SARS going after ‘gold mafia’ and Eskom walking a tightrope

South Africa’s top five biggest financial news include the taxman pursuing billions from the gold mafia and failures at Eskom’s Koeberg station putting the country at risk of another bout of load-shedding.

Citadel Global director Bianca Botes said this week started off with geopolitics in focus following the heated exchange between US President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over the weekend.

This exchange saw the US dollar strengthen and led to the collapse of a peace deal with Russia and uncertainty over a critical minerals agreement.

However, she pointed out that the dollar remains 2% below post-election highs. 

Meanwhile, the euro and Eastern European currencies rose as regional leaders rallied behind Ukraine amid fears of reduced US support.

TreasuryONE currency strategist Andre Cilliers said fears are also growing around the potential of more US tariffs and retaliation.

He said the Trump administration’s pressure on its trading partners is sending markets into risk-off mode.

He further warned that US tariff retaliation could drive more market panic and spell bad news for the rand.

“If China or the EU retaliate, it will create another wave of ZAR volatility,” he said.

In addition, further losses in global equities could fuel capital flight from emerging markets like South Africa.

Botes said oil prices have also climbed due to doubts over easing sanctions, while gold also gained.

The rand started the week on the back foot, trading to the weaker end of its recent range at R18.64/$, R19.42/€ and R23.50/£.

Below are the biggest finance and investing stories related to South Africa over the past day. 

Taxman going after billions from ‘gold mafia’ – The South African Revenue Service (SARS) is pursuing alleged “gold mafia” member Andries Greyvensteyn for approximately R3 billion in unpaid taxes. The taxman is seeking to seize his assets in the UAE and the US after uncovering fraudulent activities by his company, Gold Kid. Read more on BusinessDay

Transnet testing the privatisation waters – The Department of Transport plans to solicit private sector interest in rail and port operations to improve logistics. The aim is to address critical infrastructure deficiencies highlighted in a recent World Bank report, which recommended increased private participation in the struggling state-owned enterprise. Read more on News24

Potential forex pyramid scheme uncovered – A man from Durban North has been provisionally sequestrated for allegedly stealing millions from his investors and possibly running a pyramid scheme. Read more on TimesLive

R3.5 million down the drain in Joburg – The City of Johannesburg wasted R3.5 million on unused airtime and data due to financial misconduct, with investigations ongoing and no disciplinary action taken against responsible parties. Read more on MyBroadband

Eskom’s Koeberg goes dark – One unit at Koeberg, South Africa’s only nuclear power facility, unexpectedly tripped on Sunday, 3 March, taking the whole facility offline. Eskom said the reactor would reconnect to the national grid within 48 hours but acknowledged that overall, generation capacity remains constrained. Read more on Daily Investor