For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Halima Frost.

Making headlines: Motsepe says South Africa must curb crime to lure investors; DA threatens to release Q1 crime stats if Cachalia doesn’t; And, Africa experts call for greater oversight of ratings agencies in G20 report

Motsepe says South Africa must curb crime to lure investors

South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe said the country must shake off its reputation for high crime levels if it wants to attract more investment.

Speaking at the inaugural Bloomberg Africa Business Summit in Johannesburg today he said South Africa has enormous potential and some of the best businesses, and CEOs.

Discussing the need to improve perceptions around South Africa as an investment destination, Motsepe described a conversation with a foreign executive considering setting up operations in the country but worried about safety.

He said it’s a reflection of a bad name and bad reputation.

DA threatens to release Q1 crime stats if Cachalia doesn’t

The Democratic Alliance said it expects to receive the delayed first quarter crime statistics through its pending Promotion of Access to Information Act request on November 27, and threatened to release them if Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia does not do so by November 28, as he had promised to Parliament.

Last month, the party submitted a PAIA request to compel the South African Police Service and Cachalia to release the delayed first quarter crime statistics.

DA spokesperson on Police Lisa Schickerling said despite repeated promises, there had still been no clarity or accountability from the Ministry or Saps on why the first quarter crime statistics had not been made public.

Schickerling  said should Cachalia fail to table the full stats publicly on November 28, as he promised, the DA will release the information.

She pointed out that with 16 Days of Activism beginning on November 25, the figures must include the full set of gender-based violence and child crime statistics that had been withheld for more than a year.

And, Africa experts call for greater oversight of ratings agencies in G20 report

A panel of Africa experts has urged the Group of 20 major economies to step up oversight of credit rating agencies, which they accused of using flawed and opaque methodologies that increase borrowing costs for African governments.

The panel, established under South Africa's G20 presidency, said in a report to the group that rating agencies exhibit "perception biases", often assessing African risk as higher than other regions with comparable economic fundamentals.

Ahead of a G20 summit this weekend, the panel called on the group to impose stricter oversight of rating agencies, mandating greater disclosure of the data and models underpinning their decisions.

It also recommended updating rating frameworks to better capture the diversity of African economies such as their growth potential and natural resources, and avoiding knee-jerk rating cuts that can exacerbate financial strains.

S&P Global Ratings, Moody’s and Fitch have rejected accusations of regional bias, saying their sovereign ratings are based on globally applied, publicly available criteria and that the same methodologies are used for all countries.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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