Government

5 important things happening in South Africa today

Staff Writer

 ·24 Aug 2021

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

Coronavirus: In South Africa, there have been 7,632 new cases of Covid-19, taking the total reported to 2,698,605. Deaths have reached 79,584 (+163), while recoveries have climbed to 2,455,998, leaving the country with a balance of 163,023 active cases. The total number of vaccines administered is 10,790,501 (+263,138).

• Postponed: Organizers of the national shutdown initially planned for Monday say that the protest has been postponed until further notice, given the heightened security and response from authorities. The organisers say that approval for the protest was also not granted on time. They said that there has been confusion around the intention of the march, with security authorities preparing for looting and riots – but the organisers say that the intention was never to do so and that it was planned as a peaceful protest. Intelligence agencies issued alerts for unrest, with warnings that rioters would target SAPS armouries and infrastructure. [TimesLive]

• Wasted: Business lobby group Sakeliga is working to put wasteful municipalities under special administration, with court action targeting two such municipalities in the North West. According to the group, combined, the two municipalities have wasted over R1.6 billion of taxpayers’ money, hampering business and economic growth. The court action is part of the group’s wider strategy to halt state decay at the municipal level so that business environments can recover from years of continuous mismanagement and corruption. The group is asking the courts to help residents in these communities cut out the middle-man, and deal with service providers directly. [BusinessLive – paywall, Sakeliga]

• Compassion fatigue: Healthcare workers are struggling to cope with the conflicting emotions brought from having to treat people for Covid-19, but who also refuse to take the vaccine and end up prolonging the pandemic. In what has been described as ‘compassion fatigue’, healthcare workers have expressed their frustration at the government for failing to properly educate people about vaccines’ safety. They are hopeful that in the coming months, the government will develop legislation to compel anti-vaxxers and the vaccine-hesitant to educate themselves on the nature of vaccines better and ultimately agree to take them. [EWN]

• BIG: ANC factional lines and loyalties are now being brought into question, specifically focusing on social development minister Lindiwe Zulu and how and why she published a deeply controversial Green Paper calling for higher taxes and mandatory payments to the state, without the contribution from other vital portfolios such as National Treasury. Analysts speculate that Zulu is aligned with the Zuma faction within the ANC, and the timing of her Green Paper comes at a politically difficult period for the party. With most lightning rods for the faction falling apart – such as ‘white monopoly capital’ and ‘radical economic transformation’ – the basic income grant may be the next rallying call. [Daily Maverick]

• Markets: South Africa’s rand started the week on a firmer footing on Monday, benefiting from improved risk appetite on global markets. Last week the rand had a torrid time, losing almost 4% against the dollar as expectations that the US Federal Reserve will start tapering its stimulus this year boosted the US currency at the expense of riskier assets. But the market on Monday opened with a more generous mood towards riskier assets on optimism over Covid-19 vaccines and easing lockdown restrictions. But investors said the rand could still find itself on shaky ground in the coming days. On Tuesday, the rand was trading at R15.12/$, R17.75/€ and R20.77/£.