EDITOR’S LUNCHBOX: ANC’s leadership prospects look bleak — and tea leaves don’t lie

Stories of Note

Bytes from the digital world

"We have spent R50bn on SAA since 1999. If we had not done that‚ we [could] have bought Emirates Airlines. We would have, in 23 years, had at least four CEOs being head-hunted for being effective and efficient, knowing how to run an award-winning airline‚" Business Leadership SA CEO Bonang Mohale tells a conference.

"Mensa would be happy to hold a testing session for President Trump and Secretary Tillerson," the high-IQ group announced after Trump, in an interview with Forbes magazine, threatened to challenge Rex Tillerson to an IQ battle for reportedly calling him a "f***ing moron" during a Pentagon meeting.

In My Opinion

Matters of debate

Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba’s actions are hollowing out the capacity of the Treasury, and while he can throw accusations that his critics are anti-transformation, it will not be long before the slide will have become irreversible.

Tony Leon reads the tea leaves of the finally open contest of contenders for the ANC presidency, and finds what they foretell pretty dismal.

Finding Alpha

The long and the short of the markets

Almost R1.3bn was wiped off Famous Brands’ market cap on Tuesday after a disastrous trading update revealed the extent to which 2016’s Gourmet Burger Kitchen acquisition — the biggest deal under former CEO Kevin Hedderwick — soured.

What was to be the largest acquisition by a Chinese firm of a controlling stake in a South African business — Sinopec’s $900m deal to buy 75% of Chevron’s South African refinery and Caltex service station network — has been replaced by Glencore’s $973m offer.

Oh, Very Twitty

The lighter side of the web

An employee of Viennese electronics store McShark received a €150 fine because his promotional costume was deemed to contravene Austria’s recently imposed ban on burqas.

Very Visual

Graph of the day

Analysts agree that the rand will recover, with the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey for it to strengthen to R13.28 against the dollar by year-end.