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5 important things happening in South Africa today

Staff Writer

 ·29 Sep 2022

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

• Unemployment shock: PwC noted on Wednesday that South Africa’s demographic outlook suggests that its labour force will grow by almost 350,000 adults yearly. At the same time, the country will only be able to create 200,000 jobs. This suggests unemployment will continue to rise, reaching an unemployment rate of 40% within the decade, PwC said. This increases the country’s instability risks associated with protests and unrest as millions of adults may soon become excluded from the economy. [BusinessLIVE]

• Eskom’s CEO’s future up to new board: Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan told MPs on Wednesday that the soon-to-be-announced new board of directors would determine the future of Eskom CEO André de Ruyter and other top executives. The board will conduct a thorough review of their performance and operations. After such reviews, the board will make recommendations that need to be made.[News24]

• Ambulance service crisis: Nelson Mandela Bay’s ambulance’s dispatch has been offline since 17 September due to kilometres of copper cable theft. This has created potentially deadly consequences for the municipality’s residents. Currently, call centre agents 100km away in Makhanda are dispatching ambulances in Nelson Mandela Bay through a push-to-talk system as it’s the only means of continuing the emergency service in the area. [Daily Maverick]

• Eskom’s low-income power plan: During Eskom’s participation in the Africa Renewable Investments Summit in Cape Town, the power utility said it plans to roll out micro-grids to the 30% of South Africa that is not yet electrified. These microgrids will be made from upcycled shipping containers, costing R1.5 million per unit and could electrify between 20 to 25 homes. [News24]

• Markets: South Africa’s rand recovered some losses to strengthen on Wednesday, as the dollar softened from a two-decade peak it hit earlier in the day. Shares on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange fell slightly, with the Top-40 index and JSE all-share index declining 0.34% and 0.36%, respectively. The rand is currently trading at R17.95/$, R17.38/€ and R19.37/£. Brent crude is trading at $88 a barrel.  [Nasdaq]