5 important things happening in South Africa today
·22 Feb 2017
Here’s what is happening in and affecting South Africa today:
Finance minister Pravin Godhan will deliver his Budget Speech at 14h00 today.
- All eyes are on finance minister Pravin Gordhan as he prepares to deliver his 2017 Budget speech. Ratings agencies are keeping a close eye on how the country plans to move forward, seeking economic reforms that will bring growth and investment to the economy – however, the minister has to oversee a tough balancing act between fiscal expectations and political promises.
- Telkom may be eyeing a bid for struggling mobile operator Cell C, which is struggling to make debt payments as it works through a tie-up with Blue Label Telecoms. According to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, Telkom may look at making a R13 billion bid for the company.
- 14 members of Parliament have not made submissions declaring their interests, and may face sanctions. The annual register of financial interests of parliamentarians for 2016/17 revealed a mass of gifts and interests by government officials, including finance minister Pravin Gordhan’s share portfolio, as well as deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa’s R132 million in business interests.
- City of Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille faces expulsion from the Democratic Alliance if she is found guilty of wrongdoing in an ongoing investigation into the leaking of official documents to the public. The matter is reportedly over the succession battle for leader of the province, after de Lille quit her position as the Western Cape leader of the party.
- South Africa’s rand weakened on Tuesday, while stocks were little changed, with Shoprite topping the Blue-chip index after the retailer reported a rise in half-year profit. On Wednesday, the rand was trading at R13.11 to the dollar, R16.39 to the pound and R13.82 to the euro.
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