5 important things happening in South Africa today
·20 Aug 2018
Here’s what is happening in and affecting South Africa today:
- The judicial inquiry into state capture is set to kick off today, with two of the earliest whistleblowers in the Gupta saga expected to give testimony on day one. Former deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas, who blew the lid off state capture, and the outspoken former ANC member Vytjie Mentor are due to speak. [EWN]
- Food prices are rising in South Africa on the back of the weakening rand and ongoing drought conditions – with the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy expecting a basket of the cheapest 29 items to hit R3,000 in 2019. The average price for the basket was R2,714 in 2017, and R2,764 between January and April 2018. The 2019 projection is R2,928. [IOL]
- The City of Tshwane’s Wi-Fi project is under question after documents revealed that the city reversed its decision to appoint a cheaper, recommended supplier, and replaced it with one that charged as much as three times more for the same services. The city said there were discrepancies with the recommended supplier’s bid which required re-evaluation. [City Press]
- Police have raided the office of EFF leader Julius Malema’s body guard, as part of an investigation in to an incident where he handed a rifle to the party leader, which was then discharged at a rally. Charges have been laid against both Malema and his body guard over the incident. [eNCA]
- Two bits of news upset markets in Friday, with continues pressure on the Turkish lira still impacting emerging markets, including South Africa, and talk of nationalising the Reserve Bank feeding a negative outlook locally. On Monday the rand was trading at R14.69 to the dollar, R18.73 to the pound and R16.79 to the euro.
Loading ...