5 important things happening in South Africa today
·24 Oct 2018
Here’s what is happening in and affecting South Africa today:
- All eyes will be on finance minister Tito Mboweni today as he delivers what is expected to be a rocky mid-term budget speech at 14h00. While it is unlikely for there to be any new measures introduced in the speech, Mboweni is expected to detail government’s spending plans for the next three years, as well as measures to rein in spiralling debt. [EWN]
- The strengthening of the rand is expected to cushion the blow of rising fuel prices, with data showing that prices should only climb by 6 cents per litre next week. Diesel, however, will still see a relatively big jump of around 40 cents per litre. Some economists believe that there could even be a slight decrease in the petrol price. [ENCA]
- Political parties have turned the tables on the EFF at parliament, reversing roles and causing chaos while heckling the party’s deputy Floyd Shivambu to ‘pay back the money‘. Shivambu and the EFF are being accused of receiving millions of rands from the looting of VBS Mutual Bank. Shivambu’s brother, Brian, was named as one of the people implicated in the looting. [TimesLive]
- Global consultancy Gartner has conceded that the work it did for SARS to the tune of R200 million was both irregular and fruitless, as nothing it did was ultimately adopted. The Nugent commission this week revealed that Gartner had a hand in setting the terms of a tender it would go on to win – and subcontracted parts to the firm that helped it. [Daily Maverick]
- South African assets weakened across the board on Tuesday, erasing gains from the previous session as appetite for riskier assets was muted by global concerns. On Wednesday the rand was trading at R14.27 to the dollar, R18.52 to the pound and R16.36 to the euro.
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