Business

5 important things happening in South Africa today

Staff Writer

 ·11 Feb 2022

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

Coronavirus: In South Africa, there have been 3,169 new cases of Covid-19, taking the total reported to 3,634,811. Deaths have reached 96,705 (+203), while recoveries have climbed to 3,494,016, leaving the country with a balance of 44,090 active cases. The total number of vaccines administered is 30,468,125.

• SONA 2022: As with previous years, response to president Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address has been mixed, with different sectors welcoming parts and shrugging off other aspects of the speech. The pro-business stance of the address has been welcomed, but many remain unconvinced by the president’s promises to tackle corruption or resolve South Africa’s mounting issues with ease. Political opponents have also been somewhat divided. The DA said many of the talking points were in line with DA policy – but needed effective execution – while the EFF chose to insult the president’s “cheap suit”. [Moneyweb, TimesLive]

• Covid looting: Companies and governing bodies that scored from the looting of Gauteng education decontamination contracts have been ordered to pay back the profits they made. The Special Investigation Unit filed an application to the Special Tribunal over R431 million spent on decontamination, disinfection, deep cleaning and sanitising contracts in Gauteng schools in 2020. Seventy-three companies were named in the order, where the tribunal found proper processes were not followed, and the contracts were deemed unconstitutional. The companies now have to pay back the profits on the contracts within 60 days. [Daily Maverick]

• Broadband for all: President Ramaphosa has promised that the government will facilitate broadband rollout by establishing a standard model for municipal approvals. Fibre and mobile network operators must apply for permits from municipalities to dig trenches to lay conduits and fibre cables. In his 2022 State of the Nation address, Ramaphosa said that establishing a standard approval process will help make faster broadband more accessible to more people. Unfortunately, the idea of streamlining the rollout of broadband networks is nothing new and has gone through several stop-start-stall phases since 2008. [MyBroadband]

• Misconduct: The Legal Practice Council says it will probe advocate Dali Mpofu for misconduct following concerns raised by the General Council of the Bar and the Black Lawyers Association, among others, about his behaviour during the Judicial Service Commission’s chief justice interviews. During the interviews, Mpofu and EFF leader Julius Malema levelled unsubstantiated allegations of sexual misconduct against Gauteng Judge President Dunstan Mlambo. Mpofu says he did nothing wrong and made further allegations that so-called “white media” and “white lawyers” were driving a campaign against him. [News24]

• Markets: The South African rand posted strong gains on Thursday before President Cyril Ramaphosa’s annual State of the Nation Address. Domestic data released on Thursday were mixed, with December manufacturing output falling 0.1% year on year, less than expected, and December mining production falling by 1.1% when growth was expected. Ahead of Ramaphosa’s address, the rand traded at R15.01 to the dollar but weakened to R15.20 afterwards. Response to the speech has been mixed, with analysts pointing to a retread of 2021’s address. On Friday, the rand was trading at R15.24/$, R17.35/€ and R20.61/£. [Reuters]