For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Sane Dhlamini.

Making headlines: Reserve Bank governor says Phala Phala couch cash was 'security deposit', KZN departments, public entities to chip in R10-million towards crime fighting and, Gabon officers declare military coup, President Ali Bongo detained

Reserve Bank governor says Phala Phala couch cash was 'security deposit'

South African Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago has defended the bank's investigation into Phala Phala, telling MPs its probe found that the $580 000 in cash handed to a lodge manager in 2020 was a "security deposit" and not a final payment.

Kganyago was addressing Parliament's Standing Committee on Finance a week after the central bank released a brief overview of its report.

It found no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of the president or Ntaba Nyoni Estates, the operating name for Phala Phala.

The governor said on Wednesday the bank's Financial Surveillance Department found there was no obligation for the wildlife estate to report the foreign currency to authorities within 30 days. The probe concluded there was no "unconditional agreement" for the sale of the buffalo.

KZN departments, public entities to chip in R10-million towards crime fighting

KwaZulu-Natal Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube has revealed that government departments and public entities in the province will each chip in R10-million to fight crime.

Dube-Ncube was speaking at a multistakeholder engagement  meeting attended by representatives of senior police leadership, private security firms, community policing forums, traditional leaders, NGOs and other relevant stakeholders.

She said the KwaZulu-Natal executive council had approved the contributions to support an "integrated approach to fighting crime through collaborative tactics".

In her state of the province address fighting crime was a key priority and added that it requires a collaborative effort.

Gabon officers declare military coup, President Ali Bongo detained

Military officers in oil-producing Gabon said they had seized power today and had put President Ali Bongo under house arrest, stepping in minutes after the Central African state's election body announced he had won a third term.

The officers who said they represented the armed forces declared on television that the election results were cancelled, borders were closed and state institutions were dissolved, after a tense vote without international observers that was set to extend the Bongo family's more than half century in power.

Hundreds of people celebrated the military's intervention, while France, Gabon's former colonial ruler which has troops stationed in the African nation, condemned the coup.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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