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Top6 on Fin24: Four scenarios for SA after ANC conference, Gordhan on ratings agency's visit, and how Capetonians use Airbnb

Cape Town - Friday's best economic and finance stories. 

Four ways SA could head after ANC votes (or doesn't) for Zuma successor

The African National Congress is due to elect a new leader next month, and the race is proving to be one of the most hotly contested and divisive in the 105-year-old party’s history.

The front-runners to succeed President Jacob Zuma are his deputy Cyril Ramaphosa and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Zuma’s ex-wife and the former chairperson of the African Union Commission, with ANC Treasurer General Zweli Mkhize seen as a possible compromise candidate.

While it remains guesswork who’ll win, what’s clear is that the outcome will have profound implications for the SA economy and the continent’s oldest political movement.

READ: Four ways SA could head after ANC votes (or doesn't) for Zuma successor

Enemy of the People: 9/12, the day everything changed

In the newly released book, Enemy of the People, former National Treasury director general Lungisa Fuzile recalled the confusion, disruption and the poor taste in which Des van Rooyen and his advisers tried to "capture" South Africa’s fiscal purse.

In December 2015 President Jacob Zuma removed Nhlanhla Nene as finance minister. Van Rooyen replaced him for the weekend, but was then replaced by Pravin Gordhan, who had been finance minister before.

Fuzile gave Enemy of the People authors Adriaan Basson and Pieter du Toit a starting recollection of the days leading up to Nene's removal and the few days Van Rooyen lasted in office.

READ: Enemy of the People: 9/12, the day everything changed

Moody’s rumoured visit to SA not a good sign - Gordhan

It is not a good sign that ratings agency Moody’s was rumoured to be in South Africa recently, former finance minister Pravin Gordhan warned on Thursday.

“Fiscally, South Africa is moving in the wrong direction. We need to stop that slide and start moving in a different direction in more way than one way,” he said at a conference of the Business Ethics Network of Africa (BEN-Africa) in partnership with Deloitte.

At the event Gordhan received the Baobab Award for being “a true ethical leader, striving to do the right thing even when others choose a less ethical path”

“Greed is a key driving force of behaviour in the current economic system. This disease of greed must be addressed as it corrupts society.”

READ: Moody’s rumoured visit to SA not a good sign - Gordhan

Over half of Cape Town Airbnb hosts use it to cover bills

Up to 52% of Cape Town Airbnb hosts use the online home sharing service in order to afford their homes, the company has revealed.

This as the city's housing prices grew by an estimated 7.9% in 2017 – the highest growth of any metropolitan area in South Africa. The Western Cape showed a whopping 78.2% growth in property prices since the 2008/9 recession. 

Airbnb Southern Africa Regional Market Consultant Velma Corcoran told News24 that out of the 43 000 Airbnb listings in South Africa, 17 000 are in Cape Town.

READ: Over half of Cape Town Airbnb hosts use it to cover bills

World Bank to propose solutions for sluggish SA economy

Solutions on how South Africa could dig itself out of its its current low growth hole are likely to take centre stage when the World Bank presents its 10th edition of South Africa Economic Update in Pretoria on Friday. 

The presentation will be made at the Department of Trade and Industry and is likely to tout private investment as South Africa's saviour yet again. 

The bank will provide updated reports on recent economic developments in countries and highlight the role of innovation in productivity, growth, job creation as well as poverty reduction.

The report will propose interventions the World Bank recommends for policy makers to harness South Africa’s innovation potential, which will be proposed to boost both productivity and inclusiveness.

READ: World Bank to propose solutions for sluggish SA economy

Rand weakens on rumours of free education, ratings downgrades

The rand continued to fall on Friday, trading at R14.38 to the dollar in the early afternoon, on rumours that President Jacob Zuma would announce state funding for free tertiary education. 

The local currency has lost just under 1% of its value to the greenback since markets opened on Friday morning. 

TreasuryOne dealer Wichard Cilliers told Fin24 the rand was under pressure, in part, because of rumours that the government would announce funding for free tertiary education. 

READ: Rand weakens on rumours of free education, ratings downgrades

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