5 things you need to know in South Africa today
·25 Nov 2016
Here’s what is happening in and affecting South Africa today:
- Two lobby groups have failed in their bid to force president Jacob Zuma’s hand in the matter of suspending NPA head Shaun Abrahams. A full bench of the High Court struck the Helen Suzman Foundation and Freedom Under Law’s attempt to have Zuma suspend Abrahams as a matter of urgency, saying that the groups should wait for the president to conclude the process he has already initiated on the matter.
- The ANC Youth League has criticised Cosatu for naming their favoured candidate, saying that it was like holding a gun to the party’s head. It also reminded the union federation that it was not a political party and didn’t vote for ANC leadership. Despite the criticism, the ANCYL, rather hypocritically, and the ANC Women’s League have both been vocal about their desire for a female president, and have widely been seen as backing Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma for the role.
- Ratings agency Moody’s will announce its rating decision on South Africa today, with expectations that it is too close to call. Moody’s is the rating agency that has, so far, cut South Africa the most slack, keeping the country two notches above junk status, with a negative outlook. The group said it would downgrade South Africa if economic growth was still too low – a very real reality in the country. S&P Global and Fitch will make announcements in early December.
- In a surprising concession, lawyers for communications minister Faith Muthambi – defending controversial SABC executive Hlaudi Motsoeneng in court – say that a new disciplinary review process should be set up for Motsoeneng at the SABC, as the last one – which cleared him of all wrongdoing – was not legally sound. Motsoeneng is back in court with the DA again trying force the SABC to fire him.
- South Africa’s rand pared some of its earlier losses against the dollar on Thursday after the central bank kept domestic interest rates unchanged, but sounded a hawkish tone, warning about inflation pressures. On Friday the rand was trading at R14.12 to the dollar, R17.57 to the pound and R14.93 to the euro.
In other news: It is Black Friday in South Africa – a day for massive deals and discounts across every retail sector imaginable. BusinessTech has compiled a safety guide on how to avoid getting scammed – while MyBroadband has listed a handy guide of where you find all the best deals.
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