Business

5 important things happening in South Africa today

Staff Writer

 ·4 Apr 2019

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

• Eskom chairman Jabu Mabuza says the company needs to get rid of R250 billion in debt for it to function and operate the way the country needs it to. Eskom’s current debt is sitting at R420 billion, and is the biggest liability on treasury’s books. [Reuters]

• The IEC has received objections to 53 politicians on electoral lists of 9 parties – with over 20 objections on the ANC list, alone. The ANC is being criticised for including names accused of corruption, or found by the courts to have violated their oaths. [Mail & Guardian]

• South African trade and industry minister Rob Davies has penned a detailed breakdown of how the UK’s Brexit mess will affect South Africa, including the state of trade agreements and ongoing negotiations to ensure we are not too heavily impacted. [BusinessLive]

• 64 JSE listed companies have rotated auditors, 4 years before the practice is to be made mandatory – and KPMG has emerged as the biggest loser, have lost 20 contracts since 2017. KPMG suffered major reputational damage for its role in auditing Gupta companies during the period. [Moneyweb]

• South Africa’s rand strengthened on Wednesday as hopes of a trade deal between the United States and China bolstered risk appetite globally, while stocks also strengthened in line with global market optimism. On Thursday the rand was at R14.14 to the dollar, R18.63 to the pound and R15.89 to the euro.