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DiGests
This season's
leading news
ethics law
haVe no place
in sa
Sibusiso Masango
In the past year or so, the country has been obsessed
with what became known as the ‘Zupta relationship’,
which relates to the sinister relations between the Gupta
family and government.
A recent report release by Reserve Bank’s Prudential
Authority titled, ‘The Great Bank Heist’, paints a shocking
picture of greed and state capture in the VBS Mutual Bank
saga. The report contains evidence involving some top
Sa fuel price
decreases immensely
Sibusiso Masango
After a long series of petrol hikes the fuel price decreases. Diesel will decrease by
between R1.45 and R1.47, petrol by R1.84, while illuminating paraffin will decrease
by R1.33 and R1.78. This comes after fuel prices in South Africa had hit a record
high with petrol costing R17.08 and diesel reaching a high of R15.69.
In a statement Minister of Energy Jeff Radebe announced the fuel price
adjustments, which will be effective from December 5, in which he attributes the
price changes to several factors. Radebe said in his statement that the contribution
of the Rand/US Dollar exchange rate The Rand appreciated, on average, against
the US Dollar (from 14.79 to 13.67 rand per USD) during the period under review
when compared to the previous one.
SouTH aFrica anD
technical recession
South Africa this year experienced its first technical recession since 2008-2009. The
economy contracted by 0.7% in the second quarter after a dismal performance in
the first quarter, when the gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by a revised 2.6%.
According to Statistics SA the decline in GDP was led by agriculture production
that fell by 29,2 percent in the second quarter of 2018, following a 33,6 percent
plunge in the first quarter. “Continued drought conditions in Western Cape and a
severe hailstorm in Mpumalanga, resulting in extensive crop damage, also placed
additional pressure on production in the second quarter,” StatsSA said.
The transport industry contracted by 4,9%, largely a result of decreased activity
in both land and air transport. Manufacturing activity fell by 0,3%, driven by a fall
in the production of electrical machinery, transport equipment (including motor
vehicles), and products within the furniture and ‘other’ manufacturing division.
14
www.transformsa.co.za
government officials and businessmen who colluded to
steal from state entities via the VBS Mutual Bank.
According to the report, first on the list of entities of
interest was Vele Investments, ostensibly the biggest
shareholder in the bank, which received almost
R940 million in gratis payments, followed by the bank’s
former chairperson, Tshifhiwa Matodzi, who received
more than R325 million.
Brian Shivambu, the brother of Economic Freedom
Fighters deputy president Floyd Shivambu, is among
those who allegedly received more than R16 million
from VBS.
Municipalities mostly located in Limpopo were allegedly
encouraged to make large deposits into VBS, despite
this being against banking and Treasury regulations. The
municipalities were promised fantastic interest rates
for relatively short deposit periods. Middlemen and
municipal officials were rewarded handsomely and for
those associated with the bank, the rewards were high
and the risk low.
The report paints a picture of how our leaders continue
to neglect ethics and lack integrity. Corruption has
embedded itself in all forms of the South African
government; the expression that “one rotten potato
spoils the whole bag” is a true reflection of what is going
on in our government.
