By Jackie Cameron
- The World Bank says SA will save Eskom. Details of a R230bn rescue package are due to be unveiled soon, says Bloomberg. “We are encouraged by efforts of the government of South Africa to support Eskom and assurances that it will not to allow it to fail,” the World Bank said in an emailed reply to questions. Eskom woes have been a significant drag on the economy, with rolling blackouts knocking business and investor sentiment.
- Zimbabwe has paid back some of the money it owes for electricity provided by the South African power utility. Zimbabwe’s energy minister Fortune Chasi on Tuesday admitted he had lied that Zimbabwe had paid Eskom, but Tweeted what he says is proof that the debt had now been cleared. Chasi said on Twitter: “Lies have short legs. This is what I lied about. I am sorry.” He published a screen shot of what appears to be a bank transfer for R139m. On Friday last week, Eskom CEO, Phakamani Hadebe, issued a statement saying the power utility, owed a total of $33m by its Zimbabwean counterpart Zesa, had yet to receive the money. Zimbabwe is in the grip of a serious electricity crisis, with rolling blackouts adding to currency problems and growing political tension. President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who replaced Robert Mugabe after a “benign” coup in 2017, has been unable to turn the economy around. Inflation is in the triple digits in Zimbabwe and the government has banned the use of foreign currencies, which have been relied on heavily by businesses and individuals.
- South African retail giant Steinhoff wants its former CEO Markus Jooste to repay millions he received in salary and bonus payments. It is taking legal action Jooste and ex-finance chief Ben la Grange. Steinhoff has been teetering on the brink of collapse since late 2017 after German authorities blew the whistle on $7bn in accounting fraud, Jooste, la Grange and others among the top management team are accused of secretly inflating Steinhoff profits and asset values. Steinhoff, listed in Johannesburg and Frankfurt, said on Tuesday it has launched the legal proceedings in the Cape Town High Court, according to Reuters. Jooste received a bonus payment of 2.1 million euros ($2.37 million; R33m) in March and May 2017. About 500,000 euros of that amount was neither proposed by the human resources and remuneration committee nor approved by the supervisory board, reports Reuters. Various parties are suing Steinhoff for relief in connection with damages related to alleged wrongful acts.
- Medical snake oil is an age-old problem, but the internet has dramatically extended the reach of bad actors peddling fixes for complex conditions that don’t always have cures. The Wall Street Journal reports that Facebook is tweaking its algorithms and cutting down on advertising that directs traffic to bogus cancer treatment claims. Facebook Inc. and YouTube are being flooded with scientifically dubious and potentially harmful information about alternative cancer treatments, which sometimes gets viewed millions of times, a Wall Street Journal investigation found. As of Monday, says The Wall Street Journal, YouTube videos viewed millions of times were among the postings advocating the use of a cell-killing, or necrotising, ointment called black salve to treat skin cancer. Use of the ointment can inadvertently burn or kill healthy skin, and doesn’t remove cancerous growths beneath the skin. It also details how some supplement sellers make vast sums, while misleading individuals to try alternative therapies. A study published in the journal JAMA Oncology last year found patients who chose alternative treatments over scientifically validated cancer therapies like surgery, chemotherapy or radiation had a higher risk of death. For more on that, log into BizNews Premium.
- The big movers on the JSE on Tuesday were mining stocks, with Northam gaining more than 5%, Implats not far behind, and AngloGold shares up by more than 3%. Mining companies have benefited from surging demand for materials and investors investing in safe haven assets. There are risks on the horizon, with South Africa’s largest platinum-mining labour union set to meet the nation’s top three producers on successive days next week as it starts formal negotiations for a three-year wage deal. Bloomberg reports that the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) plans to meet Anglo American Platinum on July 9, followed by Impala Platinum on July 10 and Sibanye Gold the day after that, according to Secretary General Jeffrey Mphahlele. AMCU has asked for a pay increase of as much as 48% as higher palladium and rhodium prices boost company earnings, but some producers say that would lead to job losses and mine closures.
- The rand was trading at R14.08 to the dollar, R17.75 to the British pound and R15.92 to the Euro late on Tuesday.
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