Tshwane’s R98 million ‘tanker mafia’ hit and small win for Karpowership

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

• Tanker mafia hurting Tshwane: Themba Fosi, Tshwane’s official in charge of utilities, has raised concerns over the “water tanker mafia” hurting the city, which is adding R98 million annually to its expenses for water tankers. This issue is part of a larger water crisis in Gauteng, exacerbated by high demand and ageing infrastructure, leading to an increased reliance on water tankers. Similar water shortages are occurring in other regions like KwaZulu-Natal. The crisis exemplifies broader challenges in maintaining essential infrastructure, negatively impacting economic growth, according to the business sector. [Business Day]

• New Environment Minister’s lifeline to sinking Karpowership deal:  On July 17, Dion George, the new minister of forestry, fisheries, and the environment from the Democratic Alliance party, rejected an appeal by two environmental groups against granting Karpowership environmental approval to supply emergency power with two power ships in Richards Bay harbour. George said: “Load shedding is still very much part of South Africa’s daily existence” and that he was satisfied that the Karpowership deal was still “needed and desirable” [Daily Maverick]

• Gauteng Health underspends R1.1 billion of budget: The Gauteng Department of Health did not spend R1.1 billion of its 2023/24 budget and risks losing part of it. Arnold Malotana, the department head, revealed the shortfall to the Gauteng legislature’s Health & Wellness Portfolio Committee. Despite having an R60 billion budget, they’ve sought Treasury’s permission to roll over unspent funds into the new financial year, but approval is pending. [Daily Maverick]

• Water utility pays R38 million for R360,000 of work: Investigators have charged a Durban lawyer and an acting judge with producing 620 unnecessary reports for the Mhlathuze Water Board, aiming to improperly gain R38 million. These reports, which were found to be redundant, could have been consolidated into a single dossier and carried out by the board’s own staff at no cost, potentially saving nearly R37.64 million. [News24]

• Markets: The rand strengthened on Wednesday, ahead of a much-anticipated policy decision by the U.S. Federal Reserve. On Thursday (1 August), the rand was trading at R18.23 to the dollar, R23.36 to the pound, and R19.76 to the euro. Oil is trading at $81.56 a barrel. [Reuters]