Private university exams cancelled, and a threat to the SABC

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

• Exams cancelled: Students who planned to take their final exams at Damelin’s East London campus were caught off guard when the institution announced the abrupt cancellation of these exams, advising them to transfer to other colleges. Michael Thurley, Damelin’s Chief Operating Officer, stated in a brief message this week that the East London campus would not be conducting end-of-year examinations due to “circumstances beyond our control.” [News24]

• SABC Bill withdraw a threat: The chairperson of Parliament’s portfolio committee on communications, Khusela Diko, has slammed the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies’ decision to withdraw the SABC Bill, saying that the move threatens crucial reforms necessary to save yet another crucial and strategic public institution. [MyBroadband]

• Phala phala still an issue: Legal challenge launched by the EFF and ATM challenging the decision by the National Assembly to discard the adoption of the Phala Phala report will begin at the end of the month. President Cyril Ramaphosa will argue that the panel led by former chief justice Sandile Ngcobo relied on hearsay without any evidence. [BusinessDay]

• Thousands of jobs on the line: South Africa’s second-largest trading partner enacted its Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) in April 2023 to encourage companies to adopt low-carbon production methods and is part of the EU’s aim to reduce emissions by 55% by 2030. However, the Reserve Bank estimates that this could lead to 350,000 lost jobs and a 10% cut in our GDP by 2050. [Daily Investor]

• Markets: The South African rand fell on Friday as a turbulent trading week, dominated by Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election, drew to a close. On Monday (11 November), the rand was trading at R17.60 to the dollar, R22.73 to the pound, and R18.86 to the euro. Oil is trading at $73.63 a barrel. [Reuters]