Government

5 important things happening in South Africa today

Staff Writer

 ·14 Aug 2017

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

• A new “rogue” intelligence report has surfaced, lifting the lid off a ‘dirty tricks’ campaign against deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa. The campaign, which purportedly has a budget of R1.5 million and a deadline for October, seeks to dig out who is funding Ramaphosa’s bid for the ANC presidency and to do other types of surveillance.

• President Jacob Zuma has indicated that he is going after those who voted against him in last week’s vote of no confidence, and may fire ministers who have been publicly speaking out against him. Zuma said that ANC should use its own rules and its own constitution to rid themselves of the MPs who broke party lines in the secret vote.

• The National Prosecuting Authority has rejected weekend reports that it would not investigate the Gupta leaks because the trove of emails was ‘stolen’ and thus inadmissible. NPA spokesperson Luvuyo Mfaku said that the reporters did not speak to prosecutors in charge of the probe, and was trying to discredit the NPA.

• ANC Women’s League president Bathabile Dlamini spent the weekend apparently defending an abuser – deputy minister of higher education Mduduzi Manana – and lambasting other female leaders who have their eyes on the ANC presidency. Dlamini said that Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma is the only viable candidate, and in a separate interview said that Manana’s case of abuse has been politicised, and he won’t be punished because there are others in the ANC who have done worse than him.

• South Africa’s rand gave up its modest gains on Friday ahead of a ratings decision by Moody’s, erasing the benefits of higher commodity prices as traders treaded cautiously and avoided large bets. On Monday the rand was trading at R13.42 to the dollar, R17.46 to the pound and R15.86 to the euro.