5 important things happening in South Africa today
Here’s what is happening in and affecting South Africa today:
Inflation uncertainties: Considerable uncertainty surrounding both domestic and global inflation have divided bankers and economists ahead of the Reserve Bank’s monetary policy committee meeting in September, where it will decide whether the country’s borrowers will get some relief or continue to endure the currently high interest rates. Some noted the urgent need for relief for consumers as record impairment figures started to show face. Unfortunately, this relief is likely not come to pass as a majority of speakers at the SARB’s biennial conference seemed to favour a “higher for longer” approach amid ongoing economic uncertainty. [Mail and Gaurdian]
Cadre deployment would kill Treasury: The National Treasury, which is responsible for managing the public purse, should remain insulated from the ANC’s practice of cadre deployment for it to function effectively, said Finance Minister Enoch Godogwana. Cadre deployment has been blamed for service delivery failures, with fingers pointed at the ANC for placing appointees in critical roles in departments, agencies and enterprises who often lack the skills, competence, or training and experience to run them. These notions from the Finance Minister join a list of opponents of the ANC’s deployment policy — including opposition parties and civil society organisations. [Business Day]
Companies neglect retirement: Financial sector watchdog the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has published a list of thousands of employers in SA who are in arrears with their contributions to retirement funds – and the worst offenders are more than 250 months behind. A quarter of the offending companies had contributions outstanding for five or more years, while just under a quarter had outstanding contributions for between 13 months and five years. The list can be viewed here. [News24]
Big changes for X: Arguably the most popular social media site in the world, Twitter, or X, as its owner Elon Musk renamed it, will be able to host video and voice calls without a phone number, according to a tweet from Musk on Thursday. [IOL]
Markets: South Africa’s rand weakened further on Thursday against a stronger dollar as data painted a mixed picture of the U.S. economy. South Africa’s July producer inflation and trade figures did little to prop up its currency, with the rand taking cues from the stronger dollar. On Friday (1 September), the rand was trading at R18.86/USD, R20.45/EUR and R23.88/GBP. Oil is trading at $86.86 a barrel. (Reuters)
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