Oil imports from Iran exceed R3.3bn in March
South Africa imported crude oil worth R3.37 billion from Iran in March, almost double the value of shipments a year earlier, as the government weighs joining US and EU sanctions against Tehran. Crude imports totalled R11bn in March, with 30 percent from Iran, the SA Revenue Service (Sars) said in a statement on Monday. Nigeria was the biggest supplier in the month with 40 percent. Saudi Arabia accounted for 22 percent and the rest came from Angola. South Africa imported no crude in January from Iran, whose nuclear development programme has sparked accusations from the US and the EU that enriched uranium may be diverted to produce weapons. Imports from Iran increased to 6.8 million barrels of oil in the first three months of the year, from 6.5 million barrels in the same period last year, a Sars spokesman said. A government team is due to submit a report on Iran to the cabinet by the end of the month. The report will include recommendations on whether the country should impose sanctions on Iran, and whether an application should be made for a US waiver. – Bloomberg
Two restaurants in SA make top 100
Two South African restaurants were the only establishments in Africa to make it onto this year’s top 100 list of the world’s best restaurants, announced in London on Monday. The Tasting Room at Le Quartier Francais in Franschhoek was 57th and The Test Kitchen in Cape Town was 74th. Noma in Copenhagen, where chef René Redzepi serves Nordic dishes such as poached sea urchin and powdered cucumber, was number one for the third year in a row. – Bloomberg
Murdoch ‘not fit’ to run NewsCorp
News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch was “not a fit person” to lead a major international company, UK legislators said yesterday, after the company’s British unit misled parliament about the extent of phone hacking at its News of the World tabloid. Murdoch “turned a blind eye and exhibited wilful blindness to what was going on in his companies and publications”, the House of Commons culture, media and sport committee said in a report. “This culture, we consider, permeated from the top throughout the organisation and speaks volumes about the lack of effective corporate governance at NewsCorp.” – Bloomberg