Business

5 things you need to know in South Africa today

Staff Writer

 ·10 Oct 2016

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

• President Jacob Zuma is under pressure following the Constitutional Court’s decision to deny the National Prosecuting Authority’s bid to appeal a court ruling that the president face 783 charges of corruption. The NPA said it is assessing its options, while Zuma is waiting to hear the ruling from the Supreme Court of Appeals on the matter. The ruling comes amid student protests and a probe into state capture by the Public Protector.

• While government has pushed out the procurement process for the planned multi-billion rand nuclear deal, Russian nuclear provider Rosatom remains optimistic that it will ultimately be selected to build the power plants. Rosatom was previously implicated in an apparent ‘secret’ deal signing with the department of energy in 2015, where it announced it reached an agreement with the SA government to build the plants. This was long before any formal procurement announcement. It later retracted, saying it jumped the gun.

• Public Protector Thuli Madonsela will once again meet with president Jacob Zuma and his legal team this week to try and get answers in her probe into allegations of state capture. Last week, Zuma’s legal team reportedly frustrated the process by arguing that new PP Busisiwe Mkhwebane take over the case. After deliberations, all parties agreed that the President would answer questions posed to him by Madonsela via affidavit.

• While a few university campuses remain closed, Wits university has decided to re-open this week with a bigger security presence. Following a breakdown of negotiations with students – which led to the planned General Assembly being called off – university management is moving ahead with the academic year on its own terms. Students have vowed to disrupt classes and continue protesting – meanwhile, Wits said that students who are arrested as a result of their actions will face suspension.

• South Africa’s rand firmed against the dollar on Friday after U.S. employment growth unexpectedly slowed, cooling bets on a December rate hike by the Federal Reserve that could drain capital away from emerging markets. On Monday the rand was trading at R13.78 to the dollar, R17.09 to the pound and R15.42 to the euro.

In other news: The family of Fezekile Ntsukela Kuzwayo – the woman who accused president Jacob Zuma of raping her in 2006 – has confirmed to the media that she has passed away.