Morning Brief – Wednesday, 19 October 2022

Good morning. Here are the important stories you need to know today:

Decisive first move against Jooste ‘great for SA’

The Reserve Bank has confiscated more than R1.4 billion in assets belonging to former Steinhoff CEO Markus Jooste, his wife, and a family trust, in the first action taken against him by the authorities five years after the collapse of the store, Business Day reports. The article further states that the court decision, signed on October 6 by Western Cape judge Andre le Grange, effectively freezes Jooste’s Hermanus home, the Lanzerac wine vineyard in Stellenbosch, five vehicles, and over R100 million worth of art, jewellery, and other assets. (Business Day, for subscribers)

Godongwana expected to pencil in 3% to cover public sector wage increases

When he releases the medium-term budget policy statement next week, finance minister Enoch Godongwana is expected to include a 3% increase in the expenditure framework, which is the government’s latest pay offer that only the SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) has accepted. Absa’s chief economist, Peter Worthington, told Business Day that the 3% increase, in addition to the 1.5% notch progression and the R1,000 per month after-tax cash bonus, would “nudge up” the deficit and debt ratios if the amount is not funded by higher projected tax collections or expenditure cuts. (Business Day, for subscribers)

Alarmist to call Gauteng water shortages a crisis, says Mchunu

Minister of Water and Sanitation Senzo Mchunu says that media portrayals of the water problem in Gauteng as a crisis are exaggerated. He acknowledged, though, that Johannesburg was “leaking big time” and that the city’s water supplies might have been managed “in a better way” in the past, News24 reports. “Mchunu said the city was losing more than 40% of the water supply to leaks. This includes water being taken without payment and without recording it.” (News24)