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Cape Town - In case you missed it, here is a roundup of Monday's top 6 reads on Fin24:
Petrol price hike from Wednesday
The Department of Energy announced that a litre of 95 octane petrol will cost R14.01 inland and R13.52 at the coast from Wednesday. This is the first time since August 2014 that the inland price has breached R14.00/litre. The price of a litre of 93 octane petrol will be increasing by 25c, while a litre of 95 octane will go up by 29c.
The price of diesel and illuminating paraffin will also increase.
SIU to prioritise Eskom probe
The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) will prioritise the investigation into allegations of corruption and state capture at Eskom, after having received all the necessary documents from the Department of Public Enterprises.
In a statement the SIU said the scope of the investigation has now been completed and a proclamation will be issued in due course.
In accordance with the law, President Jacob Zuma needs to sign the proclamation that will authorise the SIU to investigate corruption and state capture authorisations.
Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown in May launched a full-scale investigation into Eskom, with the assistance of the SIU and a retired judge.
Steinhoff raises R16bn through STAR listing
Amsterdam-based Steinhoff International raised €1bn - or R16bn - by listing and placing 23.19% of its interests in Steinhoff African Retail Limited (STAR) on the JSE, the group said in a notice to shareholders on Monday.
STAR officially listed on September 20 and issued 750 million new shares under a private placement in a book that was 4.8 times oversubscribed, raising an aggregate amount of R15.4bn, Steinhoff said.
After the listing, STAR shares traded consistently above the listing price of R20.50 per shares.
National carriers offer little upside - economist
The cost of having a national carrier far exceeds the benefits, and privatising South African Airways or parts of it could be a sensible option, according to chief economist at Econometrix Dr Azar Jammine.
Last week Treasury gave SAA R3bn from the National Revenue Fund to prevent it from defaulting on a loan from Citibank.
“There is not really a strategic benefit for the majority of countries, including the US (in retaining national carriers),” said Jammine. “To the extent that SAA is poorly run, private shareholders would ensure it is run more efficiently.”
Moyane reiterates he's not happy with KPMG 'rogue unit' probe
Tom Moyane, commissioner of the SA Revenue Service (SARS), has reiterated in a letter to Parliament that he is “dissatisfied” with the way auditing firm KPMG handled its investigative report into the so-called SARS 'rogue unit'.
Moyane’s letter was addressed to the chair of the standing committee on finance Yunus Carrim.
Earlier Carrim advised Moyane that Parliament would discuss SARS’ and National Treasury’s annual reports on Thursday October 5, and invited the SARS commissioner to raise the KPMG matter during that meeting “within the limits of the rules and norms” of Parliament.
'Exploding' battery reports on iPhone 8
A battery of an Apple iPhone 8 Plus was reported to have ‘exploded’ while charging, causing the screen to bulge out.
The recently launched smartphone from the US tech giant was reported to have experienced the swollen battery issue by a user in Taiwan on the third day of owning the device.
According to Apple blog 9to5Mac, the owner claimed that her 64GB Gold iPhone 8 Plus had split three minutes into being charged with the cable and plug adapter supplied with the device
READ: 'Exploding' battery reports on iPhone 8
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