Finance

5 important things happening in South Africa today

Staff Writer

 ·23 Jun 2017

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

• President Jacob Zuma is feeling more confident than ever, despite the odds mounting against him this week. Speaking in Parliament on Thursday, Zuma said that if elections were held now, the DA would lose all the metros it won in 2016. He also said using a secret ballot vote to get a majority “you don’t have” is unfair, and has insisted that the South African Nuclear programme will move ahead no matter what. He also believes that South Africans were right to choose him as president, and thinks he’s done an excellent job in the role.

• Parliament will join Absa and the Reserve Bank in taking the Public Protector’s latest report to court, to fight against recommendations made that the Constitution be changed. Parliament said that the Public Protector’s remedial action effectively orders a portfolio committee to initiate a legislative process, which it believes usurps its power and is beyond the mandate of the Public Protector.

• Analysts say that while president Jacob Zuma’s power is slowly eroding away, an early exit from the presidency is still not an easy task. With majority support in the ANC NEC, the only real route to get Zuma to step down is through Parliament. However, while the Constitutional court strongly hinted that a secret ballot is the best way to handle a no confidence vote in Zuma, there is no guarantee it will work.

• A small war has erupted between metered taxi drivers and Uber and other e-hailing services, and conflict between the two groups escalates. The metered taxi drivers have expressed frustration and anger over Uber and the like eating into market share, without having to face the same government regulation. There have been reports of shots fired, vehicles damaged and petrol bombs being thrown between the two groups this week.

• South Africa’s rand rallied on Thursday as investors cheered a constitutional court ruling that parliament could hold a secret ballot in a no-confidence vote against President Jacob Zuma, who has said such a vote would be unfair. On Friday the rand was trading at R13.00 to the dollar, R16.50 to the pound and R14.50 to the euro.