(Gemma Ritchie/M&G)
In local headlines:
The Star
Higher Education and Training Minister Naledi Pandor is organising an emergency crisis meeting with universities after close to 50 rape cases were reported on campuses across the country.
- ‘Racist’ Nair apologises to president, insists he’s sane
Durban businessman and convicted fraudster Kessie Nair said he called President Cyril Ramaphosa the k-word as a “tactic” to draw attention to himself and insists he is sane.
- Ramaphosa fights JZ ruling
President Cyril Ramaphosa believes a high court judge’s order that his predecessor Jacob Zuma provide a reason for the axing of former finance minister Pravin Gordhan and his deputy, Mcebisi Jonas, amounts to judicial overreach.
Business Day
- Capitec beats the odds with impressive results
Capitec, whose shares plunged earlier in 2018 after a controversial research team accused it of unethical practices, delivered results that suggest it has ridden that particular storm.
- Asisa will not back BEE targets for assets
The governing body tasked with negotiating new empowerment targets for the financial services sector says it will not support any legislation prescribing that a bigger share of the country’s assets must be managed by black companies.
- Shareholders a step closer to sue Steinhoff in Dutch Court
Shareholders seeking to recover billions of rands in the wake of Steinhoff International’s collapse in one of South Africa’s biggest corporate frauds to date won a significant battle on Wednesday.
The Citizen
- ‘Greedy’ banks get a lashing
The high court in Pretoria has slammed banks for increasing costs and denying poor defendants access to justice, ordering foreclosures to go to magistrates’ courts where applicable.
South Africa has penned extradition treaties with the United Arab Emirates, a move that could pave the way for the forced return to the country of the Guptas, the wealthy businessmen implicated in massive state corruption.
Sowetan
- Mentor’s story fiction — Ajay
The Gupta family patriarch, Ajay, has for the first time provided insight into their side of the state capture story in his bid to cross-examine the inquiry witnesses who implicated him.
Daily Sun
First it was Believe who came to the People’s Paper asking for help to find his missing fingers. Now more of his colleagues, all from the same company, have come forward with horror stories.
Ace Magashule and other ANC members were in Parys, Free State to fulfil their promise to renovate the house of Stompie Seipei.
In global headlines:
The International Monetary Fund has agreed to provide a bigger, faster bailout to Argentina than initially planned in an effort to restore market confidence in the country. (BBC)
Christine Blasey Ford, the California professor who has accused the supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were teenagers, will tell the US Senate judiciary committee on Thursday that she will “never forget” what happened to her at a Maryland house party nearly 36 years ago. (The Guardian)
It started as a relatively standard, if somewhat melodramatic, dispute over a family of Chinese tourists in Sweden and a hotel reservation. Now, amid jokes about eating dogs and pooping in public places, it’s descended into a full-blown diplomatic incident. There are even calls for Chinese consumers to boycott Swedish brands such as Ikea, H&M and Volvo in retaliation. (The Washington Post)