Energy

5 important things happening in South Africa today

Staff Writer

 ·2 Sep 2022

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

• Relocating parliament: The topic of relocating parliament from Cape Town to Gauteng has again been brought up by MPs, although very little is actually being done or said about it. The idea was mooted back during the Zuma administration, but MPs are yet to get their hands on the feasibility study or any promised reports about the cost of doing so. Instead, cabinet is throwing around figures like R2 billion to fix the gutted parliamentary buildings in Cape Town. [Daily Maverick]

• Eskom Corruption: Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter says that corruption is still a major problem at the power utility, particularly when it comes to procurement. He said corruption has become normalised in the group after so many years of doing things a certain way, and the only thing that will stop it is successful prosecution. He said that more arrests and successful convictions would show the criminals they cannot get away with how they operate. [News24]

• Scrap metal hitch: The European Union is objecting to new laws South Africa wants to put in place to ban exports of scrap metal, which it intends to do to curb cable theft and the destruction of public infrastructure. The laws were open for comment in August. The EU said it doesn’t believe the laws align with the World Trade Organisation’s rules, which only allow bans to cover critical shortages of certain exports within a country. [BusinessLive]

• Lower power prices: People living in Cape Town and Ekurhuleni could pay 30% less for electricity than other municipalities when Eskom hikes its prices next year. The two metros are furthest along in the push to get power from independent power producers. Cape Town’s use of power generation outside Eskom already saves its residents from some load shedding stages. Eskom wants to completely overhaul its tariff structure, but until any plans are confirmed, it will continue applications for steep price hikes. [Mail & Guardian]

• Markets: The rand continues to be on the back foot as markets position themselves for a 70% chance of a 75bps rate hike from the US Fed. Until then, markets are keeping an eye on EU and local manufacturing PMI, as well as EU unemployment, local vehicle sales and US initial jobless claims. On Friday, the rand is trading at R17.30/$, R17.25/€ and R19.98/£. Brent crude is trading at $94 a barrel. [Citadel Global]