Business

5 important things happening in South Africa today

Staff Writer

 ·21 Oct 2022

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

• Long recovery: While the crippling Transnet strike is now over, the freight industry has warned that the effects of the strike will linger for months to come. The strike went on for more than a week and resulted in R65 billion worth of goods being held up at ports and depots. While some of these goods can now move, significant portions have been permanently lost. The South African Association of Freight Forwarders says that normal operations are only likely to return in 2023. [News24]

• Public wages: Public service and administration acting minister Thulas Nxesi has told public servants that he is considering unilaterally pushing through a contentious 3% wage hike, as time is running out to have it on the books for the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement next week. He said the matter needs to be urgently resolved to bring certainty and stability to the budget outlook. Unions have rejected the 3% offer and demand a 6.5% increase. The public sector wage bill eats up about a third of the national budget. [BusinessLive]

• Electricity tariffs: Energy regulator Nersa has suffered another blow in court, with the Pretoria High Court declaring its methodologies used to calculate municipal electricity tariffs unlawful and invalid. The regulator has been using the methodologies for the last decade and now has 12 months to rectify them. Nersa has faced and lost several court challenges to its methods, including from power utility Eskom, which often applies for double-digit increases, but has them rejected. [Moneyweb]

• Electoral reform: Pushing aside any criticism of the Electoral Amendment Bill – such as its failure to address the constitutional shortcomings of the current laws – the ANC and EFF bandied together to pass the bill in parliament on Thursday. The ANC reminded the public and the media that parliament was not tasked with reforming election laws around the position of president. The EFF meanwhile said the criticism was coming from “white capitalists” and that it was MPs’ right to change the laws. [Daily Maverick]

• Markets: The South African rand was little changed in trade on Thursday, but analysts said fragile risk appetite globally was likely to continue to weigh on the currency. Locally, inflation eased slightly in September, to 7.5% year on year from 7.6% in August, in line with analysts’ forecasts. But retail sales came in worse than predicted, growing 2.0% in August compared to economists’ expectations for 4.2% growth. On Friday, the rand was trading at R18.36/$, R17.93/€ and R20.54/£. Brent crude is trading at $93 a barrel. [Reuters]