Government

5 important things happening in South Africa today

Staff Writer

 ·26 Sep 2022

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

• Corruption: Lawmakers want the same real-time audit process that has been applied to the use of disaster relief funds in KZN to be used with the restoration of parliament in Cape Town. The building was gutted by a fire in January and will take an estimated R1.5 billion to R2 billion to restore. However, MPs have expressed concern about corruption and ‘cost overruns’ on the project and want appropriate measures in place to prevent this. [BusinessLive]

• Credit rating: A new South African-based credit rating agency has delivered its first assessment of South Africa’s sovereign and deems the country ‘investment grade’, expressing confidence that it is able to pay off its debts. This stands counter to the three major international credit rating agencies, which have the country firmly in junk status. The Gauteng-based Sovereign Africa Ratings, South Africa generally has a good credit quality, and its default risk currently remains low. [Moneyweb]

• Power cuts: Schools have now joined hospitals in calling for aid around consistent power cuts, with The National Association of School Governing Bodies warning that frequent and damaging load shedding is bringing teaching to a halt. Eskom announced stage 3 load shedding for most of the week, escalating to stage 4 in the evenings. The country experienced a week full of stage 5 load shedding last week, doing untold damage to the economy. [ENCA]

• ANC elections: Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma is setting herself against current ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa by opposing the party’s step-aside rule, which she says is an ‘injustice’ and wants it overturned at the coming elective conference. Dlamini-Zuma is taking on the talking points of the so-called RET faction filled with supporters of former president Jacob Zuma. The RET faction carries several names tied to corruption, including many who cannot stand for positions at the conference due to the rule. [News24]

• Markets: The South African rand fell almost 2% on Friday as the US dollar extended gains after receiving a boost from a very hawkish Federal Reserve policy announcement and rising Treasury yields. In the absence of major local drivers, the rand tends to take its cue from global factors, including dollar moves. However, persistent load shedding is also playing a role, with the week ahead once again filled with rolling blackouts. On Monday, the rand was at R18.08/$, R17.42/€ and R19.11/£. Brent crude is trading at $85 a barrel. [Reuters]