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Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Johannesburg's $1.4 Billion Blowup: Is Africa's Financial Capital on the Brink of Collapse?
South Africa's most important city is now in the hot seat. Johannesburg is under fire after the National Treasury flagged 24.4 billion rand ($1.4 billion) in irregular, unauthorized, and wasteful spending. In a formal letter dated July 30, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana gave Mayor Dada Morero just 14 days to explain how the city plans to fix the messor risk losing critical national funding. That funding accounts for about 15% of Johannesburg's 89 billion rand annual budget, and without it, even the most basic services could be pushed past the breaking point. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 9 Warning Signs with GS. This isn't just another bureaucratic disputeit's a direct threat to investor confidence in the city that houses the continent's largest stock exchange and the headquarters of major corporations like Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA). Internal documents reviewed by Bloomberg revealed Johannesburg is over 221 billion rand behind on much-needed infrastructure upgrades. Roads are crumbling, outages are frequent, and crime remains high. While Mayor Morero recently assembled a "bomb squad" of former officials to improve service delivery, critics argue that past financial mismanagement has already left deep scars. The Democratic Alliance, the main opposition party, called this the gravest financial threat in Johannesburg's democratic history. The stakes go beyond local politics. If Treasury follows through and pulls back funding, it could trigger a broader credibility crisis for South Africa's ruling coalitionjust months before Johannesburg is set to host world leaders at a major global summit. For investors watching from abroad, this situation introduces a new variable into the risk calculus for South African assets. Treasury's letter makes it clear: without urgent action, Johannesburg could become a cautionary tale about fiscal negligence in one of Africa's most promising markets. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
News24
5 hours ago
- News24
MKP vs Ramaphosa; How Emma Powell rattled the DA: Today's top 7 stories in 7 minutes
News24 brings you the top 7 stories of the day. News24 brings you the top stories of the day, summarised into neat little packages. Read through quickly or listen to the articles via our customised text-to-speech feature. Slain Ekurhuleni auditors probed R4bn toilet, waste contracts; third one wounded - Auditor Mpho Mafole was murdered while auditing R4 billion in municipal contracts in Ekurhuleni, following the murder of Simnikiwe Mapini and an attack on CFO Kagiso Lerutla. - Mafole was investigating mobile chemical toilets and waste contracts, electricity and water vending contracts, and the refurbishment of the SAAME building, which had ballooned in cost. - Auditors in Ekurhuleni face increasing violence and political pressure to suppress adverse findings, highlighting the risks of investigating corruption in the municipality. MKP vs Ramaphosa: Second round of court battles looms over appointment of police minister - Jacob Zuma is threatening legal action against President Cyril Ramaphosa over the appointment of a new police minister and the establishment of an inquiry into criminal links within the police service. - Zuma has sent a list of questions to Ramaphosa and called for his resignation, accusing him of violating his oath of office. - This follows the Constitutional Court's dismissal of the MK Party's challenge to Mchunu's leave, appointment of an acting police minister and the establishment of the commission of inquiry. 10 cops arrested for allegedly ransacking store in Edenvale - Ten South African Police Service and Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department officers were arrested for alleged corruption. - The officers are accused of stealing confiscated cigarettes, cash and other items. - Independent Police Investigative Directorate investigators arrested the officers at the Edenvale police station. SA making progress in pivoting to new markets, but can't just open 'floodgates' to China, says Tau - South Africa has made progress in opening new markets like China and Thailand, securing vital protocols for agricultural products. - SA is continuing negotiations with the US to secure a more favourable trade deal, despite potential tariffs on local imports. - While pursuing trade with China, SA is cautious about opening the 'floodgates' and is carefully considering the implications for its own markets and industries. How Emma Powell rattled the DA and intelligence services - DA MP Emma Powell resigned as spokesperson on international relations due to clashes with DA leader John Steenhuisen over foreign policy, particularly regarding Taiwan, Russia, and MTN's operations in Iran. - Powell's activities and connections, especially her association with controversial figure Andre Pienaar, raised concerns for South African intelligence services and government departments, who believed she was projecting a negative image of South Africa internationally. - Pienaar, a venture capitalist with ties to intelligence services, is accused of influencing the DA's foreign policy and potentially damaging relations between South Africa and the US, though he denies these allegations. Boks: Eben poised for giddy climb up ranks of global caps leaders - Eben Etzebeth is on the verge of entering the top 10 list of most-capped rugby internationals and could potentially reach fifth place by the end of 2025. - Etzebeth currently has 133 caps, placing him joint 11th globally, and his participation in the upcoming Rugby Championship will elevate him into the top 10. - Depending on his game time and the performances of other players, Etzebeth could surpass several players on the list, potentially reaching as high as fifth place by the end of the year.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Despite tariff reprieve, Lesotho says it is already hurting
By Sisipho Skweyiya MASERU (Reuters) -A reprieve from a 50% U.S. tariff on goods from Lesotho has come too late to prevent damage to the tiny African kingdom's textiles industry, which has been hit hard by months of trade uncertainty, officials and industry players said. Lesotho's tariff rate was slashed to 15% in last week's executive order by U.S. President Donald Trump, down from the level of 50% tariff threatened in April - which was the highest of any U.S. trading partner. Textile industry players in the country - which produces jeans and other garments for popular U.S. brands such as Levi's and Walmart - said the uncertainty around tariffs over the past few months had already devastated the sector, with orders cancelled and jobs cut. "We were on the verge of building (our) American market," Teboho Kobeli, founder and managing director of Afri-Expo Textiles, told Reuters at his factory in Maseru. He said the U.S. market made up 10% of his company's production - about $1 million a year - and that he had to lay off 200 workers, or 40% of his workforce, after the announcement in April as orders dried up. "That is a lot lost," he said. Lesotho, which Trump had ridiculed in March as a country "nobody has ever heard of", is a poor and landlocked country with a gross domestic product of just over $2 billion. Trade Minister Mokhethi Shelile said that Lesotho would struggle to compete against other African textile manufacturers such as Kenya and Eswatini, which got a lower U.S. tariff rate of 10%. "We have close to 12,000 jobs that are directly on the firing line because of this tariff," he told Reuters. The sector, which is the country's leading export industry and biggest private employer, was heavily dependent on the Africa Growth and Opportunities Act, a U.S. trade initiative granting duty-free access to qualifying African nations. It employs around 40,000 people and accounts for roughly 90% of manufacturing exports, according to Oxford Economics. One of the people affected by the uncertainty is Matsoso Lepau, a 48-year-old who lost his job at protective outerwear maker Leo Garments in April. "I have a big problem because the money that I was making is not there anymore," he said, adding he used to earn the equivalent of $167 a month. "Now that Mr Trump has lowered the tariffs, I am still hoping that we will get our jobs back." Kobeli, the head of Afri-Expo Textiles, said he was confident he could get his business back on track now that the reduced 15% rate has been set, noting the uncertainty over U.S. trade policy had weighed on investors' and retailers' decisions globally. "It was a global problem, even the buyers in America were stagnant as they did not know where to go... Now with the 15% we are starting to talk, it's not like we were affected alone," he said. (Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Alex Richardson)
