5 important things happening in South Africa today

·3 Oct 2023

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

End of load shedding: Speaking with JJ Tabane on Power to Truth, Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said he expects blackouts to be gone by the middle of 2024. He noted that more generating units are coming online, which has led to increased generation capacity. At the same time, South Africa will receive the first consignment of power equipment from Chinese companies as early as next week. This follows the agreements signed between the two countries on the sidelines of the BRICS summit. [eNCA]

Cele found guilty: Parliament has found Police Minister Bheki Cele MP guilty of breaching the code of ethical conduct for members of Parliament for threatening a member of the public. The breach was in relation to a complaint following a police imbizo in July last year, where crime activist, Ian Cameron, alleged that Cele did not behave in a dignified manner when he told him to “shut up”. Parliament’s Joint Committee on Ethics and Members’ Interests said it would now recommend to the National Assembly that Cele apologises to Cameron in the House for his conduct. [EWN]

Pick n Pay takes a big hit: In morning trade on Monday, Pick n Pay’s shares crashed almost 11% and have now lost more than 44% on a one-year basis. This follows Pieter Boone stepping down as CEO less than two and half years into the role, while the retailer also flagged a half-year loss to 27 August 2023. Sean Summers, who was Pick n Pay CEO from 1999 to 2007, has returned to the role with immediate effect. [News24]

Cash cows lifelines: South African Institute of Taxation CEO Keith Engel says the government faces a significant budget shortfall but is unwilling to do the one thing it can to fill the gap – cutting off its struggling state-owned enterprises (SOEs). University of the Witwatersrand Professor Alex van den Heever previously said the government keeps many of South Africa’s SOEs alive because the “ANC and other political parties want to retain these organisations as cash cows”. He added that vested interests in many SOEs prevent them from being cut off from government support, and this is now a critical problem when faced with the current debt crisis in South Africa. [Daily Investor]

Markets: The South African rand slumped on Monday, dragged down by a stronger dollar and local purchasing managers’ data that showed factory activity shrank for the eighth month in a row in September. On Tuesday (3 September), the rand was trading at R19.29/$, R20.18/€, and R23.27/£. Brent crude is trading at $89.75 a barrel. [Reuters]

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