Government

5 important things happening in South Africa today

Staff Writer

 ·25 Oct 2023

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

• Good news for Medupi: Electricity generation in the country will receive a significant boost next year with the earlier-than-expected return to service of Medupi unit 4. Minister of Electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said an interim solution had been found to expedite the return to service of Medupi Unit 4 by April next year instead of August, adding another 800MW of baseload to the grid ahead of winter. [BusinessDay]

• Transnet begs for money: Transnet is seeking more than R100 billion from the Treasury over the next two years, according to the turnaround plan produced by the board. The plan proposes that the Treasury take over a minimum of R61 billion of its debt and provide R47 billion in an equity injection or a subordinated loan that can be converted to equity should it meet performance targets. [News24]

• Budget deficit cover-up: Wits University’s Professor Alex van den Heever said South Africa’s fiscal crisis has likely been exaggerated, and austerity measures serve to cover up government corruption and mismanagement. “The government has failed to address the underlying causes for revenue shortfalls and the wastage of government expenditures – reinforcing, supporting, and accepting corruption in the state,” he said. [Daily Investor]

• Eskom warns communities: Eskom has warned communities that have benefited from the installation of new transformers in Gauteng that if illegal connections cause its devices to fail, chances of the power utility replacing the device will be slim. Residents, on the other hand, are wondering where will they get the money to pay for the electricity as they are unemployed. [Times Live]

• Markets: South Africa’s rand fell on Tuesday as the dollar strengthened following fresh economic data, which highlighted the strength of the U.S. economy. U.S. data showed business output ticked higher in October as the manufacturing sector pulled out of a five-month contraction. On Wednesday (25 October), the rand was trading at R19.01 to the dollar, R23.15 to the pound and R20.16 to the euro. Oil is trading at $87.94 a barrel. [Reuters]