MONDAY, 2.00PM
SOUTH African sugar dealers are defrauding the fiscus of at least R36-million annually, by round-tripping sugar through neighbouring states, according to industry sources. The sources say that SA sugar is being routed through Lesotho and Namibia, resulting in VAT rebates from the SA government, GST refunds from neighbouring states and discounts from wholesalers from which the sugar was originally bought.
The commercial branch of the South African Police Service in KwaZulu-Natal says the scams are so prevalent it is almost impossible to tell one case from another. Some cases are handled by the police, while others are taken up by the Receiver of Revenue, which has a secrecy clause that prevents telling how many investigations are under way.
One industry source claims that managers at sugar wholesalers, who stand to earn bonuses, rarely ask questions regarding the scams. The source also says that fictitious clients have been buying sugar from certain stores for years. The round-tripping of sugar is said to make up a large proportion of the grocery export scams within the Southern African Customs Union.
BUSINESS BRIEFS
BOTSWANA ISSUES PULA BIND
INVESTEC Bank has been authorised by the Botswana Development Corporation (BDC) to lead manage Botswana’s first fixed-income bond issue, as part of the government’s plan to phase out the country’s Public Debt Service Fund. The BDC is aiming to encourage parastatals and state enterprises to raise funds in the open market.
CELLPHONES FOR MOZ
MOZAMBIQUE will launch its first mobile telephone network this month, after shutting out South African cellular providers MTN and Vodacom. The country’s telecommunications authority, TDM, has teamed up with German telecommunications consultants Detecon in a venture called Telecomunicacoes Moveis de Mocambique, in which TDM has a 74% stake to the German firm’s 26%.
MBEKI WOOS LATIN AMERICA
DEPUTY President Thabo Mbeki has called for closer trade links between South Africa and countries in South America. At a summit meeting in Sao Paulo of Mercosur customs union nations, comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, Mbeki said that SA seeks increased trade and investment with nations across the southern Atlantic. But he said this country has no plans to become a member of the Mercosur bloc.
UNION DECLARES DISPUTE
SPOORNET trade unions have declared a dispute after accusing management of withholding information on transformation at the parastatal. Salstaff, the 13 000 strong affiliate of the Federation of Trade Unions of SA, says the lack of information hampers the union in dealing with the effects of the restructuring of middle management and possible labour retrenchments.