightning rod for concerns about economic growth amid the rising trade dispute,” Australia & New Zealand Banking said in a report, while suggesting that even though there were signs of slowing expansion, the metal’s recent steep decline was overdone. Metals including copper and zinc have weakened in recent weeks on concern that the litany of trade disputes initiated by Trump - which also cover wrangles with the European Union, Canada and Mexico - will escalate and harm the global economy. (Bloomberg)

… AS US COMPANIES BRACE FOR BACKLASH

US companies for months bemoaned the tariffs on Chinese imports that took effect on Friday. Now they fear the worst is yet to come in an escalating confrontation with Beijing over trade. As duties on US$34 billion of Chinese goods took effect, China has promised to immediately impose retaliatory duties of a similar size on American goods. The US has also released a list of an additional US$16 billion in products targeted for tariffs, and Trump suggested the final total could eventually reach US$550 billion, a figure that exceeds all of China’s annual goods exports to the US. (Blooomberg)

INDIAN COURT DEALS BLOW TO CRYPTOCURRENCIES

India’s top court refused to overturn a decision by the country’s central bank ordering banks not to deal in cryptocurrencies, a move that will make the entire industry illegal in Asia’s third-largest economy. The bench said the Reserve Bank of India’s directive prohibiting banks, financial institutions and other regulated institutions from providing any services related to virtual currencies will remain implemented. In a circular dated April 6 and effective immediately, the bank gave them three months to exit operations. The decision comes after the central bank told the top court that Bitcoins cannot be treated as currency under the country’s existing law that mandates coins to be made of metal or exist in physical form and stamped by the government. (Bloomberg)

VW PICKS UP PACE ON ELECTRIC DRIVE

The Volkswagen Group will be launching an electric car-sharing service called WE in Germany. After being launched in Germany in 2019, the car-sharing service will be moving to other major cities including Europe, Asia and North America in 2020. The car-sharing services entire fleet will be electric cars said the VW Group. (AFP)

CUT COLOR AND TREATMENT FOR ONLY R895

Warm up your look this winter. Get a cut and color special with Anisha for only R895 and just because you deserve it we included a luxury treatment to leave your hair feeling healthy and fabulous! Make your booking today!

Anisha is located at Redlands Beauty and Hair Clinic situated in the tranquil grounds of the Redlands Estate. With over 19 years of experience in hair you are guaranteed a personalised service and professional advice on how to achieve healthy and vibrant looking hair.

Other services offered
Gents, ladies, scholars and kiddies haircuts.

*new Micro Keratin Treatment, Highlights.

Hair care products for men and women
Kevin Murphy, Joico, Nisim, Micro Keratin and GHD.

Offer valid until 31 August 2018.

Contact Anisha To Book Today - 033 394 1179/75

REDLANDS ESTATE, CROXTON BUILDING, 1 GEORGE MACFARLANE ROAD, WEMBLEY