Dodgy tenders report leaked, and Tshwane council meeting turns violent

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

• Storm brewing at SAWS: A leaked report highlights serious corruption allegations linked to mismanaged tenders, including one instance where a company employee helped draft the tender specifications. Following an investigation, forensic firm XTND recommended pursuing criminal charges and disciplining most SAWS employees involved in the tender process. SAWS’ full response can be found in the GroundUp article. [GroundUp]

• Tshwane council meeting turns violent: Some Democratic Alliance (DA) councillors were forcefully removed from a City of Tshwane council meeting after raising challenging questions. This incident followed Mayor Nasiphi Moya’s presentation on the city’s financial crisis. The meeting escalated into chaos, with accusations of disorder leading to the removal of two DA councillors by private security, prompting claims from ousted DA mayor Cilliers Brink that the ruling coalition was undermining democracy. [The Citizen]

• Good news for electricity supply: South Africa will have enough generation capacity for the next five years, even if its economy grows by 2.6% over the period, according to a new report by power utility Eskom. But this is based on the proviso that Eskom keeps the energy availability factor (EAF) of its power stations at an average of 63%, the report by the utility’s system operator (SO) said [Business Live]

• Brain drain warning: Critics warn that the government’s plan to offer early retirement to public sector employees could lead to a loss of essential skills and may not provide sufficient funding to address understaffing in health and education. The Treasury’s recent budget announcement includes an R11 billion package aimed at encouraging 30,000 civil servants to retire early over two years, with the hope of facilitating the entry of younger talent. However, organisations like Section 27 argue that this approach undermines skills transfer, leaving junior staff dependent on limited textbook knowledge. [Business Day]

• Markets: The rand was broadly steady on Thursday following the release of local producer inflation and trade balance data, a day after the finance minister delivered the mid-term budget. On Friday (1 November), the rand was trading at R17.61 to the dollar, R22.88 to the pound, and R19.27 to the euro. Oil is trading at $74.17 a barrel. [Reuters]