In what promises to be an explosive standoff between former Anglogold Ashanti chair Sipho Pityana and current chair Maria Ramos, the former is taking the SA Reserve Bank to court. Daily Maverick reports Pityana has served legal papers on the bank’s Prudential Authority, claiming the bank is preventing him from becoming chair of Absa because former Absa CEO Maria Ramos privately lobbied against his nomination. He alleges she ‘weaponised’ a false sexual harassment charge against him.
Ramos replaced Pityana as Anglogold chair following his abrupt resignation in December last year. It is now apparent he left following the investigation into a complaint of sexual harassment. Anglogold distanced itself from the matter, saying Absa’s chairmanship is one between Pityana and the board of Absa.
If anything, the dispute highlights the deep divisions at both Absa and Anglogold Ashanti. Business Day reports the case threatens to engulf Absa in yet more leadership turmoil just six months after parting ways with its first black CEO, Daniel Mminele. Mminele, a former central bank deputy governor, left over apparent differences on strategy with senior staff and the board. He had no role in the Pityana dispute.
On Anglogold, Pityana claims in the papers the alleged sexual harassment was only reported on a year and a half after the incident allegedly took place and was intended to unseat him from the position of chairman at the gold miner for various reasons.
Definitely a saga not to be missed.
Meanwhile, the world’s richest person, SA-born Elon Musk, is now worth more than Exxon Mobil after his wealth received an almost $120bn push from a $4.2bn car order from Hertz Global. While piling up the dollars, the Tesla CEO had time to engage with Ark Investment Management founder Cathie Wood on Twitter over short-term inflationary pressures.
Not to be outdone, Musk’s rival Jeff Bezos now wants people to live in space. His space exploration company Blue Origin in partnership with Sierra Space are planning a “mixed-use business park” called Orbital Reef that would house up to 10 people in an area of about 30,000 cubic feet, reports the Financial Times. And he’s getting substantial support for the project. Apart from Sierra Space, the venture is backed by Boeing, Redwire Space, Genesis Engineering Solutions and Arizona State University. If it happens, those on board would experience 32 sunsets and sunrises each day, according to the company.
In the markets, the rand, along with its emerging market peers, is trading on the front foot despite inflationary concerns, a stronger dollar and an uptick in bond yields. “The easing of political tensions between Turkey and the US has seen the Turkish lira recover, which boosted EM markets,” comments TreasuryONE. The local unit was last trading at R14.69/$.
Here’s a roundup of the world’s top and most interesting headlines:
SA Business
The UK may impose a punishing tax on flights to SA – because it is 175km too far away – Business Insider
Sibanye-Stillwater racks up $2bn in battery metals push after unveiling Brazil deals – Miningmx
Here is Eskom’s load shedding forecast for the next year – and things could get much worse – BusinessTech
Global Business
Facebook papers: Six key revelations from leaked documents including Apple’s threat to remove app and why ‘likes’ were nearly ditched – Sky News
Russian crypto scammers target YouTube channels – MyBroadband
Facebook earns $9bn despite whistleblower scandal – BBC News
Markets
Stocks rally in Asia, China property sector worries dampen sentiment – Reuters
Oil takes breather after latest charge amid tight market – Reuters
S&P 500, Dow close at record highs as Tesla accelerates to join $1 trillion club – Investing.com
Opinion/In-depth
Pushing up the revs: How Matshela Koko’s Eskom kept the lights on, and why the system is now broken – News24
What a pity Nando’s chickened out on the real issues in the Gareth Cliff contretemps – racism and sexism – Daily Maverick
Lessons from Zimbabwe’s tobacco farmers for the COP26 climate change talks – The Conversation
Video
On the road: Beaufort West – a municipality plagued by poverty and unemployment – News24
TikTok grows to 1 billion monthly users – Newsy
Evergrande resumes work on more than 10 projects – Reuters
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