5 important things happening in South Africa today

·24 Oct 2022

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

Strike season is not over: The Public Servants Association (PSA), representing more than 235,000 public servants, is set to serve the government with a seven-day strike notice over its demand for above-inflation wage increases on Monday (24 October). This comes after it rejected a unilateral 3% wage hike, which minister Thulas Nxesi said he could push through as time is running out to have it on the books for the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement this week. [BusinessLive]

Transnet dire prospects: Transnet is heading for an Eskom-sized disaster as it shows falling capacity, deferred maintenance, substantial debt and constraints on cash flow. Like Eskom, it is simply not earning the revenue it needs to fund operations, especially maintenance and service of its debt. Finance minister Enoch Godongwana says that if the government doesn’t intervene, the country will have ‘another Eskom’ on its hands, which could cost taxpayers heavily. [News24]

A small win against corruption: President Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed during his address on Sunday (23 October) that the government has recovered R2.9 billion stolen through state capture, while 160 people have been implicated and have made appearances in court. He said that the recovered funds are being redirected to affected state-owned entities and that the government is also considering barring involved people and companies from doing business with the state. He added that more charges will come. [eNCA]

Joburg water at 90% recovery: Joburg Water spokesperson Puleng Mopeli said that 90% of Joburg’s water systems have recovered. He said that this is because the Rand Water Eikenof Pump station has significantly recovered and improved the average water flow to the system. He urged customers to continue reducing consumption and added that Joburg Water would implement daily partial restrictions on two direct water feeds affecting Weltevredenpark, Randparkrif, and Allen’s Nek. [EWN]

Markets: The South African rand strengthened on Friday, as the dollar traded lower despite bets on the US Federal Reserve raising interest rates again in November. Investors will now focus on the South African government’s mid-term budget next week, with a Reuters poll predicting the National Treasury will be able to trim this year’s projected budget deficit thanks to buoyant mining receipts. The rand is trading at R18.18/$, R17.89/€ and R20.62/£. Brent crude is trading at $93 a barrel. [Nasdaq]

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