5 important things happening in South Africa today

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

• Godongwana likely to remain finance minister: The ANC is expected to keep Enoch Godongwana as the finance minister to ensure continuity and satisfy key stakeholders amid talks for a new cabinet. This move is said to be intended to maintain stability in the economic sector and appease both the markets and the party’s partners and disgruntled NEC members, despite earlier discussions about appointing an independent finance minister from the private sector. [Business Day]

• Absa sees rand heading to R17/$: Market analysts are quickly revising their forecasts for the South African Rand, becoming more optimistic due to the formation of the Government of National Unity (GNU) and its expected economic reforms. Absa recently updated its forecast, predicting the Rand will strengthen to R17.50/$ by the end of 2024 and further to R17.25/$ by early 2025, with the potential to reach R17/$ if positive sentiment and global risk appetite remain. This is an improvement from their previous projection of R18/$. [News24]

• The City of Joburg loses R6.6 billion: The auditor-general’s report on the City of Johannesburg’s financials between July 2022 and June 2023 showed that the city lost R4.2 billion of electricity and a further R2.4 billion of water. This equates to R6.6 billion in lost trading revenue, more than 10% of its total revenue in the period (R65 billion). [Moneyweb]

• Engineer linked to George building collapse suspended: The Engineering Council of South Africa has placed an engineer linked to the George building collapse, which occurred on 6 May and killed 34 people, on precautionary suspension. The decision was taken as a “preventative measure” to preclude any potential or actual harm to public health and safety as a result of engineering-related activities, according to the council. [Daily Maverick]

• Markets: The rand strengthened to a nearly 11-month high early on Wednesday amid local inflation figures and President Cyril Ramaphosa’s inauguration for a second term. On Thursday (20 June), the rand was trading at R17.99 to the dollar, R22.94 to the pound, and R19.31 to the euro. Oil is trading at $85.10 a barrel. [Reuters]