Business

5 important things happening in South Africa today

Staff Writer

 ·6 Jul 2017

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

• The ANC’s policy conference has come to an end, and the ruling party has failed to reach consensus on any way to bring the South African economy out of recession. It has, however, managed to upset the market through supporting nationalisation and other populist policies, while laying bare its deep divisions and internal bickering. As predicted by several economists, the conference ended up being less about actual policies and more about posturing for the party’s elective conference in December.

• Investors have been on edge ever since the Reserve Bank’s mandate has come under fire, but appeared to panic over proposals that it be nationalised. However, government has questioned this reaction, saying that making the Bank state owned would not really change anything, and would not happen any time soon. Despite being owned by private investors, they have very little say on how the Bank is run or its mandate. It is already subject to the policies of government.

• Computers stolen from the Hawks’ offices contained sensitive data relating to anti-corruption investigations on former head, Berning Ntlemeza, it has been revealed. The Times has learned that the hardware stolen on Tuesday night stored information about what is thought to have been the irregular appointment of numerous people to senior and administrative positions in the crime-fighting unit.

• The International Criminal Court will today rule on whether South Africa broke international law by not arresting Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted for trial on charges of genocide in Darfur. Legal experts widely expect that judges at the International Criminal Court will find that Pretoria, one of the founding members of the tribunal, failed to co-operate with the ICC based in The Hague.

• South Africa’s rand hit a seven-week low against the dollar on Wednesday after the ruling party proposed at a policy conference to nationalise the central bank and expropriate land without compensation. On Thursday the rand was trading at R13.39 to the dollar, R17.32 to the pound and R15.18 to the euro.