Business

5 important things happening in South Africa today

Staff Writer

 ·23 Aug 2022

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

• Nationwide strike: Trade union federations Cosatu and Saftu have called on all non-essential workers to strike for the day tomorrow (Wednesday, 24 August). The protest is planned for most provinces, with thousands expected to join marches calling for government intervention in the cost of living crisis. The call to join the strike has gone out to ordinary workers, professional workers, black and white and the middle class. The aim is to shut down the economy to bring attention to several grievances raised by the unions. [Daily Maverick]

• Dodgy debts: A primary school in Pimville serving roughly 1,000 pupils recently saw its bank account seized while fending off a multi-million rand claim from Sasfin Bank. Its state subsidy for the year was subsequently paid into the seized account, leaving the school effectively defunded. The school is among hundreds of schools and colleges, and small businesses that have had their rental agreements for IT equipment ceded by financial middlemen to Sasfin’s South African Securitisation Programme. [amaBhungane]

• Greylisting: Standard Bank CEO Sim Tshabalala says that South Africa is unlikely to dodge the international greylisting that will see it added to a list that includes Syria, Haiti and Yemen due to deficiencies in its ability to combat financial crime. He previously warned that the greylisting by the Financial Action Task Force – an intergovernmental body that assesses countries’ ability to fight illicit financial activity – would be worse than a sovereign credit downgrade. [BusinessLive]

• Zuma tax: Former president Jacob Zuma is fighting to keep his tax affairs secret and has appealed to the Constitutional Court to block the release of his tax records. Last year a court ruled that SARS must share Zuma’s tax filings with journalists in the public interest. Zuma says claims that he is not tax compliant are “hearsay” and an affront to his dignity. The former president’s lawyers also questioned the media’s motives in seeking to access to the records in the first place, alleging he has already been paraded as a corrupt person by the media. [News24]

• Markets: South Africa’s rand was weaker in trade on Monday, as the dollar hit a new five-week high after more Federal Reserve officials flagged the likelihood of aggressive interest rate hikes. The rand is set to take its cues from global drivers in the absence of major economic data points on Monday. Global investors will be eyeing the Jackson Hole symposium later this week, where Fed Chair Jerome Powell headlines a host of policymakers. On Tuesday, the rand was at R17.01/$, R16.87/€ and R19.99/£. Brent crude is trading at $97 a barrel. [Reuters]