{"id":446358,"date":"2020-11-06T07:54:40","date_gmt":"2020-11-06T05:54:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=446358"},"modified":"2020-11-06T07:54:40","modified_gmt":"2020-11-06T05:54:40","slug":"5-important-things-happening-in-south-africa-today-919","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/446358\/5-important-things-happening-in-south-africa-today-919\/","title":{"rendered":"5 important things happening in South Africa today"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Here&#8217;s what is happening in and affecting South Africa today:<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Coronavirus<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecdc.europa.eu\/en\/geographical-distribution-2019-ncov-cases\">Global Covid-19<\/a> infections have hit 48.2 million confirmed, with the death toll reaching 1,226,200. In <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DrZweliMkhize\/status\/1324432586618347522\/photo\/1\">South Africa<\/a>, there have been 1,866 new cases, taking the total reported to 732,414. Deaths have reached 19,677 (a daily increase of 92), while recoveries have climbed to 671,579, leaving the country with a balance of 41,158 active cases.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Lockdown<\/strong>: Minister in the presidency Jackson Mthembu says government is reviewing the country&#8217;s lockdown regulation, because of continued reckless and irresponsible behaviour by South Africans in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic. The national coronavirus command council will be meeting next week, after which President Cyril Ramaphosa will brief the nation. This follows several warnings from authorities about a possible return to a stricter lockdown should the country&#8217;s infection numbers not improve. [<a href=\"https:\/\/ewn.co.za\/2020\/11\/06\/mthembu-reckless-behaviour-of-some-forcing-govt-to-review-covid-19-regulations\">EWN<\/a>]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>SOEs<\/strong>: Public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan says that government is very much aware of the strain SOEs place on the fiscus, but there is no quick solution to the problem, as they need to be supported, and the damage of state capture undone, for them to become successful. He was responding to criticism from the DA, who pointed out that most state companies were bankrupt and failing. Gordhan said the party was providing no solutions, except for liquidations which would negatively impact jobs, debt and wider industries. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.news24.com\/fin24\/economy\/south-africa\/gordhan-we-can-make-soes-exemplary-but-opposition-parties-are-in-denial-20201105\">News24<\/a>]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>New laws<\/strong>: With 36 draft laws sitting before parliament, lawmakers are flooded, and attention is being pulled away from of the more significant pieces of legislation under consideration, including the National Health Insurance and land redistribution without compensation. Some of the draft laws need to be implemented within the next month to ensure that the medium term budget can be implemented. Other things, like South Africa&#8217;s cannabis laws, have been pushed back to 2021 as result. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymaverick.co.za\/article\/2020-11-05-draft-laws-back-up-in-crammed-calendar-dominated-by-must-dos-leaving-key-legislation-dangling\/\">Daily Maverick<\/a>]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Named<\/strong>: Former SAA chair Dudu Myeni could face criminal charges for naming a protected witness during her non-testimony before the state capture commission. Myeni&#8217;s time before the commission was filled with refusals to answer &#8211; so as not to incriminate herself &#8211; but was further marred by Myeni naming a witness who was granted protection by the commission. Myeni said she did not intent to name the witness, but the commission&#8217;s legal team have urged deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo to press criminal charges against her for the act. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeslive.co.za\/sunday-times-daily\/politics\/2020-11-05-dudu-myeni-could-be-criminally-charged-for-unmasking-anonymous-witness\/\">TimesLive<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.enca.com\/news\/myeni-apologises-naming-protected-witness\">ENCA<\/a>]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Markets<\/strong>: The rand continues to enjoy strength, driven by the US election and the potential Joe Biden win. The Federal Reserve is adding to the momentum, indicating that governments and central banks will have to do more to support the economy. It\u2019s still all eyes on the election outcome, while the US will release unemployment and non-farm payrolls today. The rand tested a break below the R15.70 to the dollar mark in the overnight session and starts the day at R15.71 to the dollar, R18.58 to the euro and R20.63 tot he pound. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.xe.com\/currencyconverter\/convert\/?Amount=1&amp;From=USD&amp;To=ZAR\">XE<\/a>]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>South Africans are behaving recklessly and irresponsibly, so lockdown rules have to be reviewed, the presidency says; Gordhan is well aware of the state of South Africa&#8217;s state companies &#8211; but he says critics are ignorant of the realities in running them; parliament is sitting with 36 draft laws, with many important ones pushed back to 2021; and Myeni could faces criminal charges for naming a protected witness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":446382,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11121,23],"tags":[26],"class_list":["post-446358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance","category-government","tag-headline"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=446358"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446358\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":446384,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446358\/revisions\/446384"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/446382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=446358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=446358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=446358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}