Finance

5 important things happening in South Africa today

Staff Writer

 ·11 Apr 2017

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

• Speaker of the National Assembly Baleka Mbete is proving herself to be a true Zuma loyalist, by both supporting the president’s call to change the constitution to allow for land redistribution without compensation, and by opposing court action that would allow ANC MPs to vote in secret to possibly oust Zuma. Mbete rejected the request for a secret ballot last week, saying there is no basis in law for it. She is not trying to prevent a basis in law from happening.

• Former president Thabo Mbeki has called on ANC MPs to vote in the interests of South Africa during the no confidence vote next week. Echoing the sentiments of Kgalema Motlanthe, Mbeki said that ANC MPs were public servants who were elected to serve the people of the country, and as the Constitutional Court ordered in the Nkandla case, need to hold the executive to account. Mbeki joins the long, and growing list of big names in the ANC that are speaking out against Zuma’s presidency.

• A secret settlement deal between Eskom and the Gupta-owned Tegeta mining group is fueling speculation on the power utility getting friendly with the Guptas again, like it did when it bailed out the family’s company to the tune of over R600 million in 2015. The deal is related to the R2 billion fine Eskom imposed on Optimum coal mines when it was owned by Glencore. Eskom was ruthless and unmoved in pursuit of the money, but now seems to have changed its tune.

• The Gupta family is in hot water over the ownership of a military vehicle, which is prohibited in South African law, and carries a prison term of up to 25 years if someone is found guilty for contravening it. The vehicle is a prototype military vehicle that has been developed by a company owned by the Guptas. The family’s lawyer insists they are entitled to have it, as they own the company that made it, however the matter has been reported to the police.

• South Africa’s rand traded weaker early on Monday as credit downgrades to “junk” by two ratings firms last week following the sudden firing of the finance minister continued to weigh. South Africa’s central bank governor said on Monday it was too early to tell whether the recent downgrades of the country’s credit to junk would push the economy in to a recession. On Tuesday the rand was at R13.90 to the dollar, R17.26 to the pound and R14.71 to the euro.