5 things you need to know in South Africa today

·31 Oct 2016

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

President Jacob Zuma is manipulating the South African courts to block the release and ultimately scrap the contents of a Public Protector report into alleged state capture, the DA said. Instead of taking the route to read its contents and then move on to review, Zuma is doing everything he can, legally, to stop the report from getting out, through court processes which will ultimately be a review anyway. Zuma called for court action, which is to be heard tomorrow, but now wants his own bid postponed.

NPA head Shaun Abrahams has rubbished reports that he has taken the decision to drop the charges of fraud against finance minister Pravin Gordhan. Abrahams said that he is still “applying his mind” to the case, and will hopefully make a decision soon – but said that reports from the City Press saying he has been communicating with Gordhan’s lawyers is rubbish. Gordhan’s court date is set for Wednesday this week.

An internal ANC report shows that the party is fully aware of corruption and infighting – and that it is tearing the ANC apart. The report was compiled and presented the ANC executive in September, following the party’s worst-ever performance in the August elections. The report details a deepening crisis: an angry support base, a growing reputation for corruption, and more and more in-fighting between members.

Damages under the banner of FeesMustFall keep piling up, with estimates now totalling as much as R1 billion in destruction. Universities of South Africa CEO Ahmed Bawa estimates that student protests have caused hundreds of millions of rands in damages, and could shoot past R1 billion when secondary and indirect costs are taken into account.

South Africa’s rand recorded mild gains against the dollar on Friday, with all eyes next focused on developments around the Wednesday court appearance of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, who faces fraud charges. On Monday, the rand was trading at R13.74 to the dollar R16.75 to the pound and R15.07 to the euro.

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