Top 5 on Fin24: Floyd Shivambu demands an apology, Public sector wage deal inches closer and Steinhoff shares soar

Cape Town - A roundup of Thursday's top economic and finance reads on Fin24.

Floyd Shivambu demands apology, says he didn't bring up Momoniat's race

Economic Freedom Fighters deputy president Floyd Shivambu has demanded an apology from standing committee of finance chair Yunus Carrim for accusing him of referring to a National Treasury senior official as non-African.

Carrim's criticism was included in a statement issued on behalf of the committee regarding Shivambu’s remarks about Treasury deputy director general Ismail Momoniat.

• READ: Floyd Shivambu demands apology, says he didn't bring up Momoniat's race

Treasury says EFF doesn't grasp how Parliament works after attack on top official

National Treasury on Thursday accused the Economic Freedom Fighters of displaying a "gross misunderstanding of parliamentary processes" after the party questioned by what right a top official presented policy to Parliament. 

While it does not usually respond to attacks on staff, it said it was responding to the EFF because of its "vitriol and simply the scale of the EFF’s ignorance".

• READ: Treasury says EFF doesn't grasp how Parliament works after attack on top official

Public sector wage deal inches closer as more unions sign

The public sector wage agreement is close to being a done deal, with 48% of workers represented by trade unions at the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council supporting the offer.

A majority of 50%+1 employee agreement is required to implement the deal.

• READ: Public sector wage deal inches closer as more unions sign

Steinhoff shares soar on support for standstill from most creditors

Steinhoff International [JSE:SNH] won support from a majority of its key creditors for a standstill agreement through the end of June, giving the scandal-hit retailer breathing space to avoid insolvency proceedings.

The so-called support letter for Steinhoff’s restructuring plan is the first step taken by creditors toward a debt agreement with the company, which in December reported accounting wrongdoing that wiped more than 96% off its market value.

• READ: Steinhoff wins support for standstill from most creditors

Twitter marks S&P entry with $1bn trip to debt market

Twitter is celebrating its entry into the stock-market big leagues by selling $1bn of bonds in its second-ever debt offering.

The convertible note sale comes just a day before the company is welcomed into the S&P 500 Index, which will force index funds with trillions of dollars in assets to own it.

• READ: Twitter marks S&P entry with $1bn trip to debt market