Good morning. Here’s what you need to know today:
- Will there be a diesel supply shortage in South Africa?
- Elon Musk fired top Twitter executives and made other layoffs to avoid paying hefty severance packages and stock grants due soon.
- Former Brazilian president Lula wins runoff election against incumbent Bolsonaro.
As a diesel crisis spreads in the West, could SA be next?
The scramble for diesel reserves has already begun in the United States while over in Europe fuel suppliers are also fretting over the diesel supply crisis. In South Africa, fuel prices are set to rise again in November after a few months of reprieve. An increase in fuel prices locally will add pressure on businesses and consumers and stoke inflationary concerns to already cash-shy consumers. Supply is not a major concern to the industry, but price increases are the primary worry. (News24, for subscribers)
Musk fired Twitter executives in attempt to avoid payouts, layoffs planned, reports say
As his first act as the new owner of Twitter, Elon Musk moved to fire CEO Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal and legal affairs and policy chief Vijaya Gadde in what has been described as an attempt to avoid having to pay hefty severance packages. Meanwhile, other layoffs were planned for as early as last Saturday to avoid having to pay stock grants due on November 1. According to research firm Equilar, the executives stood to receive separation payouts totalling some $122 million. (SABC News)
Lula narrowly wins Brazil’s presidency in historic comeback
In the runoff election between Brazil’s current president Jair Bolsonaro and former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, it was the latter that triumphed over the incumbent, beating him by the narrowest of margins, 50.9% to 49.1% in Sunday’s vote. The defeat of Bolsonaro is the first time in Brazil that an incumbent president has lost re-election. Although Lula spent time in prison on corruption charges some years ago, his triumphant return to the presidency was built on campaign pledges to “end hunger again” and “zero deforestation” of the Amazon. (Daily Maverick)
Here’s what else we’re reading:
SA Business
- She started baking at night during lockdown. Now this vegan baker supplies 40 Checkers stores. – Business Insider
- Fuel prices expected to rise in November – SABC News
- Load-shedding returns this week – Here’s the timetable – MyBroadband
Global Business
- Walkout at biggest iPhone maker’s factory sparks supply disruption fears – Bloomberg
- From Sony to Kakao, Here Are the Asian Company Earnings to Watch – Bloomberg
- UN, Nato, EU and US demand Russia resumes Ukrainian grain deal – The Guardian
Markets
