5 Things

5 important things happening in South Africa today

Seth Thorne

 ·25 Apr 2024

Here’s what is happening in and affecting South Africa today:

• Reserve Bank lowers forecast for load shedding GDP damage: Despite the government’s warning of the return of load shedding in the upcoming months, the South African Reserve Bank has updated its economic growth forecast due to a reduction in load shedding in early 2024 compared to 2023. The Bank now predicts a smaller impact on growth, expecting load shedding to reduce the growth rate by 0.6 percentage points in 2024 and by 0.2 and 0.04 in 2025 and 2026, respectively. This is an improvement from the earlier projections of 0.8 and 0.4 percentage points for 2024 and 2025 made in October 2023. [Business Day]

• Questions over Sanral’s R4.7 billion KZN tender: The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) has filed a complaint against the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) with the Information Regulator. This action comes after Sanral failed to fully disclose documents related to a R4.7 billion tender in KwaZulu-Natal, awarded to the Aqua/EXR joint venture, whose directors are under fraud charges. Despite a request under the Promotion of Access to Information Act (Paia), Sanral provided only partial information, as stated by Outa’s legal project manager, Asavela Kakaza. [Moneyweb]

• Mini Makros could work: Walmart’s Massmart is testing four small-format Makro stores in malls to revitalize the brand and meet strong wholesale retail demand. If successful, these pilot stores—set up at existing Game store locations—could lead to a wider rollout. The strategy aims to enhance convenience for both business and individual shoppers. Analysts told News24 that it may indeed pay off if it can get its pricing and product mix right. [News24]

• BELA Bill amendments hand some power back to SGBs: New amendments to the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Bill have now handed power back to school governing bodies to decide public school language policy. This was one of the major points of contention for many, as the proposed legislation wanted that decision in the hands of the provincial heads of departments. [EWN]

• Markets: The rand slipped on Wednesday, erasing modest gains made the previous day as the dollar regained ground. On Thursday (25 April), the rand was trading at R19.23 to the dollar, R23.75 to the pound, and R20.58 to the euro. Oil is trading at $88.17 a barrel. [Reuters]