5 important things happening in South Africa today

·17 Feb 2023

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

New era of state capture: Paul Pretorius, the head state’s legal team at the Zondo Commission, says the country may be facing a new era of state capture. He said that the use of the word “mafia” in current political discourse is not inappropriate. He added that more truly independent law enforcement agencies are required to fight against state capture and corruption, as the Hawks and the investigating directorate at the NPA do not yet have secure independence. [News24]

Gauteng energy plans: Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi says the province is ready to migrate the poor off the Eskom grid within the shortest possible timeframe. At the inaugural Gauteng Energy Crisis Response Expo, Lesufi said that the energy crisis also presented a possible new economy for the province, as the crisis could create jobs and employ thousands of people. He added that the most promising solutions presented at the expo would be brought before the public in the State of the Province Address next Monday. [Polity]

SAA shows improvement: Treasury says SAA is no longer technically insolvent and had a net equity value of R1 billion by the end of 2022. SAA had net group losses of R50 million for the first three quarters of the current financial year, but Treasury said that this is a major improvement over the budgeted loss of nearly R640 million. During the budget speech next week, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana will decide if SAA gets the necessary funding to settle the final tranche of its historic receivership debt. [News24]

Unions ununited: Public service unions do not appear united over a planned strike next week Wednesday, as the Public Servants Association (PSA) – which represents 235,000 public sector employees – withdraws from 2022/2023 pay talks and prepares for another round of negotiations later today. The PSA said that it was dissatisfied with the 3% offer that was unilaterally implemented last year, but noted that its members suffered financially after participating in a strike last year. [Moneyweb]

Markets: South Africa’s rand was flat in early trade on Thursday, despite gains in other emerging market currencies as the US dollar fell. Recent warnings from ratings agencies Fitch and Moody’s about the impact of South Africa’s power crisis on its growth prospects have raised concerns about a possible downgrade and weighed on the rand’s performance, Andre Cilliers at TreasuryONE said. On Friday (17 February), the rand was trading at R18.21/$, R19.39/€, and R21.77/£. Brent crude is trading at $84.24 a barrel. [Nasdaq]

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