Business

5 important things happening in South Africa today

Staff Writer

 ·8 Nov 2021

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

Coronavirus: In South Africa, there have been 205 new cases of Covid-19, taking the total reported to 2,923,956. Deaths have reached 89,332 (+13), while recoveries have climbed to 2,818,103, leaving the country with a balance of 16,521 active cases. The total number of vaccines administered is 23,151,823 (+13,909).

• Power crisis: South Africa’s load shedding crisis could escalate as Eskom’s relationship with service providers has reportedly soured to the point that critical work at the Kusile power stations has stopped. A contractual dispute with Eskom has reportedly led to work on conveyor belts – needed to transport coal to the plant – ceasing. This has been ongoing for two weeks. The work stopped after Eskom stopped paying the company handling the process. The power utility said it stopped the payments to offset overpayments of around R500 million it made over the years. [News24 – Paywall]

• Lockdown: The health department says there are no indications yet that the country will move to a higher lockdown level or have more restrictions imposed. However, there are worries that a fourth wave will start in the coming months, driven by gatherings over the festive season, and possibly sparked by a new variant. The department said it is tracking a host of factors, including people’s behaviour, the vaccine rollout and new variants. However, as things stand now, the country is still riding a quiet period. [EWN]

• Coalitions: Political parties may be looking to play a longer game – opting to build relationships and partnerships to take power in the 2024 national election, rather than enter into destructive coalitions to gain the upper hand in municipalities now. The DA this weekend made it clear that it will not enter into any coalitions with the ANC and the EFF, following the volatility it suffered post-2016 when the EFF scuppered its agreements over policy issues. The DA said it would rather form strong oppositions in hung municipalities than work with parties who are not on the same page. The ANC has expresses similar sentiments, saying it is happy to be the opposition in areas it has lost. [Daily Maverick]

• Whistleblowers: A key state capture witness said they were forced to flee South Africa, fearing for their safety. This follows the murder of health department whistleblower Babita Deokaran, which showed that the state was either unable or had no desire to protect witnesses or whistleblowers in corruption cases. While Deokaran had exposed corruption tied to Covid-19 contracts at the health department, the state capture witness had exposed or implicated 39 parties in their testimony, saying that retaliation could come from anywhere. The witness fled the country without their family and is currently in an undisclosed location. [TimesLive]

• Markets: The South African rand firmed on Friday along with other emerging market currencies after a volatile week with price swings driven by domestic politics and US monetary policy. The rand was supported by strong US jobs data, which boosted optimism about the global economic recovery. The rand’s gains were capped, however, by a poor showing by the governing ANC in municipal elections. The final count released late on Thursday showed the ANC had its worst result since taking power in 1994. On Monday, the rand was trading at R14.98/$, R17.32/€ and R20.20/£. [Reuters]