Business

5 important things happening in South Africa today

Staff Writer

 ·11 Jan 2023

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

• Collapsed: If power generation is an indication of economic activity, then South Africa has already collapsed, analysts say. While the country continues to deal with crippling load shedding, rampant crime and several other crises, there appears to be little to no movement from the national government. Mining and labour analyst Mamokgethi Molopyane says that it’s not because of a lack of political will but rather too many vested interests from all sectors of society. The end result, however, is that nothing gets done, and those in charge choose to play politics over taking decisive action. [Moneyweb]

• Fight over Eskom oversight: The Democratic Alliance (DA) says it would be a severe error to move oversight of Eskom to the energy department from the Department of Public Enterprises. DA MP Ghaleb Cachalia says the party will fight against the move, as he believes the move is part of a political deal to get Cyril Ramaphosa a second term as president by giving Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe greater access to Eskom, potentially creating a conflict of interest. [EWN]

• Awaiting placement: Gauteng MEC for education Matome Chiloane says the 1,394 grade one and eight students who are yet to be placed in a government school will be taught this year, as schools reopen today. Chiloane says over 290,000 applications have been completed and the remaining unassigned are from incomplete applications where the parents failed to provide documentation. Numerous schools in the province are being repaired after incidents of vandalism – with 24 schools affected in December 2022. [TimesLive]

• Banned: Former Steinhoff CEO Markus Jooste has been fined R7.5 million by the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and has been banned from serving as a director of a listed company for 20 years. The JSE found that Jooste’s actions and failure to comply with the Listings Requirements were one of the causes of the publication of Steinhoff’s 2016 financial statements, which were also found to be fraudulent. As the highest-ranking executive, Jooste had the ultimate responsibility for the decisions and actions of management. [ENCA]

• Markets: The South African rand weakened slightly against the dollar – dipping below R17.00 – on Tuesday, 10 January, as investors were still awaiting further information regarding Federal Reserve’s rate-hike path. Like most other emerging economies, the rand is highly influenced by global drivers, including US monetary policy. US inflation is expected to drop sharply, which can soften the expectation of rate hikes and detract from the dollar. On Wednesday (11 January), the rand was trading at R17.00/$, R18.26/€, and R20.67/£. Brent crude is trading at $79.34 a barrel. [Reuters]