5 important things happening in South Africa today
·24 May 2019
Here’s what is happening ins and affecting South Africa today:
- Mergers, no more deputies for every department and line-of-sight to every minister – these are some of the changes expected for president Cyril Ramaphosa’s cabinet this weekend. According to insiders, Ramaphosa is taking a big-bang approach to restructuring his cabinet, doing away with Zuma’s legacy. [Daily Maverick]
- What happens if too-big-to-fail Eskom defaults? Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago believes the local banking industry would be able to weather the blow – but pensions would definitely take a hit. The governor said that such scenarios have been stress tested at the central bank. [Bloomberg]
- Businesses will soon be able to generate electricity and feed it to the national grid, after a directive from energy minister Jeff Radebe to regulator Nersa to process applications for licences to do so. The first applications are expected to start being processed in July. [702]
- Former president Jacob Zuma wants to introduce 11th-hour evidence in his corruption trial, as he fights to have the charges dropped permanently. He has denied using loopholes to keep the trial dragging on for decades, and also denies any and all wrongdoing. He faces charges of fraud, racketeering and corruption. [ENCA]
- South Africa’s rand slipped nearly 1% to a three-week low and stocks fell on Thursday after the central bank kept lending rates unchanged, cut its growth forecast and struck a dovish tone that suggested a cut was on its way. On Friday the rand was at R14.50 to the dollar, R18.35 to the pound and R16.21 to the euro.
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