Government

5 important things happening in South Africa today

Staff Writer

 ·26 Apr 2022

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

• Grant regulations: Civil society organisations are calling for urgent clarification around new regulations related to the R350 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant – which they claim run the risk of excluding many existing beneficiaries. The groups said that in the process of adjusting the SRD to a new legislative framework whereby the processing and payments for April were suspended, and previously approved grant obligations wiped, the April SRD grants are in jeopardy for millions of South Africans. [Moneyweb]

• Eskom walkout: Eskom’s board member Busiswe Mavuso is defending her decision to walk out of a Scopa meeting last week after saying that the Eskom board, including its, is CEO Andre De Ruyter, would not be made the scapegoat for the power utility’s historic problems, which she blames the ANC-led government. The scopa chair, Mkhuleko Hlengwa, said that her remarks were theatrics and suppressed the matter. The Democratic Alliance (DA) has now asked the National Assembly Speaker to investigate the Scopa chairperson. [EWN]

• Omicron subvariants: Data teams from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases analysing positive Covid-19 tests in South Africa have found an increase in the presence of two subvariants of Omicron BA.4 and BA.5, which have increased in prevalence from 16% to 44% overnight. The sub-variants have been of interest to the World Health Organization, with no evidence yet of increased severity of symptoms or immune escape. The latest Covid-19 figures report 30,086 active cases, 30 daily deaths and 1,954 new cases. [Daily Maverick] [SACoronavirus]

• ANC private sector shift: The ANC proposes greater private sector involvement in the economy. This marks a radical policy shift for an organisation that has long favoured state-led growth. In a discussion document on economic policy for a conference later in 2022, the ANC outlined a range of interventions that broadly propose that private sector companies buy stakes in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and play a more significant role in infrastructure funding to help solve the country’s energy crisis. [BusinessLive]

• Markets: On Monday, the South African rand was pushed lower by a stronger dollar as investors sought safety amid uncertainty over the global growth outlook. Other emerging market currencies alongside the rand were under pressure on fears about whether the global economy can withstand a hawkish US Federal Reserve, worries about Chinese growth due to Covid-19 and the commodity shock caused by the Russia-Ukraine war. The rand is currently trading at R15.67/$, R16.81/€ and R20.00/£. [Nasdaq]