5 important things happening in South Africa today

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

• Presidency heads SOE overhaul: President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office is now overseeing the restructuring of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), assigning the task to the minister of monitoring & evaluation, Maropene Ramokgopa. This move follows the disbandment of the public enterprises department, aiming to merge strategic SOEs into a single state asset management entity. The coordination of these SOEs will be managed directly by the presidency as part of a new shareholding strategy, as announced in the recent cabinet reshuffle. [BusinessDay]

• Gauteng and Eastern Cape fail to pay suppliers billions on time: In the 2023/2024 financial year, the Eastern Cape and Gauteng provinces failed to pay suppliers more than R4.5 billion and R2.7 billion, respectively, within the required 30 days, according to the National Treasury. National departments also delayed payment of over 108,000 invoices and did not pay 1,427 invoices worth R53 million that were more than 30 days old by the end of March 2024. The Labour and Public Works Departments were identified as the worst in timely reporting. [SABC]

• Numsa to strike at Ford over bonuses: The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) at Ford South Africa plans a strike on Thursday, 4 July, after failing to agree on bonus payments with Ford Management despite a conciliation effort on 11 June 2024 at the CCMA offices in Pretoria. Despite giving Ford a chance to reconsider, the company has yet to respond to Numsa’s concerns.[The Citizen]

• Minority government announced in Gauteng: After weeks of negotiations, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi announced his provincial executive in a late address on 3 July. The provincial cabinet comprises the African National Congress (ANC), Patriotic Alliance (PA), Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), and Rise Mzansi. Together, these parties make up 32/80 seats in the legislature, which means that governance will likely prove tricky for the new executive. [BusinessTech]

• Markets: The rand strengthened slightly on Wednesday amid the swearing-in ceremony of ministers in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s new unity government. On Thursday (4 July), the rand was trading at R18.43 to the dollar, R23.47 to the pound, and R19.88 to the euro. Oil is trading at $86.90 a barrel. [Reuters]