Government

5 important things happening in South Africa today

Staff Writer

 ·25 Feb 2022

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

Coronavirus: In South Africa, there have been 2,411 new cases of Covid-19, taking the total reported to 3,667,560. Deaths have reached 99,018 (+40), while recoveries have climbed to 3,533,695, leaving the country with a balance of 34,847 active cases and a recovery rate of 96,4%. A total of 31,309,353 vaccines have been administered.

• Sanctions: The Ukrainian ambassador to South Africa has called on the South African government to impose sanctions on Russia following the recent invasion of the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine. The ambassador thanked South Africa for its support and acknowledged that imposing sanctions was an unpopular decision for the South African government. The South African government said it would promote dialogue before it considered sanctions. The United States announced a range of sanctions, including bans on American exports and freezing Russian assets across the globe. US president Joe Biden said that more than 50% of the world’s economy would be closed to Russian business. [News24]

• Nersa tariff hike: The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) granted Eskom a 9.61% electricity tariff hike on Thursday. This follows Eskom’s pleas to Nersa for a total increase of 20.5% and an allowable revenue of R279 billion, but Nersa set it to R250 billion. The decision by Nersa still leaves serious questions around the power utility’s sustainability. The revenue shortfall will force Eskom to borrow more money or cut maintenance spending, analysts warned. The increase is for the 2022/2023 financial year and will take effect from 1 April 2022 for Eskom users and 1 July for municipal users. [EWN] [Moneyweb]

• Vaccine mandates: Higher education minister Blade Nzimande says that universities should be guided by the Constitution when making decisions about mandatory vaccines. Several large universities in the country introduced Covid vaccine policies this year, which have been met with resistance and protests from students. So far, the government has largely steered away from taking a position on mandatory vaccines, leaving it up to private businesses and organisations to determine their own path. [ENCA]

• North West corruption: The National Prosecuting Authority began compiling provincial corruption snapshots to demonstrate the work being done to hold criminals to account. The North-West province is now the focus of more than 50 criminal cases involving the theft of public money. Currently, there are 17 cases enrolled in court involving 19 people. The cases relate to public funds amounting to R53,3 million, and most of the charges are for fraud and corruption. [DailyMaverick]

• Markets: The rand weakened on Thursday as investors dumped riskier assets after Russian forces attacked Ukraine. Global credit rating company Fitch Ratings dampened investor sentiment and warned that recent strong revenue growth might be temporary. Global stocks dropped while the dollar, gold and oil prices rocketed higher. As a result of the invasion, Brent crude prices have increased by 8.18%, reaching $105 per barrel. On Friday, the rand is trading at R15.30/$, R17.17/€ and R20.55/£.