R23 billion prepaid electricity breach, and South Africa’s ‘murder insurance’ problem

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

• Eskom’s prepaid electricity breach: Eskom employees colluded to breach and generate illegal prepaid power tokens through the utility’s online vending system. As a result, along with widespread theft and meter tampering across the country, Eskom lost 13.9 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity due to theft, leading to a revenue loss of around R23 billion. [MyBroadband]

• Murder for money on the rise: Premeditated murder for fraudulent insurance payouts is a growing issue in South Africa. Insurers are stepping up efforts to prevent clients with murderous intentions from taking out insurance contracts on possible victims. “Fraud in the life insurance industry is rising, but so are efforts to combat it,” said Thakane Setsabi-Mushonga, general manager for Customer Solutions at Old Mutual’s mass and foundations cluster. [News24]

• Bogus inspectors hit spaza shops: Gauteng Finance MEC, Lebogang Maile, has cautioned spaza shops and other small business owners against paying money during inspections of their businesses. The warning comes as allegations of bogus health inspectors demanding money have surfaced. [EWN]

• Good news for farmers: Botswana’s newly elected government led by President Boko Duma has announced a phased lifting of restrictions on vegetable imports from South Africa, expected to be completed by April 2025. [Business Day]

• Markets: On Thursday, South Africa’s rand weakened after the Federal Reserve’s hawkish stance on future interest rate cuts. While the U.S. central bank lowered rates on Wednesday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell warned that further cuts depend on progress in reducing high inflation, pushing the dollar to a near two-year high. On Friday (20 December), the rand was trading at R18.43 to the dollar, R23.00 to the pound, and R19.09 to the euro. Oil is trading at $72.44 a barrel. [Reuters]