5 important things happening in South Africa today
·12 Dec 2018
Here’s what is happening in and affecting South Africa today:
- President Cyril Ramaphosa has been given the all clear to appoint a new head at SARS, after the High Court threw out disgraced former head Tom Moyane’s bid to get his job back. The court ruled against Moyane, calling his attempt an abuse of court processes, labelling him “vexatious and abusive”. [EWN]
- While the entry of new banks in South Africa is expected to boost competition, it may also reduce profitability and bring some instability to the market, deputy Reserve Bank governor Kuben Naidoo has warned. This would mostly impact the ‘big five’ banks, who have enjoyed relatively stable return on equity over the years. [Business Day]
- Along with EFF leadership, new investigations have found that ANC members also benefitted from the looting of VBS Bank. Several ANC mayors have stepped down after being implicated in the scandal, but reports point to Limpopo treasurer general Danny Msiza personally benefitting to the tune of R1.5 million. [702]
- Former president Jacob Zuma has suffered another blow in court, after the Constitutional Court upheld a ruling that he acted unlawfully in restricting the work of a SADC tribunal. Zuma signed off orders to suspend the tribunal in 2011 and 2012, when it was acting against former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe. [ENCA]
- The South African rand firmed on Tuesday, in line with other emerging market currencies and rise in stocks, as investors’ appetite for riskier assets was boosted by better-than-expected manufacturing data and a pause in a dollar rally. On Wednesday the rand was at R14.29 to the dollar, R17.87 to the pound and R16.19 to the euro.
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