Business

5 important things happening in South Africa today

Staff Writer

 ·4 Oct 2018

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

• Finance minister Nlanhla Nene told the state capture commission how he was pressured to approve costly nuclear energy plans for the country – but turned it down each time. However, he still faces some pressure, trying to distance himself from the Gupta family, having admitted meeting them four times in one year. [IOL]

• The government says that there will be no forced retrenchments in the public sector, as it prepared to launch a jobs summit in the country. There were initially plans to cut a reported 30,000 jobs in a bid to save R4 billion, however those plans have now been shelved. [News24

• The Advertising Standards Authority has been issued a notice of liquidation, though it promises a replacement body will open immediately. The reason it is being liquidated, is because the group’s main creditor, SARS, rejected an offer from the ASA. [BI

• The mining industry is singing the praises of mining minister Gwede Mantashe, hailing what it calls a ‘new dawn’ following the troubled years of Mosebenzi Zwane. While the recently published mining charter remains imperfect, it is a result of negotiation and compromise from both parties – something that was absent in the past. [Moneyweb

• South Africa’s rand was flat in afternoon trade on Wednesday, giving up earlier gains as a solid US dollar kept pressure on emerging markets, while the bourse was led lower for a second session by banks and gold stocks. On Thursday the rand was at R14.73 to the dollar, R19.06 to the pound and R16.91 to the euro.