5 important things happening in South Africa today

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

• Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has launched a fresh salvo against president Cyril Ramaphosa, accusing him of violating the constitution by ignoring her recommendation to take remedial action regarding public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan. Ramaphosa appointed Gordhan as minister despite the findings against him. Gordhan is taking her findings against him on review. [Business Day]

• The Auditor General has his sights set on 26 government institutions that have been flagged as serial mis-spenders of taxpayer money, who may soon be charged and, if found guilty, issued with a certificate of debt that will force them to repay the wasted funds. The amended Public Audit Act extended the AG’s powers to go after culprits responsible for irregular, unauthorised and wasteful expenditure. [City Press]

• Big companies are planning a raft of retrenchments, which has irked unions looking to secure as many jobs as they can. Groups like Multichoice, Tiso Blackstar, Eskom, PPC and Standard Bank are looking to let go of staff. Union federations Saftu and Cosatu are expected to meet this week, accusing the companies of maximising profits at the expense of workforce. [IOL]

• South African banks and network operators are collecting an insane amount of personal data, and there are fresh fears over how safe you are from that being abused. Legal experts say the new Protection of Private Information Act will help limit potential abuse in big data collection, but even it will have its limits. Much of the information is given willingly by service users – but most do not read the fine print. [Moneyweb]

• South Africa’s rand gained on Friday, helped by improved economic data and a dip in the US dollar, ahead of an eagerly awaited meeting between the United States and China at the G20 summit in Japan. On Monday the rand was at R14.07 to the dollar, R17.87 to the pound and R15.97 to the euro.