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Top5 on Fin24: Claims Guptas inflated Oakbay price, and Cabinet approves minimum wage bill

Cape Town - Thursday's top economic and finance reads.  

Guptas inflated Oakbay price through trading by Singapore firm

The Gupta family inflated the share price of Oakbay Resources and Energy on its Johannesburg Stock Exchange debut by lending money to a Singapore firm to be used to trade the equities. That came ahead of plans to raise funds for a uranium mine.

The Guptas, who are embroiled in a corruption scandal linked to President Jacob Zuma, agreed to loan $1m (R14m) from bank accounts in Dubai to Unlimited Electronics & Computers in Singapore in November 2014.

That same month, UEC transferred $928 146 to the Guptas’ Oakbay Resources and Energy and the two companies had a contract entitling UEC to 18.5 million Oakbay shares at R10 a share, according to a November 20 communication that was one of a trove of emails seen by Bloomberg.

READ: Guptas inflated Oakbay price through trading by Singapore firm

Cabinet approves minimum wage bill

Cabinet approved the National Minimum Wage Bill during its fortnightly meeting on November 1. The draft legislation will now be referred to Parliament for further deliberation, after which President Jacob Zuma will be required to officially sign it into law. 

In February this year representatives of government, business, the community sector and two of the three labour federations represented at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) signed the national minimum wage agreement.

According to this, workers will receive a minimum of R20 per hour which translates into a monthly wage of about R3 500 for a 40-hour week, and about R3 900 for those who work 45 hours a week.

The minimum wage agreement was overseen by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa. 

READ: Cabinet approves minimum wage bill

Gigaba: Cape water crisis shows need for capable infrastructure

Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba did not underplay t

The water challenge in Cape Town shows the need for capable infrastructure to respond to human needs and development objectives, Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba said on Thursday.

He was one of the opening speakers at the First African Round Table on Infrastructure Governance. The theme of the conference, taking place at the Lord Charles Hotel in Somerset West, is “Building the right infrastructure for tomorrow”.

Amid a prolonged drought, the City of Cape Town has implemented Level 5 water restrictions and has urged residents to keep a 5l store of water for emergencies, or if pressure reduction measures leave their taps dry.

With Cape Town's dam levels currently averaging at just over 31%, its plans for desalination plants and other projects will probably cost the city billions of rand.

READ: Gigaba: Cape water crisis shows need for capable infrastructure

Oppenheimers' private OR Tambo terminal 'ready to go live'

Fireblade Aviation, owned by the Oppenheimer family, has said it is just 'ready to go live' with its private international terminal at OR Tambo.

This after the North Gauteng High Court on Friday ruled that the aviation company could operate the private international terminal, despite objections lodged by then-Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba in 2016. 

The South African Revenue Service (SARS), and the home affairs department will render customs and immigration services, as is the case at Lanseria and Kruger Mpumalanga International airports, which are privately owned.

In a statement on Thursday, Fireblade Aviation said the terminal would be available for all privately-owned or chartered aircraft in the commercial and general aviation sectors.

READ: Oppenheimers' private OR Tambo terminal 'ready to go live'

UK MP says he has evidence of Gupta 'criminal network'

UK Parliamentarian Peter Hain has said he has copies of illegal transactions from Gupta-linked companies to banks in the UAE and Hong Kong, which show the work of a "criminal network". 

The UK Labour peer and anti-apartheid campaigner was speaking on Wednesday evening in The House of Lords, the UK Parliament’s upper chamber.

Hain said he was given the documents by a whistleblower, and said they include records of all account numbers used. 

Hain, who spent part of his youth in South Africa, said he had hand-delivered printouts of the transactions to UK Chancellor Philip Hammond on Tuesday evening and named the banks involved.

The Labour peer said that some of the banks involved in the transactions were headquartered in the UK. 

READ: UK MP says he has evidence of Gupta 'criminal network'

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