Business

5 important things happening in South Africa today

Staff Writer

 ·19 Nov 2019

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

• Newly appointed Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter has a difficult task ahead of him, but is at least enjoying support – for now – from political parties and business leaders. The ANC and DA have thrown their support behind him, while CEOs and other leaders have urged him to focus on getting Eskom’s debt under control and embracing renewable energy. The EFF rejected his appointment, calling it racist. [Fin24]

• Standard Bank SA CEO Lungisa Fuzile says that South Africa is on an unsustainable path – and some of government’s plan to turn things around are futile. He said short-term wins like visa changes and boosting the tourism industry are good measures to start with, but things like switching procurement from big to small businesses will do little to expand the economy (as demand stays the same). Instead government should boost exports and free trade in Africa. [CNBC Africa]

• Parliament has condemned the strike action against SAA, calling for a resolution to the matter as soon as possible. Most notably, it said that striking unions, while having the right to strike, were damaging South Africa’s credibility and putting their own, and other jobs at risk. This is happening at a time that government is trying to save and secure jobs. [News24]

• Energy minister Gwede Mantashe has approved the Western Cape government’s request to source power from alternative sources, opening the way for the province to turn to independent power producers to help offset the losses from load shedding. The City of Cape Town was seeking a court order to the same effect, with that particular case only set for May 2020. [EWN, BusinessTech]

• South Africa’s rand weakened on Monday, as cautious investors awaited clues on monetary policy from the local central bank and some of the world’s major central banks, as well as developments in US-China trade talks. On Tuesday the rand was at R14.83 to the dollar, R19.21 to the pound and R16.43 to the euro.