By Alec Hogg
- Former South African president Jacob Zuma is back in the spotlight today when he takes the stand at the Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo’s commission of inquiry into State Capture. The hearings are televised live and will be the first time Zuma faces a judicial panel which will question him on allegations made by several witnesses to the commission. The prime accusation is that Zuma allowed members of the Gupta family to influence appointments in the national cabinet and use levers of state to further Gupta business interests. Zuma has also been directly accused of taking bribes from Bosasa whose former Chief Operating Officer admitted the now liquidated company’s business model was to pay off public officials in return for the award of inflated state tenders. Newly appointed deputy director general of the National Prosecuting Authority, Hermione Cronje, recently quantified the cost of State Capture at R1.5trn. Zuma has described the Zondo Commission as a political witch hunt and insists he has done nothing wrong.
- There’s been another twist in Mozambique’s $2bn Tuna Bond scandal. South Africa’s new justice minister, Ronald Lamola, has blocked the release of former Mozambican finance minister Manuel Chang, who is deeply implicated in the scandal. In May, Lamola’s predecessor said that Chang, currently under arrest in South Africa, could return to his homeland to face corruption charges. The change in approach follows information that Chang is to be granted immunity from prosecution by Mozambique. Chang is a key actor in the $2bn Tuna Bond scandal where hundreds of millions of dollars raised for the Mozambican Treasury were diverted into the pockets of public officials by arranging bank Credit Suisse. On the request of the United States government, Chang was arrested at OR Tambo en route to Dubai. The US  wants Chang to be extradited to New York to face corruption charges alongside three former Credit Suisse bankers.
- China’s Huawei Technologies is planning extensive layoffs at its US operations, as a direct consequence of its blacklisting by US president Donald Trump. The layoffs are expected to affect workers at Huawei’s US-based research and development subsidiary, Futurewei Technologies, which employs 850 people. Since May 16 when the US Commerce Department blocked Huawei from being sold any US sourced technology, Futurewei employees have faced restrictions in communicating with colleagues in Huawei’s home offices in China. Huawei bought $11bn worth of American technology last year.
- Embattled Tongaat’s one-time stablemate Hulamin has been hitting obstacles of its own with the share price losing almost 6% on Friday. This followed a trading update warning shareholders of more bad news. Hulamin, which was unbundled by Tongaat in 2006, warned that its bottom line slumped from last year’s profit of 13c a share to a loss of the same number in the half year to end June. It blames unusually high stockpiling of Chinese aluminium in the US ahead of the imposition of duties; and a 30% slump in sales to automotive customers reflecting lower global car production. The company says to combat these reverses, it is pursuing alternative market opportunities and cutting costs. Hulamin’s share price has fallen 40% this year.
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