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Top 5 on Fin24: Bell Pottinger, SARS and what a run-down eatery and Yoco have in common

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

UPDATE: Bell Pottinger expelled from PR body for Gupta work

Embattled British public relations firm Bell Pottinger has had its membership of the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) terminated.

In a press statement embargoed for 01:00 on Tuesday, September 5, the UK-based PRCA announced that Bell Pottinger would not be eligible to reapply for corporate membership of the PRCA for a minimum period of five years.

Fin24 decided to break the embargo after it came to light that the PRCA's statement was widely circulated under local media and interest groups.

"This is an immense public interest victory for South Africa," said News24 editor-in-chief Adriaan Basson.

"The PRCA's decision to expel Bell Pottinger is the strongest action yet against corporate enablers of state capture. It is our duty to communicate this swiftly and widely to our readership."

Bell Pottinger didn't invent 'white monopoly capital', but SA campaign aimed to divide - report

The findings of a review by international law firm Herbert Smith Freehills were published on Monday afternoon, the same day that Bell Pottinger head James Henderson stepped down.

The two-page document states that Bell Pottinger’s South African campaign included material meant to divide South Africans.

“Certain material that we have seen that was created for the campaign was negative or targeted towards wealthy white South African individuals or corporates and/or was potentially racially divisive and/or potentially offensive and was created in breach of relevant ethical principles.”

Herbert Smith Freehills found that the PR firm did not, however, invent the term “white monopoly capital”.

“Whilst that phrase was, on occasion, used by the BP account team as part of the economic emancipation campaign we have seen no evidence to suggest that the term was one that BP invented.”

In related news, Bell Pottinger CEO James Henderson resigned shortly before the release of the Herbert Smith Freehills report, stating that he felt “deeply let down” by colleagues who misled him about the content of the OakBay account.

Henderson did not name the colleagues who he claims misled him, but his statement likely refers to four employees dismissed in July.

Bell Pottinger fired partner Victoria Geoghegan and suspended three more staff members after sustained pressure by South African civic society into its relationships with the Guptas.

Apple to introduce successors to iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus on September 12 

(Source: www.apple.com)

Apple will launch three new iPhone models, a version of its Apple TV set-top-box that can stream higher-quality, and a new version of the Apple Watch that can connect to LTE cellular data networks at its new Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California. 

Tax Ombud finds SARS delays of refunds to taxpayers a systemic issue

In a new report released on Monday, Judge Bernard Ngoepe has found that the system of the South African Revenue Service is behind delayed payments of refunds to taxpayers.

“It is clear that the system allows for SARS to unduly delay the payment of verified refunds to taxpayers in certain circumstances. This has become a systemic issue," said Ngoepe.

#EntrepreneurProfiles:Yoco and the run-down eatery in the US

The co-founder and CEO of Yoco, Katlego Maphai, describes how paying at a run-down US eatery led him and his friends to create the modern cellphone based payment system Yoco. 

Officially launched in 2015, Yoco has doubled the size of the business every year since.

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