Business

5 important things happening in South Africa today

Staff Writer

 ·4 Apr 2023

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

• Eskom criticism: Despite Eskom’s promise to comply with the Public Finance Management Act, Outa CEO Wayne Duvenage says irregularities should be known to the public. Eskom was exempted from declaring irregular and wasteful spending in its financial statements. Duvenage said that the decision would only widen the trust deficit between the public and the government. He added that it would be better to grant the exemption annually instead of the three years gazetted by the Finance Minister. [BusinessDay]

• Durban cleans up: Durban municipal workers will publish a detailed action plan to tackle the city’s sewage problem one year after KZN’s widespread floods. The eThekwini municipality will publish its clean-up action plan within 30 days after coming under legal pressure by ActionSA, which lodged an application against the city at the Durban High Court last November. eThekwini Water and Sanitation chief said that it is now safe to swim again at most Durban beaches. [Daily Maverick]

• Curator death threats: The North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria appointed John Myburgh as the new curator of Optimum Coal after the former curator, Peter van den Steen, stepped down following death threats. Van den Steen was appointed to work with Optimum’s business rescue practitioners as part of a preservation order which the NPA’s NPAA received over its assets last year. He said that mini-pit contracts dissipated the value from the Optimum mine by roughly R6.3 billion from March to September last year. [News24]

• Former mayor charged with fraud: Tshwane’s former Mayor, Murunwa Makwarela, could face 15 years in jail for fraud. Makwarela is charged for earning over R1.4 million since 2021 as a member of Tshwane’s council while not disclosing that he was an unrehabilitated insolvent. He is also being charged with faking a clearance certificate claiming he was rehabilitated. The Hawks said that recovering the money he earned is the main priority [EWN]

• Markets: South Africa’s rand was flat on Monday, having regained its losses from earlier in the day after a decision by major oil producers to reduce supply caused the dollar to briefly spike. The decision pushed oil prices up over 6% on Monday and drove dollar strength initially, although it was short-lived. Investors are on diverging central bank policy, with the Federal Reserve widely viewed as nearing the end of its rate-hike cycle. On Tuesday (4 April), the rand was trading at R17.87/$, R19.46/€, and R22.17/£. Brent crude is trading at $85 a barrel. [Nasdaq]