Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
New logo may help claw back business
THIS week saw embattled consulting firm McKinsey & Company apologising for its role in state capture and undertaking to repay Eskom about R900 million the utility had so desperately been demanding since last year.
However, Corruption Watch said, ‘Not so fast’, and threw a spanner in the works by calling for a criminal prosecution of all those involved in the controversial Eskom tender.
Eskom had paid McKinsey and a Gupta family-owned consultancy Trillian R1.6 billion for advising the power utility on a turnaround strategy in 2016.
Corruption Watch executive director David Lewis said McKinsey’s grovelling did not eliminate suspicions that the Eskom contract was mired in criminality and should be subjected to criminal investigation.
Also making news this week was the restructuring of operations by Tsogo Sun and the Absa Group.
Tsogo Sun, South Africa’s largest hotel and casino operator, sold seven of its casino and hotel businesses to Hospitality Property Fund in a shares- and- subscription deal worth R23bn.
Absa, formerly Barclays Africa, on the other hand rebranded its identity following its much publicised separation from Barclays. Absa also admitted that it made mis- takes in its retail banking business that saw it lose market share.
The bank said it would now unleash its digital strategy to claw back lost ground.
The group’s other ambitious plans are to double its share of revenue in Africa from 6% to 12%.
Many were left shocked when Sars embarked on a warpath this week, naming and shaming tax defrauders who included former Bafana Bafana star and current Cape Town City midfielder Teko Modise.
As if that were not enough doom and gloom, the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s monthly business confidence index retreated for a fifth consecutive month in June. It fell to 93.7 points compared to 94 points in May.
@luyolomkentane