Business

5 important things happening in South Africa today

Staff Writer

 ·14 Jul 2017

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

• Officials within the SACP say that it’s Ramaphosa or bust for the ANC – saying that if the deputy president does not become the next leader of the party, the ANC faces not one, but a few major splits. The SACP is mulling contesting the 2019 elections as a separate party, while there have been reports that the ANC veterans and unions may do the same. The last major split from the ANC saw the establishment of the EFF, who have swiped 8% of the national vote.

• Finance minister Malusi Gigaba’s 14-point plan to save the South African economy has not been warmly received by economists and analysts, who say that it is a rehash of old ideas that government failed to implement, and that the scope is too broad for it to be realistically attainable. When asked to score the plan out of 10, economists gave a verdict of between two and six out of 10.

• Absa has filed a 78-page affidavit with the High Court, fighting against the Public Protector report that ordered the Reserve Bank to recover R1.125 billion from it. Absa is arguing that it paid a higher price for Bankorp when it acquired it, which took into account the Reserve Bank loan that Mkhwebane wants recovered. Absa said that the Public Protector wilfully ignored facts before her, and is looking for the report to be set aside.

• Political killings are on the rise, with several ANC councillors being attacked over the past few months. The most recent attack was against former ANCYL secretary-general Sindiso Magaqa, who was shot in an apparent ambush last night. Analysts have warned that as we get closer to the ANC’s elective conference, and certain factions within the ANC get closer to losing, more violence can be expected.

• The Rand had a mixed day on Thursday, strengthening to and then retreating from a one-week high as finance minister Malusi Gigaba’s plan to pull the economy out of recession and positive mining data were overshadowed by a resurgence of dollar demand. On Friday the rand was trading at R13.20 to the dollar, R17.10 to the pound and R15.05 to the euro.