5 important things happening in South Africa today
Here’s what is happening in and affecting South Africa today:
Critical power bill delay: An inexplicable delay by Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe may mean that parliament only sees the electricity amendment bill after the 2024 elections. Promulgation of the bill is vital for the impartial access of independent power producers to the grid and for the crucial expansion of the constrained transmission network. There is speculation that the delay by Mantashe relates to an ideological opposition by sections of the ANC towards the unbundling of Eskom, which they see as a form of privatisation, as well as his reluctance to facilitate the expansion of independent power generation. [Business Day]
Amazon to train South Africans for free: Amazon Web Services (AWS), the tech subsidiary of the global e-commerce giant, is planning to get 100,000 young South Africans trained as certified cloud computing practitioners for free. The plan centres on AWS’s Skills Centre in Cape Town, the first of its kind outside of the US. [News24]
Gold is hurting the taxman: The South Africa Revenue Service (SARS) says that the South African fiscus is suffering due to the illegal smelting of Krugerrands into gold bars. In a VAT dispute with Kusasa Refining, a company that refines precious metals, SARS said that it suspects tax graft is rampant in the second-hand gold industry, which also features illegal mines (AKA zama zamas). [Business Day]
Cele backs Mashatile: Police Minister Bheki Cele lifted the lid on the circumstances surrounding Deputy President Paul Mashatile when members of his VIP protection service were allegedly involved in the assault of three people on the N1 in Johannesburg in July. Cele said Mashatile was part of the convoy, but he did not witness the incident, as he was already at home when the alleged assault happened, as two of his vehicles detached from the convoy to deal with the now assault victims. [IOL]
Markets: The South African rand edged higher on Wednesday, reversing some of the losses incurred the previous day after its biggest trading partner China cut key policy rates. On Thursday (17 August), the rand was trading at R19.17/USD, R20.83/EUR and R24.39/GBP. Oil is trading at $83.43 a barrel. (Reuters)
Loading ...