5 important things happening in South Africa today

·3 Nov 2023

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

Sanral’s massive irregular spending surge: The SA National Roads Agency (Sanral) has told its debt investors that its irregular expenditure ballooned 1,741% during the year ending March. The agency said that despite a 2020 board resolution to curb expenses, coupled with previous auditor-general recommendations and ministerial targets to reduce irregular spending by 75%, no reductions were recorded in the year, and it incurred irregular expenditure of R6.7 billion. [Business Day]

De Ruyter’s unwanted trophy: Eskom lost more money under André de Ruyter than any other CEO. Eskom’s net annual losses after tax during André de Ruyter’s tenure total R55.1 billion, R13.9 billion more than the power utility’s next-biggest “losers”, Phakamani Hadebe and Jabu Mabuza. De Ruyter’s three-year stint at Eskom ran from January 2020 until February 2023. During that time, the power utility reported losses of R18.9 billion, R12.3 billion, and R23.9 billion for the 2020/21, 2021/22, and 2022/23 FYs, respectively. [MyBroadband]

Organised crime chaos: South Africa has seen an increase and expansion of organised crime in the past decade as more sectors of the economy have become targets. According to the 2023 Global Organised Crime Index, South Africa has become a key player in the global cocaine trade, while organised crime has spread to even more sectors of the country, including construction, water supply, and even agriculture – costing the economy hundreds of billions of rand [Daily Investor]

Asthma inhaler warning: An over-reliance on the blue reliever pump could be linked to an increased risk of asthma attacks and deaths in South Africa, which has the fifth highest asthma mortality rate in the world. This was revealed by a new asthma study which shows that overuse is dangerous and can trigger more attacks. [TimesLive]

Markets: The South African rand jumped on Thursday against a weaker U.S. dollar as risk sentiment improved after the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged, analysts said. On Thursday, the rand was trading at R18.40 to the dollar, R22.45 to the pound and R19.55 to the euro. Oil is trading at $87.14 a barrel. [Reuters]

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