Cape Town - In case you missed it, here is a roundup of Tuesday's top 5 reads on Fin24:
Gigaba says PIC pensions are safe, backs its chair Dan Matjila
Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba and Public Investment Corporation (PIC) boss Dan Matjila gave a joint press conference in Pretoria Tuesday afternoon, in response to media reports that Treasury was fishing for up to R100bn in funds from the investment company which manages state-employee pension funds.
Gigaba said he made it very clear to the PIC's board that he had not "attempted in any possible way to get myself involved in the business of the PIC, accept in formal regulated channels that are available between us".
He added that "to his knwoledge" government had not requested R100bn in bailouts from the PIC.
Matjila, meanwhile, said he enjoyed the support of the PIC’s board and has confidence in them.
Court freezes Gupta-owned mine trusts
Anti-corruption advocacy group the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) on Tuesday won an urgent interim interdict to freeze some R1.75bn in mine rehabilitation funds from two Gupta-owned coal mines.
The group’s urgent application was heard in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria. In a media statement, OUTA said its action was not opposed.
The funds, meant to manage environmental damage caused by mining, are being held by the Bank of Baroda.
SA Express paid Trillian more than R5m
Another state-owned company has done business with the controversial Gupta-linked consultancy firm Trillian Capital Partners – this time cash-strapped SA Express, which paid the company more than R5m for consultancy services in 2016.
According to written response by Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown, state-owned airline SA Express paid R5.7m for a “funding plan” and “balance sheet optimisation” provided by Trillian.
Gordhan on KPMG SA and state capture
Auditing firm KPMG SA was a “willing participant in state capture” and its leadership hasn't fully grasped the magnitude of what they were involved in said former finance minister Pravin Gordhan on Tuesday morning.
He was in conversation with radio host Eusebius McKaiser on CapeTalk.
Gordhan also said his hope for SA would be “dimmed” if former African Union chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma were elected the next president of the ANC at the party’s upcoming National Conference in December. Gordhan is backing Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Former SARS exec Mandisa Mokwena not guilty
Ex top SA Revenue Service official Mandisa Mokwena, a former business partner of first lady Thobeka Zuma, has been exonerated of all charges related to a corrupt enterprise aimed at obtaining tenders illegally.
Mokwena, who headed SARS' risk management division before being appointed as group executive of the segmentation and research division, had been charged with corruption, fraud, racketeering and money laundering.
In the North Gauteng High Court on Tuesday, Judge Sulet Potterill found her not guilty
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