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Top7 on Fin24: Deloitte breaks silence on Steinhoff, Trevor Noah loses out on Trump's 'fake news' award

Cape Town - A roundup of Friday's must-read financial and economic news. 

Deloitte SA breaks silence on Steinhoff

Deloitte Africa has broken its silence on Steinhoff and says it is confident in its conduct as the global retailer's auditor. The company also maintains that the various probes into Deloitte's audit opinions of the contentious financial statements are appropriate, given the alleged accounting irregularities at Steinhoff.

Deloitte raised a series of questions about Steinhoff’s 2017 financial statements before finalising its audit opinion and decided, together with the international furniture retailer, that these should be answered by an independent investigation.

“Raising these questions prior to finalising the audit is an example of a good audit process, and we believe that we have done the right thing by raising our questions,” Lwazi Bam, the CEO of Deloitte Africa told Fin24 in an exclusive interview.

READ: Exclusive: We did the right thing with Steinhoff – Deloitte

Exposed: The scrap metal dealer who helped the Guptas

In this article, amaBunghane and Scorpio reveal more about the men who helped the Guptas move millions across different countries.

It must have been good news for Piyoosh Goyal when the State Bank of India approved his Rs750m (R120m then) loan.

So good that he then sent his agent to a senior banker's Mumbai home on a Sunday with two expensive watches and a fistful of cash. At least, this is what the Mumbai branch of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) later claimed.

Their anti-corruption investigators had lain in wait, that November 2013, and they arrested Goyal's alleged agent when he emerged from the banker's home.

Then they raided the home where they said they found the two watches and the cash. Simultaneously, they raided Goyal's premises, where they claimed to have found "incriminating documents".

The investigators laid charges of bribery and collusion against Goyal, his alleged agent and the banker.

READ: #GuptaLeaks: Meet the money launderers

Steinhoff hands over 15 years of records to unions

Steinhoff [JSE:SNH] has agreed to allow the Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa) and the Public Servants Association (PSA) access to financials dating as far back as 2002.

This is according to deputy general manager of the PSA Tahir Maepa, who spoke to media outside Steinhoff’s headquarters in Stellenbosch on Friday.

PSA general manager Ivan Fredericks and Fedusa general secretary Dennis George, along with their legal team, met with Steinhoff’s attorneys.

They had requested to inspect the financial records to gain more insight before making a decision on laying criminal charges against the retail group, following the fallout from Steinhoff's accounting scandal in December last year.

READ: Steinhoff hands over 15 years of financial records to unions

Civil society fight to take back SA bigger than state capture  - Max Du Preez

As dramatic as state capture is, the SA story of how civil society pushed back is even more dramatic, political analyst Max du Preez said on Thursday.

"This is not the kind of thing you will see in other young democracies," he said as a guest speaker at the annual Nedbank VinPro Information Day for the wine industry.

"For this country of ours, which US President Donald Trump calls 'South Shithole', the pendulum is swinging back. 'South Shithole' has hit rock bottom and is climbing up - how long it will take remains to be seen."

Du Preez said the era of SA President Jacob Zuma introduced concepts like state capture and tenderpreneurship to South Africans.

"He outsourced the power we gave him to an immigrant family in exchange for money. The old way of doing things is over now with the election of Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa as ANC president. Zuma is a wiley street fighter, while Cyril is a fine strategist and sophisticated urbanite," said Du Preez.

READ: Max du Preez: One thing more dramatic than SA's state capture

No ‘fake news’ award for Trevor Noah

Trevor Noah, Donald Trump

There has been no "Fake News" award from Donald Trump for South African comedian Trevor Noah, who regularly takes the mickey out of the US president.

Trump had in yet another Twitter rant said he would be announcing “THE MOST DISHONEST & CORRUPT MEDIA AWARDS OF THE YEAR."

Trump said that the subjects of the awards would cover Dishonesty & Bad Reporting in various categories from "Fake News Media" for news agencies around the world.

But the awards drew the attention of comedians including Noah, Steven Colbert and Samantha Bee who held their own campaigns.

The Daily Show in the US, of which Noah is the host, responded to Trump’s tweets with a post from @TheDailyShow which read: “Mr. President, vote Trevor Noah. He's literally un-American! #TheFakies #FakeNewsAwards”.

READ: Trevor Noah 'the real deal'

Jooste scandal puts dampener on horse racing auction

If you look carefully at the well-heeled attendees of one of South Africa’s biggest horse racing auctions this weekend in Cape Town, you may see some deep worry lines grooved into their faces.

Few will speak about it publicly, but there are real fears within the horse racing community that the scandal surrounding Markus Jooste and Steinhoff could cause a sharp decline in horse sale prices.

And this decline could have a roll-over effect into the industry as a whole.

Many will be watching what happens at the Cape Premier Yearling Sale and the CTS Breeding Stock Sale at the Cape Town International Convention Centre between January 20 and 21 very carefully, as a sharp decline could expose the outsized role Jooste and a few of his business partners are said to have played in horse racing in South Africa.

READ: How the Markus Jooste scandal may impact SA's biggest horse racing auction

Mnangagwa to tell Davos Zimbabwe is open for business

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Thursday made history by becoming the first president of the southern African country to publicly respond to questions from ordinary citizens at a town hall meeting (an open forum where public figures answer questions from the public) in Harare.

Former president Robert Mugabe never took time to respond to individual questions from members of the public, even parliamentarians.

The town hall meeting was organised by the Global Shapers Harare Hub, part of a network of young people driving dialogue, action and change across 157 countries in the world.

The Global Shapers is an initiative of the World Economic Forum.

The meeting - dubbed #RoadtoDavos - was held ahead of Mnangagwa’s inaugural trip next week to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

READ: World, we need you - Mnangagwa's message to Davos

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