{"id":453704,"date":"2020-12-02T07:14:41","date_gmt":"2020-12-02T05:14:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=453704"},"modified":"2020-12-02T07:22:08","modified_gmt":"2020-12-02T05:22:08","slug":"5-important-things-happening-in-south-africa-today-937","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/453704\/5-important-things-happening-in-south-africa-today-937\/","title":{"rendered":"5 important things happening in South Africa today"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Here\u2019s what is happening in and affecting South Africa today:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Coronavirus:\u00a0<\/strong><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecdc.europa.eu\/en\/geographical-distribution-2019-ncov-cases\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Global Covid-19<\/a><\/strong> infections have hit 64.14 million confirmed, with the death toll reaching 1.48 million. In <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DrZweliMkhize?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">South Africa<\/a><\/strong>, there have been 2,295 new cases, taking the total reported to 792,299. Deaths have reached 21,644 (a daily increase of 109), while recoveries have climbed to 732,531.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Ace should step aside: <\/strong>The ANC&#8217;s national executive committee is set to meet this weekend to discuss the issues facing the party &#8211; including corruption charges levelled against secretary-general Ace Magashule. Supporters of president Cyril Ramaphosa are expected to present legal opinion that Magashule should step aside from his position, or be forced to do so. [<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.news24.com\/news24\/southafrica\/news\/ace-steps-aside-or-gets-pushed-new-legal-opinion-demands-anc-must-act-against-him-20201202\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">News24<\/a><\/strong>]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Wage negotiations:<\/strong> Government has offered to enter into last-minute settlement talks with public sector unions over salary increases it had previously said are unaffordable. However, settlement talks have been rebuffed by unions, with South Africa&#8217;s Labour Court set to hear the matter on Wednesday (2 December). [<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.businesslive.co.za\/bd\/national\/2020-12-02-public-sector-unions-rebuff-states-wage-settlement-offer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BusinessDay<\/a><\/strong>]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Local restrictions: <\/strong>The Western Cape government is seeking legal advice, over localised restrictions, as the province records a resurgence in Covid-19 cases. It&#8217;s hoped stricter regulations will ease pressure on the over-burdened public health system. [<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.enca.com\/news\/covid-19-wcape-seeks-advice-localised-restrictions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">eNCA<\/a><\/strong>]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>E-tolls to continue:<\/strong> Gauteng&#8217;s controversial e-tolls project is expected to be extended by another year unless the government finally takes a decision to scrap the controversial scheme. A senior Sanral engineering executive confirmed to Moneyweb that the contract awarded to Electronic Toll Collections (ETC) for the management and collection of e-tolls has been extended by a further year until 2 December 2021. [<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.moneyweb.co.za\/news\/south-africa\/sanral-extends-e-toll-collection-contract-for-a-further-year\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Moneyweb<\/a><\/strong>]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Drunk drivers to be targeted:<\/strong> Transport minister Fikile Mbalula said traffic officials will be on the lookout for drivers under the influence of drugs as well as alcohol as the festive season gets underway. Officers manning roadblocks will also be checking for compliance with Covid-19 regulations Mbalula said in a presentation to Parliament on Tuesday. [<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/ewn.co.za\/2020\/12\/02\/drunk-drivers-on-traffic-officials-radar-this-festive-season\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">EWN<\/a><\/strong>]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The ANC&#8217;s national executive committee is set to discuss Ace Magashule&#8217;s corruption charges this weekend; The wage fight between government and unions will come to a head today; The Western Cape is seeking legal advice on local restrictions; E-tolls are set to continue for at least another year;  and drivers should expect more roadblocks over the festive season this year. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":144959,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[26],"class_list":["post-453704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-headline"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453704","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=453704"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453704\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":453732,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453704\/revisions\/453732"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=453704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=453704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=453704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}