5 important things happening in South Africa today
·8 Feb 2017
Here’s what is happening in and affecting South Africa today:
- President Jacob Zuma says that people should forget about a speculated cabinet reshuffle, adding that he “will tell you when (he) wants to“. Analysts are anticipating a move by Zuma in the coming weeks to find a place in his cabinet for former AU chair, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, as well as to target ministers who stood against him at an ANC NEC meeting at the end of 2016. This includes finance minister Pravin Gordhan.
- The president has also made an unprecedented move to bring in the South African National Defence Force at his state of the nation address being held tomorrow. The 441 SANDF members will be brought in to ‘maintain order’, following disruptions from opposition parties in the previous meetings. The move has been widely criticised, especially by the EFF, which has usually led the disruptions both inside and outside Parliament.
- Deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa has reportedly signed the R20 per hour minimum wage agreement, according to the Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa). The signing took place late last night, after Cosatu unsuccessfully attempted to delay the process. An announcement is expected to take place today. The minimum wage will come into full effect from May 2018.
- South Africans will have to wait even longer to see a report detailing what happened to power utility Eskom during its years of extreme financial and operational turmoil between 2008 and 2010. The utility went back on its word and has not yet released the ‘Denton report’, which details the investigation into load shedding, corruption and other financial constraints at Eskom at the time. The report will not be released publicly.
- South Africa’s rand weakened on Tuesday as risk aversion grew, amid worries a far-right candidate was gaining momentum in France’s presidential race. On Wednesday the rand was trading at R13.46 to the dollar, R16.82 to the pound and R14.37 to the euro.
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