Business

5 important things happening in South Africa today

Luke Fraser

 ·20 Jul 2023

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

• Joburg explosion: Following a major explosion on Bree Street in Johannesburg’s CBD, one person has been found dead underneath taxi rubble, with over 40 others injured and 37 vehicles damaged. Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi said that the process of identifying which areas have been affected has started, particularly those that have a significant impact on the economy and social activity of the city, such as courts. He added that officials are still searching for the explosion’s source, with Egoli Gas saying that it wasn’t one of their pipelines as customers in the area still had service. [News24]

• Blackout unlikely: Isabel Fick, Eskom’s system controls general manager, says the chances of South Africa experiencing a national blackout are extremely low. If a blackout does occur, Fick said that Eskom does have a response plan, but it will take between six and 14 days to restore power. She also said that both units being offline for maintenance at Koeberg would not increase the chance of a regional blackout in the Western Cape, as the province’s electricity supply is quite stable, even without these units [BusinessTech]

• Betting complaint: Lottoland SA has approached the Competition Tribunal for an interim relief application, which seeks to order Google South African and Ireland to allow access to the tech company’s advertising service platform. Lottoland said that Google denied its access to its advertising services without legitimate justification and allowed other gambling entities to advertise. The tech giant argued that Lottoland’s landing page violated its internal policies and possibly the law – as fixed-odds bet on National Lotteries can contravene the National Lotteries Act. [News24]

• Port privatisation: Transnet is expanding on its partnership plans with the private sector as it looks to expand the container facility capacity at the Richards Bay Port. The Transnet National Ports Authority has requested that interested parties respond to requests for proposals to design, fund, build, operate, and transfer a container handling facility for a 25-year term. Earlier this week, Transnet said that the Philippines-based International Container Terminal Services would partly own part and operate a large chunk of the Durban Container Terminal. [Moneyweb]

• Markets: The rand dipped slightly on Wednesday after local inflation fell more than expected in June to 5.4%, with traders holding off big bets until the interest rate decision is made later today. Analysts across the country remain divided on what the Monetary Policy Committee will do, with some believing that interest rates will be hiked by 25 basis points while others predict that they will be placed on hold. On Thursday (20 July), the rand was trading at R17.86/$, R20.02/€, and R23.09/£. Brent crude is trading at $79.38 a barrel. [Nasdaq]