Week Ending 28 March 2008

Zimbabweans line up for a national election, President Festus Mogae of Botswana is set to step down voluntarily from office before the expiry of his second term, the price of crude oil starts a retreat to below the $100/barrel mark, there is no end in sight for the plight of the world economy due to the credit crunch and www.moneybiz.co.za remains your way to BEE in the Know:

• Nkenke Kekana, rumoured to be the ruling party's favoured candidate for Vodacom's R7.5-billion BEE stake, has denied any ANC involvement in the deal. During an interview, Kekana asked: �What does the ANC have to do with business?� He went on to deny that any pressure had been exerted on him � or anyone else � to distance themselves from Bulelani Ngcuka, former director of public prosecutions and part of the Amandla Amoya consortium, which includes Kekana. Amandla Amoya is believed to be the favoured candidate in the long-awaited empowerment deal, although this is yet to be officially acknowledged. ITWeb
• Business Connexion's (BCX's) BEE shareholder Gadlex will receive R70 million by selling 5% of its BCX interest back to the company. Gadlex is made up of BCX executives Benjamin and Isaac Mophatlane, Bridgman Sithole and Nkenke Kekana. It will retain a 20.01% shareholding in BCX's operating company. In a notice to BCX shareholders, Investec revealed the two companies had entered into an agreement, which would see BCX replacing Gadlex's third-party funder by subscribing for preference shares in Gadlex. ITWeb
• Black Management Forum (BMF) president Jimmy Manyi hopes there has been a lot of improvement in advancing black and women executives over the past year. As chairperson of the Commission on Employment Equity, Manyi caused a storm last year when he said the status of white women as beneficiaries of the new employment legislation needed to be reviewed. Manyi�s hopes of improvement for the advancement of black and women executives is based on the fact that this year the commission and the labour department conducted site inspections of some of the top 100 JSE-listed companies. This was a departure from the previous practice where companies had only to submit their employment equity reports. City Press
• Black South Africans are set to get a piece of petrochemicals group Sasol and benefit from profits from high oil prices through a discounted share offer that opens on May 22nd. Sasol unveiled its long-awaited R25.9-billion BEE transaction, the single largest broad-based BEE deal to date, which is a departure from previous large deals which centred on big-name personalities. Under the deal, called Sasol Inzalo, Sasol will sell 63.1 million shares, or 10% of its issued share capital, to a varied group of beneficiaries. These are employees (4%), black South Africans (3%), a Sasol Foundation initiative (1.5%) and selected empowerment participants (1.5%). Sasol executive director Nolitha Fakude said the company would facilitate 80% of the transaction. The shares will cost R366, an 11% discount on R410, the closing price on March 18th. Financial director Christine Ramon said R366 was a fair price. A rise in Sasol�s share price in recent months has boosted the value of the deal from last year�s R18 billion to R25.9 billion. Business Day.
• The national treasury is targeting a loophole in the tax system that could cost the fiscus billions of rands in lost revenue over a 10- to 15-year period. The scheme, which it describes as a "funnel finance masquerade", involves a flow of funds from a lender through a borrowing group of firms, "followed by the rerouting of these funds back to the lender". En route, the money moves through a tax-exempt special purpose vehicle. The process is assisted by tax-deductible payments. Commercial finance was used legitimately to fund BEE deals or replace a high-interest loan with a low-interest one, said Keith Engel, the treasury's chief director of tax policy. Business Report
• The wife of Social Development Minister, Zola Skweyiya, is a business partner of Mazwi Yako, a multi-millionaire whose company has raked in millions of rands from the minister�s department. And Yako stands to benefit handsomely from a R70-billion tender to distribute social grants nationally if Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) succeeds in the tender that is being adjudicated. City Press is in possession of documents that show that Thuthukile Skweyiya is a shareholder of Zondwa Mining and Zondwa Resources along with Yako. CPS, along with other small black empowerment companies, is one of the main companies likely to be given a slice of the consolidated national social security tender. City Press
• The Communications Workers' Union (CWU) has threatened to strike if Vodacom continues with plans to implement an employee share scheme that does not have the union's blessing. The union, which had an ugly standoff with South Africa's biggest cellular group last year, said Vodacom was drawing up a parallel share scheme that deviated from one that was agreed between members and the company. Vodacom is finalising a long-awaited BEE deal in which it will sell a significant stake to staff, business partners, the black public, broad-based groups and strategic partners. Last year Vodacom announced plans to allocate 25% of its R7.5-billion BEE stake to employees. Business Report

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