Energy

5 important things happening in South Africa today

Staff Writer

 ·30 Oct 2019

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

• Finance Minister Tito Mboweni will present his mid-term budget speech today, which is expected to show a wider budget deficit than the February estimate of 4.5%, as well as higher debt and lower growth projections. He is also expected to reveal more about Eskom’s finances, following the release of the power utility’s rescue plan on Tuesday. The speech starts at 14h00.

• Eskom should be load shedding right now – and it should be doing so for the next eight months at least, according to Eskom board member Busisiwe Mavuso. Speaking before a parliamentary committee hearing on Tuesday, Mavuso said the board is being forced to pursue ‘politically convenient’ options, which may not be in the best interests of the company. This includes keeping the lights on, no matter the cost, and not addressing municipal debt. [TimesLive]

• South African banks which were hit by denial of service attacks in the past week were also met with demands for between R200,000 and R550,000 in bitcoin each – meaning those responsible stood to make R2.7 million from the attacks. According to Sabric, the attacks were not related to the ransomware hack that hit the Cityof Joburg, where R500,000 in bitcoin was demanded. [MyBroadband]

• Time is running out for former VBS executives accused of looting the bank of billions, as assets for four of five of the senior managers involved are set to be seized to help pay back some of the money that was stolen. Robert Madzonga, the bank’s former COO, Philip Truter, the former CFO, Phophi Mukhodobwane, the bank’s former GM of treasury, and Tshifhiwa Matodzi, the former chair, have all been placed under final sequestration. [Business Day]

• South Africa’s rand dipped on Tuesday, a day before the finance minister is expected to reveal wider government deficits and higher debt in a budget speech. On Wednesday, the rand was trading at R14.63 to the dollar, R18.82 to the pound and R16.26 to the euro.