5 important things happening in South Africa today

 ·29 Apr 2022

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


  • Construction mafia: The South African Forum of Civil Engineering Contractors (Safcec) said that there has been a significant reduction in disruption of construction project incidents by the so-called ‘construction mafia’. The decline in disruptions came after one of the more ‘feared’ business forums became a legal entity. Approximately 404 construction sites – collectively valued at R51.1 billion – have been disrupted since 2018. Around 8 of these have occurred this year. [Moneyweb]

  • Inflation: South Africa’s producer price index (PPI), which measures changes in the prices of goods bought and sold by manufacturers, climbed 11.9% in March. This has been the highest recorded since 2013, heightening the risks of inflation hitting South Africa’s economy, which already is fragile and now may face an increased pace of interest rate hikes. Businesses and consumers have been hit by rising inflation, pushing up costs. [BusinessLive]

  • Child hospital calamity: Conditions have worsened at the only dedicated mother and child public hospital in South Africa. Doctors at the Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital, which houses 350 beds and delivers 16,000 babies a year, said it is in ‘crisis’ after facing periodic drug and equipment shortages. The hospital’s CEO denies that the hospital is in a ‘crisis’ whilst healthcare workers report that there was no water last weekend. [Daily Maverick]

  • Digital shift: The minister for communications and digital technology said that households that applied for digital TV by October last year would have their installations completed by June this year. This comes after the government introduced a shift last year from analogue TV to digital, where households with an income of R3,500 a month or less qualified for free installation of a set-top box. [EWN]

  • Markets: The South African rand was under pressure from a strong dollar early on Thursday, as the US currency stuck to multi-year peaks against a basket of currencies. The rand lost more than 6% against the greenback last week as severe power cuts by power utility Eskom and devastating floods reminded investors of South Africa’s growth outlook constraints. The rand is currently trading at R15.95/$, R16.77/€ and R19.93/£. [Nasdaq]
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