Top 5 on Fin24: Reserve Bank vs Public Protector and SARS misses revenue target

Cape Town - In case you missed it, here is a roundup of Tuesday’s top 5 reads on Fin24:

Reserve Bank vs Public Protector 

South African Reserve Bank spokesperson Jabulani Sikhakhane confirmed that the bank had filed an affidavit, in which it indicates that Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane had met with the Presidency and the State Security Agency to amend the Reserve Bank’s constitutional mandate to protect the currency.

In the affidavit, the bank states that Mkhwebane conspired with the Presidency to have the mandate of the Reserve Bank changed, and questioned her impartiality.

• READ: FULL AFFIDAVIT: Public Protector 'plotted' with Presidency on SARB mandat

SARS misses tax revenue target 

The South African Revenue Service missed its first-quarter tax revenue target by R13.1bn, a document in Fin24’s possession revealed on Monday. 

If this trend of lower tax revenue continued, SARS would miss its overall yearly target by about R50bn in 2017, a significant shortfall. 

• READ: SARS misses first-quarter tax target by R13b

Bell Pottinger latest: Two former partners seek legal help

Former Bell Pottinger partners Victoria Geoghegan and Nick Lambert have reportedly sought legal advice regarding their exit from the public relations firm.

Geoghegan and Lambert, who worked on the Gupta-owned Oakbay account, were forced out of the firm in July after an initial review by law firm Herbert Smith Freehills revealed evidence that “dismayed” former CEO James Henderson.

• READ: Bell Pottinger: Former partners Geoghegan and Lambert said to seek legal help as firm crumble

Hurricane Irma less devastating than predicted 

Hurricane Irma may not be as quite as devastating as some models had predicted. Florida this week appears to have escaped the worst of Irma’s wrath, because the hurricane's powerful eye shifted away from the state’s biggest population centre of sprawling Miami-Dade County.

• READ: A $150bn misfire: How disaster modellers got Irma so wrong

Construction colluders deserve jail - Competition Commission 

Parties involved in collusion in the construction industry won't stop their behaviour until they know they face jail sentences, Deputy Commissioner of the Competition Commission Hardin Ratshisusu said on Monday. 

“You see people driving certain types of cars and don't know how they can afford them, for instance," Ratshisusu told delegates at the annual congress of Master Builders SA.

• READ: Construction colluders should get jail time - deputy commissioner

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