Hello and welcome to another edition, This week the odds have been in our favor as the majority of our stories are positive. So let’s make your Friday start on a good note and get into it.

Market View

This Weeks Overview

National Headlines:

• Fuel prices have dropped to their lowest since early 2023

• A group of six elephants escaped from the Kruger National Park, but have returned after failed attempts to herd them back.

• Former Prasa executive Daniel Mthimkhulu has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for faking qualifications and defrauding the state rail agency.

• A criminal syndicate stole over R100 million from Postbank using cloned Sassa cards, exploiting weak IT controls and insider help.

Business World:

• Takealot Group has sold its online fashion platform, Superbalist, to a South African private equity consortium led by Blank Canvas Capital.

• FNB revives its 99c bread offer, switching from Shoprite to Pick n Pay after operational delays.

• Two-pot retirement system generated R6.7 million in tax on its first day, while fund administrators facing technical issues due to overwhelming demand.

• French firm IDEMIA wins South Africa’s driving licence card deal days after losing a major airport tech contract due to tender irregularities

Interesting Internationally:

• Paris’ plans to make the Olympic rings a permanent feature on the Eiffel Tower

• Trump's campaign is ordered to stop using Isaac Hayes' song "Hold On, I’m Coming" at rallies following a lawsuit by the songwriter's family.

• A karate class in Argentina turned into a real-life action scene when they chased off robbers targeting a man.

National Stories:

Pump the Brakes:

South African drivers just got a bit of relief at the pump. As of Wednesday, petrol and diesel prices have dropped to their lowest levels since early 2023. Both unleaded petrol 93 and 95 saw a 92c per litre cut, bringing petrol down to R22.19 per litre in Gauteng and R21.40 on the coast. Diesel prices also fell, with wholesale prices down by R1.05 and 79c, depending on sulphur levels.

The price drop is thanks to cheaper Brent oil, now at $78.54 a barrel, and a stronger rand. More oil production and anticipated interest rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve also played a role.

Elephants on the Loose

The great escape has ended—six elephants that ventured out of Kruger National Park on Wednesday have made their way back home. After slipping through the park’s boundaries and heading toward the Mkhuhlu area, attempts to guide the elephants back with helicopters were disrupted by local residents and traffic. Despite these challenges, SANParks confirmed the elephants' safe return Wednesday night, spotted by a local farmer. Officials continue to monitor the situation to ensure the animals and nearby communities remain safe.

Fake it till you… go to jail

Daniel Mthimkhulu, once the head of engineering at South Africa's Passenger Rail Association (Prasa), just got a 15-year ticket to prison. Why? He falsified his qualifications—claiming degrees from both Wits University and a German institution—to land the cushy job. And if that wasn’t enough, he faked a job offer to bump his salary up to a cool R2.8 million.

Mthimkhulu's deception wasn't just personal gain; it put major rail projects at risk, like the procurement of locomotives that turned out too big for the tracks. Now, he’s not only serving time but also ordered to repay R5.8 million to Prasa for his fraud.

Let this be a lesson—eventually, every fraudulent engineer's train comes to a halt.

A 21st Century heist

A forensic probe by KPMG has exposed a sophisticated criminal syndicate that siphoned over R100 million from Postbank by cloning Sassa cards and resetting PINs. The scam, which occurred between October 2021 and 2022, involved insiders who manipulated the bank’s systems to withdraw money from hacked accounts.

Runners withdrew funds from over 1,700 ATMs across South Africa, totaling almost 20,000 transactions. Postbank’s weak IT controls and poor oversight enabled the scheme. New Communications Minister Solly Malatsi called the theft “repugnant,” emphasizing that funds were stolen from South Africa’s most vulnerable. Postbank has since tightened security, but investigations continue.

Business World

Takealot Bags the Deal and Moves On

Takealot Group just offloaded its online fashion brand Superbalist to a private equity consortium led by Blank Canvas Capital, marking a major shift in its business strategy. While terms weren’t disclosed, the acquisition gives Superbalist a fresh start, with Takealot focusing on its core operations—namely expanding its flagship platform and food delivery service, Mr D.

Founded in 2010, Superbalist faced fierce competition, especially from Shein, prompting Takealot to seek a buyer. The good news? Customers won’t notice a blip during the transition as Superbalist keeps its logistics tied to Takealot through a multi-year agreement.

FNB’s 99c Bread Deal Rises Again

Earlier this year, FNB announced its deal where its Easy PAYU customers could purchase Shoprite’s store-baked brown loaves for just 99c. But after "operational delays" soured the plan, FNB hit pause. Now, the bank's bargain bread offer is back, with Pick n Pay stepping in as the new partner. Starting this month, qualifying FNB customers can swipe their bank card at Pick n Pay tills and grab a loaf of bread for under a rand.

While FNB remains tight-lipped on why Shoprite exited, the bank reassured that customers can still earn rewards at Shoprite and Checkers stores.

One Pot me, One Pot for SARS

South Africa’s shiny new two-pot retirement system is off to a hot start, with SARS processing nearly 2,500 withdrawal directives on day one. In just 24 hours, the fiscus gained R6.7 million in taxes from R103 million in withdrawal requests. The rush wasn’t without hiccups—websites of major pension fund administrators, including Alexforbes, experienced crashes due to overwhelming traffic. While some companies, like Old Mutual, kept their cool, others faced long wait times and system lags.

Airports to Autos:
French tech firm IDEMIA is back in the game—just days after being kicked out. The company, recently dropped from a high-profile South African airport security project over tender mishaps, has now snagged a new contract to print South Africa’s next-gen driving licence cards. The Department of Transport insists the messy airport saga has no bearing on IDEMIA's new win, despite lingering concerns from the Home Affairs department over past delays. The new licence cards aim to enhance security, fighting the surge of fraudulent licenses.

Interesting Internationally

Eiffel Tower’s Olympic Makeover

Mayor Anne Hidalgo is pushing to keep the Olympic rings on the Eiffel Tower as a lasting tribute to the 2024 Games, saying they symbolize Paris’ transformation. But not everyone’s cheering. The descendants of Gustave Eiffel, the tower’s creator, argue it wasn’t meant to be an advertising billboard—even for the Olympics. Weighing in at 30 tons, the rings were originally intended to be temporary. Lighter versions will replace them, but the idea has split opinions. Some Parisians want the landmark’s classic look back, while others think the rings should stay as a reminder of the historic event.

Trump Hits a Sour Note:

Donald Trump’s campaign is facing a musical setback. A Georgia judge has ordered Trump to cease playing Isaac Hayes' 1966 classic "Hold On, I’m Coming" at rallies. The ruling comes after Hayes' family filed a lawsuit alleging repeated unauthorized use of the song, despite multiple cease-and-desist requests. The court's temporary injunction means no more tunes from this soul classic until the case is resolved. While Trump’s team has agreed to comply and shift to other anthems, like the Village People’s "YMCA," they avoided an order to remove past event recordings. The Hayes family, seeking $3 million in damages, argues this is a matter of principle over politics.

Karate Class Kicks Robbers to the Curb in Argentina

In a plot twist straight out of an action film, a group of karate students in Bernal, Argentina, defended a man from robbers last week. Alejandro Poli, the target, darted into a building while being pursued, only to have the building’s karate class spring into action. After the students learned of the situation, they stepped onto the street in search of the robbers, who had already fled. The CCTV footage, which went viral, shows the karate students in full protective mode, turning a dangerous encounter into a showcase of martial arts heroism.

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