Business

5 important things happening in South Africa today

Staff Writer

 ·13 Apr 2022

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

• Nuclear power: Minister of mineral resources and energy Gwede Mantashe has laid out South Africa’s plans to tender for proposals to build nuclear capacity. Despite meetings with the National Nuclear Regulator extending from last year, this is the first clear signal that the department is actively planning to open up the process of bidding. When questioned about timing, Mantashe said ‘the sooner the better’ and stressed that the government would follow through. [Daily Maverick]

• Struggling consumers: A recent study shows that the debt level of South African consumers is rising. A survey by Genesis Analytics, in partnership with the Financial Sector Conduct Authority, found that more than 50% of South Africa’s credit-active consumers can be considered to be heavily indebted, which has resulted in bad credit records for 48% of borrowers. Close to half of the 27 million adults using credit have difficulty keeping up with debt repayments, while 95% of low-income individuals used debt to pay for basic needs such as food. [Moneyweb]

• KZN floods: President Cyril Ramaphosa is set to visit KwaZulu-Natal today, where rainstorms, floods and mudslides have left at least 59 people dead and hundreds homeless. Damage to infrastructure, businesses and homes is estimated to be in the billions of rands. The KwaZulu-Natal disaster management department urged people to stay at home and ordered those residing in low-lying areas to move to higher ground as more than 2,000 houses and 4,000 ‘informal’ homes were damaged. [EWN] [BusinessLive]

• Tongaat takeover: An investigation by amaBhungane has revealed that a Mauritian company called Magister Investments is behind a R2 billion bid for South African sugar-giant Tongaat Hulett. A controversial family of businessmen are major shareholders of Magister Investments. The family are alleged to have ties to the illicit tobacco industry. Minority shareholders are challenging the Tongaat takeover and have temporarily blocked the transaction while allegations of improper conduct are investigated. [amaBhungane]

• Markets: Oil prices climbed on Tuesday as Russian oil and gas condensate production fell to 2020 lows, and OPEC said it would be impossible to replace potential supply losses from Russia. Global equities dropped while the US Treasury yields slipped as data showing a jump in U.S. inflation was in line with expectations. The rand is currently trading at R14.49/$, R15.70/€ and R18.84/£. [Nasdaq]