5 important things happening in South Africa today
Here’s what is happening in and affecting South Africa today:
NHI jitters: South Africa’s Finance Minister, Enoch Godongwana, said he would rather invest money in improving government-run hospitals and healthcare infrastructure than implement the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill. Godongwana said the country needs universal health coverage in some form, but it needs a sustainable funding source, which it currently lacks. [Daily Investor]
SA losing out on billions: South Africa is losing more than $62 billion a year because of illicit financial flows (IFFs), which could be used to fund the building of schools, hospitals and safer roads. Tyre Import Association of South Africa (Tiasa) chairperson and MD of Treadzone Charl de Villiers said a pilot study by the United Nations Convention on Trade and Development (Unctad) focused on measuring tax and commercial IFFs, revealed that South Africa is losing out on $21.9 billion per year in inward flows and $40.9 billion in outward flows. [Moneyweb]
Businesses battered: Small business owners in South Africa say they’re struggling to keep afloat following the recent fuel hikes, which makes running their alternative power utilities even more costly to keep their doors open. Their businesses are also being battered by Eskom’s indefinite escalation to stage six power cuts. Many are appealing for the government to come up with a plan to shield them from blackouts to help them keep their doors open. [eNCA]
Stage 3 and 4 load shedding: Power utility Eskom has announced that load shedding will be switched between various stages this week but will be at stage 4 in the evenings. Stage 3 will run from 05h00 to 16h00, followed by stage 4. [BusinessTech]
Markets: The South African rand extended gains on Friday as the U.S. dollar fell, leaving the rand slightly stronger than it was at the start of a bumpy week. On Monday (11 September), the rand was trading at R19.01/USD, R20.41/EUR and R23.80/GBP. Oil is trading at $90.53 a barrel. [Reuters]
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