Government

5 important things happening in South Africa today

Staff Writer

 ·21 Aug 2019

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

• Public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has gone directly to the Constitutional Court, seeking urgent guidance on how to deal with interdict orders. She is seeking to appeal the interdict granted that halts the remedial action the public protector ordered President Cyril Ramaphosa to follow. Mkhwebane wants Ramaphosa to discipline minister Pravin Gordhan over the so-called SARS rogue unit. The courts halted the order, pending a review of the report. [M&G]

• Despite suffering major setbacks in recent months, president Cyril Ramaphosa still maintains the highest levels of public confidence a South African president has ever had, a new report shows. The report, measuring public confidence in political figures, has Ramaphosa’s approval rating at 62% – slightly lower than the 64% when he first became president, but still higher than any president before. [TimesLive]

• The health department has clarified that migrants and their children will have access to the NHI once it is in place – as long as they are registered to use it. Migrants and other foreign nationals will be able to access the exact same healthcare benefits as South African citizens, as the Constitution ensures access to healthcare for all. The state will then try to recoup costs from migrants’ originating countries to cover the costs. [News24]

• The Gupta-linked group that owes Eskom R600 million says it doesn’t have the funds to do so – because it gave out personal loans amounting to R540 million to Gupta ally Salim Essa and a Gupta IT company which it says is now unrecoverable. Trillian owes Eskom the R600 million as part of a court instruction ordering it to return the money it got in consultancy fees from a tainted deal. [Daily Maverick]

• South Africa’s rand firmed on Tuesday, pulling back from an 11-month low as long dollar investors took profits and awaited further clues on the outlook for the global and local economy. Stocks closed weaker, dragged down by local retailers. On Wednesday, the rand was at R15.34 to the dollar, R18.65 to the pound and R17.02 to the euro.