5 things you need to know in South Africa today
·25 Jul 2016
Here’s what is happening in and affecting South Africa today:
- If you’ve graduated from university and are working, a new proposal says that you should pay a special “graduate tax” to help fund free tertiary education in South Africa. The proposal came from Universities SA CEO Ahmed Bawa, who said that new funding mechanisms were needed in the wake of the #FeesMustFall movement which happened in 2015.
- A “glitch” in the JSE’s systems caused the bourse to show that foreign investors had pumped over R98 billion into the South African economy, when in reality they had taken R36.4 billion out. The error by the JSE represents a R136 billion swing into the negative, with questions raised why it took 3 months to uncover and correct.
- South Africa’s rand retreated against the dollar on Friday, as concern grew about the state of the economy, a day after the central bank slashed its growth forecast. On Monday the rand was trading at R14.32 to the dollar, R18.81 to the pound and R15.71 to the euro.
- In global news: Asian shares held near nine-month highs on Monday as worries over the impact of Britain’s Brexit vote eased, while the dollar was buoyed by a run of solid U.S. economic data. Wall Street rose on Friday, clinching the fourth straight positive week for the stock market.
- Crude prices inched down on Monday in Asia, staying not far from two-month lows hit in the previous session, amid worries over a global oil glut. Brent crude oil futures were trading at $45.59 per barrel, down 10 cents, while U.S. crude was at $44.09, also down 10 cents a barrel.
In other news: Four SABC journalists who were sacked last week will on Monday learn their fate. The Labour Court is expected to make a decision on whether the four were unfairly dismissed, and may overturn the decision and put them back at work.
Loading ...