Dodgy government security contracts and Sasol granted emissions lifeline

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

• Multimillion-rand security contracts set aside: The Special Tribunal voided contracts exceeding R490 million awarded by the Department of Correctional Services and the Independent Development Trust (IDT) for prison security enhancements, citing them as unlawful and a breach of Treasury regulations. These contracts, established in 2011 and 2012 for fencing and other security services, are under investigation by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU). The SIU argued that such arrangements were not legally permissible as there’s no legal provision allowing the department to appoint an implementing agent like IDT, which was set to manage the projects with a 4% fee and a starting budget of R190.9 million. [Business Day]

• Sasol’s Secunda plant gets emissions reprieve: South Africa’s new Minister of Forestry, Fisheries, and Environment, Dion George, has upheld a prior decision allowing Sasol to use an alternative method for measuring sulphur dioxide emissions at its Secunda facility. This decision lets Sasol measure emissions based on the total amount instead of the concentration of particles from April 2025 until March 2030. While Sasol has welcomed the decision, environmental activists express concern that it might enable other companies to circumvent strict emissions standards. [Business Day]

• High Court dismisses EFF parliament suspension appeal: Parliament has welcomed a court ruling that dismissed the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) appeal against the suspension of its leaders. The court upheld the suspensions, which were imposed after EFF members were ejected from a chamber for disruptive behaviour during the State of the Nation Address in February 2023. Among the suspended EFF members are Julius Malema, Floyd Shivambu, and Mbuyiseni Ndlozi. [EWN]

• Smith wins SA’s first 2024 Olympic gold: At the Paris La Defense Arena, Tatjana Smith won South Africa’s first gold at the Olympics, upgrading her previous 100m silver to gold in a dramatic finish with a time of 1:05.28. Despite being fourth halfway, she turned it around with a remarkable late surge. As a result, she got Team SA their third medal in Paris thus far – the same as they managed at the entire Tokyo Olympics. [SABC]

• Markets: The rand slipped against a stronger dollar on Monday as markets looked towards a U.S. policy decision later this week. On Tuesday (30 July), the rand was trading at R18.47 to the dollar, R23.75 to the pound, and R19.96 to the euro. Oil is trading at $79.45 a barrel. [Reuters]