Government

5 important things happening in South Africa today

Staff Writer

 ·27 Oct 2023

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

• Support coming to poultry farmers: Deputy President Paul Mashatile said the government will soon announce a support package for farmers impacted by the avian flu outbreak. This comes after the poultry industry called for the government to assist farmers who were losing millions to try to contain the outbreak. About 12% of the country’s chicken industry is under quarantine, and losses are estimated at R4.8 billion due to the outbreak of avian flu so far. [EWN]

• The DBSA eyes private sector purse: The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) approved several projects worth R25 billion in its past financial year alone and wants the private sector to get involved to help finance them. The project involves addressing critical infrastructure such as water and sanitation, energy and other sectors such as transportation. [News24]

• SARS apologies: On Tuesday evening (24 October), many South African taxpayers received an SMS from the South African Revenue Service (SARS) that used threatening language to intimidate them into compliance. On Thursday, SARS apologised and said, “The SMS message sent out earlier this week, in relation to outstanding returns, fell short of the high professional standard we seek to uphold,” and added that it had suspended the SMS service. [BusinessTech]

• Cashless by 2024: Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi says the province wants to go cashless by April 2024 to put an end to the cash-in-transit (CIT) heists causing havoc in the region. During an interview, Lesufi also added that the provincial government then wants the entirety of Gauteng to go cashless by 1 January 2026. [MyBroadband]

• Markets: The South African rand weakened in early trade on Thursday ahead of September producer inflation figures and dragged down by a stronger dollar as U.S. Treasury yields spiked on fears that interest rates will remain high. On Friday (27 October), the rand was trading at R18.92 to the dollar, R22.96 to the pound and R19.99 to the euro. Oil is trading at $89.15 a barrel. [Nasdaq]