THURSDAY, 5.00PM:
THE Zimbabwean government has ordered its auditors to investigate an “indigenous” private bank owned by controversial affirmative action campaigner Roger Boka, the Finance Ministry announced on Thursday.
The urgent investigation comes after black-run United Merchant Bank closed its doors on Friday, sparking rumours that the bank is heading for a collapse due to its irregular lending practices and poor credit collection methods.
“The government’s interest in this investigation is to ensure that depositors’ funds are protected and the integrity of our financial system is protected at all times,” the Finance Ministry said.
Boka’s bank is one of several “indigenous” finance houses offering loans to black people at favorable terms, hailed as breaking the traditional domination by mostly white-managed foreign banks.
In a separate report, a local newspaper on Thursday noted that President Robert Mugabe ordered the state treasury to cancel a Z$400-million loan guarantee to Boka.
BUSINESS BRIEFS
N PROV CRACKS FINANCIAL WHIP
A SPECIAL task team has been established in the Northern Province to probe the region’s finances and ensure the books balance for the first time since the province became an entity in 1994. The team will launch “belt-tightening” measures to cut non-essential expenses and ensure the province delivers the services it is responsible for. The task team follows the provincial government’s identification of 1211 “ghost workers”, who are thought to have cost the provincial government R50-million in salaries last year.
SADC SUMMIT IN MAY
THE Southern African Development Community Economic Summit will be held in Windhoek, Namibia in May, and will focus on priorities to make SADC competitive in the 21st century. The summit, organised by the World Economic Forum in co-operation with SADC, will be attended by Namibian President Sam Nujoma, President Nelson Mandela, Zambian President Frederick Chiluba, Mozambican President Joachim Chissano, Democratic Republic of Congo President Laurent Kabila and Botswana President Festus Mogae. South Africa’s Deputy President Thabo Mbeki, Britain’s Minister of State Tony Lloyd and United States Deputy Secretary of Commerce Richard Mallet will also attend.
RHINO CASINO TO LIST
RAMADA Rhino Resort, awarded one of Gauteng’s two final casino licences on Monday, plans to list on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange within four months, chairman Kgomotso Modise said on Wednesday. Shares will be offered to the public within three months, Modise said. Rhino’s R376-million casino has come under fire from environmentalists as the proposed resort lies close to the famous Sterkfontein Valley, one of Africa’s richest palaeontological sites, which has been proposed as a World Heritage Site.
RSC LEVIES ‘INEFFICIENT’
THE Department of Finance has proposed that regional services councils’ “economically inefficient” levies on company payrolls and turnover be replaced with “a more appropriate tax”, according to a White Paper on local government released this week. The White Paper proposes the levies be replaced by a tax collected at a “national level”. These taxes will then be passed on to local government, the paper proposes. The levies have come under fire from business as placing an unnecessary administrative burden on small business, compared to the actual amount raised through the levies.
SOWETO SHEBEENS TARGET TOURISTS
SOWETO shebeen owners on Wednesday agreed to aggressively market the township as a tourist route in order to compete as a local and foreign tourist destination. Greater Johannesburg tourism officer Knowledge Makhwara said a meeting with Soweto businessmen concluded that the popular “Soweto shebeen route” should be the launchpad for an integrated drive to bring tourists into the township, where they will be directed by tour operators to other commercially viable venues such as curio shops and entertainment venues. “Close to 1000 local and foreign tourists pass through Soweto each day, but none of them really spend their money [for lack of products] or a service that could remind them of Soweto,” Makhwara said.
HIGHLANDS WATER SECOND PHASE
THE second phase (1B) of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project started on Wednesday. Construction company Concor is the South African partner in a consortium with German and Italian construction companies working on the R1,22-billion project.
WORLD HONOUR FOR PAM GOLDING
PAM GOLDING, former South African woman of the year and chairman of property group Pam Golding Properties, has been awarded recognition as one of the Leading Woman Entrepreneurs of the World for 1998. Only 50 women from 20 countries received the prestigious award.
WORLD BANK DOUBLES BOND
THE World Bank on Wednesday doubled its December 2050 R2-billion global zero-coupon bond. The issue is now worth R96-million, said joint lead managers RBC Dominion Securities and JP Morgan.