Business

5 important things happening in South Africa today

Staff Writer

 ·12 Jun 2019

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

• President Cyril Ramaphosa has received the report on land reform, from the special panel that was put in place in September 2018. The report has not yet been made publicly available, but will be once it has been presented to cabinet. The panel was tasked with researching and reviewing the best way for government to implement fair land reform processes, while not affecting food security. [TimesLive]

• The ANC has launched an internal investigation into allegations that some of its members had helped establish the ATM political party, which contested the 2019 elections and campaigned for votes against the ANC. While the party said that the scope is quite broad and will look at all who were alleged to have been involved, it’s ANC SG Ace Magashule whose name is likely at the top of the list. [Daily Maverick]

• The Competition Tribunal is expected to make a ruling today regarding requests from banks in the rand-rigging case that has been floating around since 2017. Some banks that have been accused of being involved in rand-manipulation have accused the Competition Commission of getting it wrong – naming the incorrect entities and laying accusations at groups that have never traded in rand. [Bloomberg]

• New home affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi says he wants to revamp the department and take the portfolio back online. Motsoaledi said that the core role of the department is to document South Africans, but it needs more reliable computer systems, and it needs to make getting birth certificates – used for almost everything – easier. He suggested stationing department workers at hospitals across the country. [eNCA]

• South Africa’s rand rallied more than 1% on Tuesday, stretching its rally back from a nine-month low as cooling trade war worries and much larger-than-expected growth in local manufacturing boosted the battered currency and equities. On Wednesday the rand was at R14.66 to the dollar, R18.65 to the pound and R16.62 to the euro.