5 important things happening in South Africa today

·25 Apr 2023

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

Pay increase for top officials: It has been recommended that South Africa’s top 20,000 public servants should get a salary increase of 3.8%. Some judges demanded 7%, and others pointed to a 20.6% decrease in their effective pay in recent years, while finance minister Enoch Godongwana noted that the fiscus can only afford a 1.5% increase. However, it is up to President Ramaphosa to decide if the ministers, MPs, judges and traditional leaders in that group actually get such an increase. [News24]

Joburg mayor resigns: Thapelo Amad resigned as mayor of Johannesburg less than three months after he was elected to the role with the backing of members of the African National Congress seeking to regain influence over South Africa’s richest city. Amad quit a day before he was due to face a vote of no-confidence, opposition party ActionSA said in an emailed statement. [EWN]

A win for Ramokgopa: ANC top brass endorsed a proposal to delay the shutdown of Eskom’s coal-fired power stations on Monday (24 April), a political victory for electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa. In light of the decision, President Cyril Ramaphosa says ending load-shedding takes priority. However, extending the lifespan of the plants could jeopardise SA’s ability to secure financing for its just energy transition (JET) programme. [BusinessDay]

Outgoing Eskom COO’s criticisms: Outgoing chief operating officer, Jan Oberholzer, supports the idea of extending the life of some of the utility’s ageing coal-fired power plants but believes it’s not the quick fix like Ramokgopa makes it out to be. Oberholzer says it would be a mistake to think that the entire coal-fired fleet could be fixed quickly and added that near-term targets to raise the utility’s overall energy availability factor (EAF). He added 2023 would continue to be a difficult year in terms of power cuts, and a substantial easing of load-shedding intensity will only be evident by early next year. [Daily Investor]

Markets: The South African rand slipped on Monday (24 April) as markets awaited economic data out of the US later this week, which could influence the Federal Reserve’s rate-hiking cycle. The lack of risk appetite for the rand is driven by the Fed, which will likely shape the South African Reserve Bank’s rate reaction. On Tuesday (25 April), the rand was trading at R18.19/$, R20.10/€, and R22.69/£. Brent crude is trading at $82.49 a barrel. [Nasdaq]

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