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Cape Town - A roundup of Monday's top economic and finance reads on Fin24.
Everything you need to know about Wednesday’s general strike
Thousands of workers are expected to take to the streets on Wednesday for a one-day strike as the South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) plans to make the country “ungovernable”.Saftu marched to Parliament on April 12 and handed over a memorandum of demands. However, it said the response did not address its concerns and that workers will embark on nationwide action to put pressure on MPs to reject several labour bills making their way through Parliament.Fin24 takes a closer look at their plans for the general strike.
Mantashe to appeal court ruling on black ownership of mines
Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe has sought leave to appeal a court judgment earlier this month over a crucial black-ownership principle in the country’s Mining Charter, the nation’s mining lobby said.
The Chamber of Mines has been notified that the minister and the Department of Mineral Resources filed the application, it said in a statement on Monday.
The high court in Pretoria on April 4 ruled that the first two versions of the country’s charter didn’t require producers to top up black-shareholding levels in perpetuity if they previously met the minimum 26% requirement. A copy of the application provided by the chamber is dated April 19.
Rand pummelled to 3-month low on US asset and oil rally
The rand lost more than 1% against the US dollar in early trade on Monday, on the back of a rally in US assets and a spike in the oil price.
By 15:32 the local unit was trading 1.67% weaker at R12.25 against the greenback. The rand last traded at this level in mid-January 2018.
"Currently all emerging markets are coming under pressure, but the rand is really bearing the brunt," said Bianca Botes, corporate treasury manager at Peregrine Treasury Solutions.
Five key controversies the state capture commission needs to tackle
A judicial commission faces a daunting task in investigating allegations that members of the Gupta family and their allies connived with former president Jacob Zuma and his son Duduzane to loot billions of rand from state coffers.
Its success or failure will go a long way in determining whether South Africa can put behind it years of mismanagement and plunder during Zuma’s scandal-ridden administration that undermined investor confidence and stymied economic growth.
Zuma agreed to the inquiry after losing control of the ruling party and a lawsuit challenging a directive from former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela that spelled out its powers and appointment procedures.
Union meets with state asset manager the PIC about its investments
Public sector union the PSA will on Monday meet with the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) to demand details of several controversial investments made in recent years.
Among them is the R4.3bn stake taken in Ayo Technologies in December last year, where the PIC paid a reportedly inflated price of R43 a share.
Ayo is linked to the now postponed flotation of Sagarmatha Technologies, and both groups are tied to family controlled companies headed by Iqbal Survé, who controls newspaper publisher Independent Media.
It was the fact that the PIC both bought equity and lent money for the purchase of the newspaper chain that first led the 230 000-strong PSA to question PIC investment decisions.
The PIC is a government-owned investment vehicle that manages some R2trn of state employee pension funds. Its mandate allows it to invest a small proportion of these funds on the basis of “social responsibility”.
PSA officials are concerned that it was under this guise that a number of “irresponsible” or “politically motivated” investments were made, says Terry Bell.
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