Star 2025-02-12

Steinhoff, which had listings both in South Africa and in Germany, had such a lack of ICT governance systems in place that data, especially financial information, could easily be manipulated or fall into the wrong hands. An exhaustive investigation into what has become South Africa’s largest corporate scandal by PwC showed that there was a lack of written documentation on the systems and processes, critical process knowledge resided with a limited number of employees, and a “high degree of manual intervention in processes” increased “the risk and actual execution of manual errors and manipulation”. Steinhoff, which folded following Deloitte confirming there were accounting irregularities in 2017, used several software systems in the accounting process, including Excel, PwC’s investigation showed. Steinhoff also made use of enterprise resources planning software, including SAP…

Manufacturing output in South Africa is expected to shrink in the fourth quarter of 2024 after production declined, albeit slower than expected, dragged lower mainly by motor vehicles and transport equipment. Data from Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) on Tuesday revealed that manufacturing production fell by 1.2% year-on-year in December 2024, following a downwardly revised 1.9% decrease in the prior month, and coming in below the expected 1.7% drop. Stats SA said the decline in manufacturing output in December was broad-based, with eight out of 10 divisions recording contractions. The overall decline was largely driven by significant drops in the basic iron and steel, non-ferrous metal products, metal products, and machinery category and the motor vehicles, parts and accessories, and other transport equipment division. Meanwhile, increases were only seen for…

Nedbank’s chief economist highlights South Africa’s economic challenges While global trends, especially in the US, will influence South Africa’s economy, the nation must focus on overcoming internal limitations to position itself for stronger growth over the next few years, Nedbank chief economist Nicky Weimar said on Tuesday. She said this a week before South Africa’s Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana delivers Budget 2025 and as banking group Nedbank opened a “bold new chapter” as it launched its mid-corporate banking offering. Weimar said for South Africa, the challenge was navigating structural constraints that limit growth potential. While progress has been made with more stable electricity supply, largely due to private sector investment in alternative energy, Eskom’s struggles remain a significant bottleneck. South Africa’s growth prospects are tied to resolving these issues, which…

South Africa prepares to host the prestigious G20 Summit later next year, the National Treasury has set stringent directives for government institutions involved in the event. In an effort to maintain fiscal prudence, the Treasury has advised these institutions to prioritise high-impact initiatives while reducing costs. This approach comes amid a tightening fiscal environment, emphasising a requirement for funding activities primarily through reprioritisation and realignment of existing budget baselines. Issued in November 2024, the Treasury's instruction outlined the G20 Sponsorship Framework. This framework establishes the necessary processes for the solicitation, acceptance, disbursement, management, and evaluation of sponsorships throughout South Africa's G20 Presidency. The recent G20 Funding Guidelines, shared last week, reinforce the directive, revealing that departments unable to finance their G20 activities through reprioritisation could seek supplementary funding via the…

CERTIFICATES: FOR STRAIGHT PERFORMANCE OVER THREE YEARS TO 31 DECEMBER, 2024 (16 CATEGORIES) 1nvest Global REIT Index Feeder Fund 1nvest S&P500 Index Feeder Fund Abax Balanced Prescient Fund Absa Sanlam Multi Managed Passive Accumulation Fund Allan Gray-Orbis Global Balanced Feeder Fund Amplify SCI Flexible Equity Fund Amplify SCI Property Equity Fund Anchor BCI Worldwide Flexible Fund BCI Ranmore Global Equity Feeder Fund BCI Value Fund Blue Quadrant Worldwide Flexible Prescient Fund Camissa Stable Fund Coronation Global Managed [ZAR] Feeder Fund Coronation Smaller Companies Fund Fairtree ALBI Plus Prescient Fund Fairtree BCI Income Plus Fund Fairtree Select Equity Prescient Fund Flagship IP Flexible Value Fund Foord Equity Fund Global Marathon IP Fund Granate BCI Balanced Fund Granate BCI Flexible Fund H4 Worldwide Equity Fund M&G Bond Fund M&G Property Fund Matrix…

It is important to understand that the concepts of risk and uncertainty are often confused. We think we live in a world of risk but in fact we live in a world of uncertainty. Risk has probabilities – flip a coin and you get a head or a tail – something will happen with certain likelihood, or it won't. Uncertainty, or unknowability, comes with unimagined outcomes, and realities where the impossible happens. And therein lies the beauty of uncertainty. Consider the case of Bitcoin, trading at $95 000 (around R1.76 million) per coin, nothing lies behind its value but the belief or conviction that it is worth at least it’s current price. Ten years ago, Bitcoin was almost unknown. Nvidia is the biggest company in the world by market capitalisation…