Star 2023-05-30

THE EMBATTLED retail company Steinhoff International Holdings announced yesterday that creditors had approved a proposed debt restructuring plan. While shareholders voted against the crucial restructuring plan, the retailer can now approach a Dutch court to give the scheme the go-ahead. “As a next step, Steinhoff will consider if it intends to request the Dutch court to confirm the Wet Homologatie Onderhands Akkoord (WHOA) Restructuring Plan,” the company said in a statement. “10.38% of the class of Steinhoff International Holdings NV (SIHNV) share- holders voted in favour of the WHOA Restructuring Plan. This is less than two- thirds of the nominal value of SIHNV shares of the relevant members of the class of SIHNV shareholders that voted in respect of the WHOA Restructuring Plan. “The class of SIHNV shareholders has therefore…

SATBVC, an association of pensioners from Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda, and Ciskei, known as TBVC States have given President Cyril Ramaphosa seven days to effect his instruction to Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, to investigate the issues regarding the pensions of civil servants or face legal action. Every cent counts for pensioners, who like the rest of South Africans are facing an unprecedented cost of living crises. Spearheading the drive is UDM leader Bantu Holomisa. The bone of contention is that employees – who joined the government as civil servants in 1970, 1980, and early 1990s were told that their pension funds were calculated from 1996 – despite their pension fund contributions being deducted earlier than that date. Holomisa said their pension funds were contributed to asset management companies such as Sanlam,…

THE RAND yesterday remained subdued as emerging markets currencies tumbled due to the strengthening US dollar as the largest economy in the world debt ceiling agreement while the energy crisis dimmed sentiment against the currency. The rand started the day trading at around R19.71 against the greenback, not far from a recent record low of R19.80/$1, before claiming some ground back to return to Friday’s close of R19.65/$1 by 4pm. The US dollar hovered near its highest levels in ten weeks yesterday, supported by strong US economic data that bolstered expectations of further policy tightening by the US Fed- eral Reserve, and news that a tentative debt ceiling deal was reached over the weekend. On Saturday, US President Joe Biden and Republican leader Kevin McCarthy reached a deal to…

But increasingly detrimental is the insufficient and unreliable electricity supply SOUTH Africa, which is greylisted, faced the risk of financial instability if it courted Russia, which would lead to capital outflows and sanctions, the SA Reserve Bank (SARB) flagged yesterday. However, the SARB said in its Financial Stability Review, released yesterday that the most notable country-specific vulnerability was the increasingly detri- mental and widespread ramifications of an insufficient and unreliable electricity supply, while concerns over the deteriorating South African rail and port infrastructure networks also continued to grow. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) greylisting had materialised, with a relatively muted immediate reaction as expectations had largely been priced into financial markets. The SARB said, however, the longer-term impact remained a vulnerability and would depend on the speed…

THE WEEK BEFORE last was a difficult week for South Africans and also businesses in the country. Last Thursday, SA Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kgan- yago announced that the Monetary Policy Committee decided to increase the repurchase rate by 50 basis points, to 8.25% per year from May 26. At the same time, so-called SA Inc shares listed on the JSE have experienced a major sell-off with 48 stocks from all sectors of the economy hitting new 52-week lows during the previous week. Interestingly, some of the stocks came from the JSE Top 40 and include many long-time market favourites. The selling off of market favourites is raising concern. Usually, when market favourites are sold off, it is a sign of capitulation. It seems as if the market has decided…

IT’S NO SECRET that governments struggle with tech solutions that get adopted by the public. Often, the public finds it hard to use a technology solution developed by a government. This was not the case with GovChat, a government technology solution that was developed with a private entity that was led by Professor Eldrid Jordaan. Last week, I had an opportunity to listen to Jordaan speak about his experience of building a technology solution for a government. Three things stood out for me in a lecture delivered as part of Africa Month celebrations and hosted by African Innovation Solutions. The first key point that stood out for me was the fact that in building successful technology solutions, it’s not always necessary to build your own app or standalone tech. Sometimes…