5 things you need to know in South Africa today
·2 Sep 2016
Here’s what is happening in and affecting South Africa today:
- Despite the ANC’s nation executive taking collective responsibility for the poor performance in the recent elections, branches of the party are going against the leadership and placing the blame squarely on the shoulders of president Jacob Zuma. The ANC in the Eastern Cape and now Mpumalanga have amplified their calls for the president to step down.
- Cabinet wants action to be taken against the banks and auditing forms which cut off and blacklisted the Gupta family earlier this year. A special committee headed up by mineral resources minister Mosebenzi Zwane wants Zuma to set up a judicial inquiry to investigate the banks. Zwane has been linked to the Guptas, and also suggested SARB be stripped of its licensing powers.
- Deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa and the ANC are trying to allay fears about South Africa state-owned companies after two lenders took the decision to cut off financing from groups like Eskom and Transnet. Ramaphosa told National Assembly that government officials involved in public spats have been told to stop airing their issues in the public and that processes are in place to put the matter to bed.
- In a bittersweet outcome for Treasury, SAA chair Dudu Myeni has once again been nominated to be on the SAA board in the same role – however she is surrounded by a host of names selected by Treasury itself, who may prove difficult for Myeni to simply overstep. Civil group Outa is trying to get Myeni declared a delinquent director through the courts.
- South Africa’s rand recouped some of its previous session’s losses on Thursday, while stocks closed slightly lower led by a weaker financial sector after asset manager Futurergrowth’s decision to freeze lending to state companies. On Friday, the rand was trading at R14.60 to the dollar, R19.39 to the pound and R16.35 to the euro.
In global news: The potential for strong U.S. job data later in the day – which would raise chances of a Federal Reserve rate hike soon – kept Asian financial markets nervously marking time on Friday. Crude prices rose on Friday after losses of more than 3 percent a day earlier.
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