5 important things happening in South Africa today
·19 Dec 2017
Here’s what is happening in and affecting South Africa today:
- The relief and celebration around the victory of Cyril Ramaphosa as the ANC’s new leader has also been met with trepidation, as at least three of the ANC’s new top 6 are ‘deeply compromised’, with at least two (Ace Magashule and Jessie Duarte) sure to be implicated in the wider state capture saga.
- With the ANC’s top 6 leadership fight wrapped up, eyes are now on the nominations for the National Executive Committee (NEC) which has been boosted by an additional 80 seats. Current nominees are a mixed bag of Zuma allies and opponents, including the likes of Pravin Gordhan and Mcebisi Jonas.
- Nersa’s decision to reduce Eskom’s fee hike from almost 20% to just over 5% has wiped close to R30 billion of potential revenue from the power utility’s books. Eskom’s financials are already in a precarious position, and this move is a significant blow. However, Nersa said that Eskom should stop wasting money, instead of hiking fees.
- Striking workers at the SABC are expected back at work after an agreement was reached regarding pay increases. Despite workers demanding a 10% increase, the Communication Workers Union agreed to a 4.8% back-dated increase. The SABC was initially offering 4.5%.
- South Africa’s rand scaled nine-month highs on Monday after Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa became the new leader of the ruling ANC, succeeding President Jacob Zuma. However, the currency dipped again on Tuesday, trading at R12.77 to the dollar, R17.10 to the pound and R15.07 to the euro.
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