5 important things happening in South Africa today

·23 Oct 2023

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

Consumers still in trouble: According to FNB, homeowners who accumulated excess cash and paid down their existing mortgage debt during the Covid-19 lockdown, a period when interest rates were slashed to historic lows, are now drawing on those prepayments to keep bread on the table and to install solar. [BusinessDay]

Biggest risk to SA’s economy: The continued deterioration of Transnet’s infrastructure and performance threatens the entire South African economy, which is reliant on the utility to facilitate 68% of its GDP. Anglo American CEO Duncan Wanblad said South Africa is missing out on billions in investments due to the challenging operating environment to which Transnet is a significant contributor. Other experts also noted that the commodity sectors’ move to trucks would result in decreased road safety, increased spending on road infrastructure, and increased costs associated with trucking goods. [Daily Investor]

Huge hurdle for NHI: While Parliament passed the National Health Insurance Bill in June, drug maker Adcock Ingram said it is “highly likely” that the bill will face multiple and lengthy legal challenges based on it being ‘unconstitutional’ or for the re-evaluation of the powers of the ministers, which could delay its implementation significantly. [News24]

Slap on the wrists of blue light bullies: The South African Police Service (Saps) said it completed its internal investigations into the eight VIP Protection Unit members who were filmed assaulting people on the N1 highway earlier this year. However, National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola said the members would normally return to their place of work. “They would get allocated somewhere, and I can’t tell you exactly the process where it is, but the investigation is complete. There are processes that are still on, in terms of some disciplinary regulations,” he said. [702]

Markets: The South African rand was weaker in early trade on Friday against the U.S. dollar as the global focus remains on conflict in the Middle East. “Global markets are volatile, which creates risks of spillover, but overall, the rand seems unlikely to go very far in either direction,” said Rand Merchant Bank analysts. On Monday (23 October), the rand was trading at R19.06 to the dollar, R23.15 to the pound and R20.15 to the euro. Oil is trading at $91.21 a barrel. [Nasdaq]

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