{"id":464818,"date":"2021-02-02T08:14:42","date_gmt":"2021-02-02T06:14:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=464818"},"modified":"2021-02-02T08:14:42","modified_gmt":"2021-02-02T06:14:42","slug":"5-important-things-happening-in-south-africa-today-969","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/464818\/5-important-things-happening-in-south-africa-today-969\/","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>: Global Covid-19 infections have hit 103 million confirmed, with the death toll reaching 2.24 million. In <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DrZweliMkhize\/status\/1356333441986519042\/photo\/1\">South Africa<\/a>, there have been 2,548 new cases, taking the total reported to 1,456,309. Deaths have reached 44,399 (a daily increase of 235), while recoveries have climbed to 1,306,022, leaving the country with a balance of 105,888 active cases.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Negotiations<\/strong>: Insiders have revealed one of the obstacles getting in the way of Covid vaccine negotiations between government and pharmaceutical companies &#8211; indemnification. Pharma companies can typically insure against adverse affects of vaccines, but given the massive scale of the Covid vaccination, this poses a major financial risk and they seek indemnity in contracts being signed. However, South Africa&#8217;s laws and National Treasury&#8217;s position on the matter are preventing this. Exceptions have been made before. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymaverick.co.za\/article\/2021-02-01-treasury-holding-up-vaccine-contracts-over-indemnification-of-pharmaceutical-companies\/\">Daily Maverick<\/a>]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Booze ban:<\/strong> While the alcohol industry has welcomed the relaxing of lockdown rules around the sale of alcohol in South Africa, it is appealing to government to never spring a surprise ban on the sector again, and instead consult with stakeholders. For many, the easing of the restrictions comes too late, as jobs have been lost, establishments have closed down, and investment has been pulled. Court battles against the ban are proceeding, as they focus on government powers around the ban, and seek to prevent further damage. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.news24.com\/fin24\/companies\/travelandleisure\/end-of-booze-blues-as-president-cyril-ramaphosa-lifts-alcohol-sale-ban-20210201\">Fin24<\/a>]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Gatherings<\/strong>: Government&#8217;s headache with court challenges are also continuing from the religious sector, with the South African National Christian Forum also continuing with its court proceedings, despite religious gatherings being allowed once again &#8211; albeit in limited capacity. Similar to the alcohol industry, the forum is seeking to force government into consultations before making a unilateral decision to ban religious gatherings in the future. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeslive.co.za\/news\/south-africa\/2021-02-02-doors-might-be-open-but-church-council-wants-government-stopped-from-ever-shutting-them-again\/\">TimesLive<\/a>]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Silence:<\/strong> Analysts are taking the ANC&#8217;s silence on former president Jacob Zuma&#8217;s blatant disregard for the country&#8217;s Constitutional Court as it being complicit in his attack on democratic institutions. Zuma is openly defying a Constitutional Court order that he appear before the state capture commission, clearly stating his intention to ignore it. The ANC has yet to respond to the court order or Zuma&#8217;s statement, which political analysts say comes as no surprise, as the party has never been united on its position on the former president. [<a href=\"https:\/\/ewn.co.za\/2021\/02\/02\/anc-s-silence-on-zuma-attack-on-concourt-order-not-surprising-analysts\">EWN<\/a>]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Markets<\/strong>: Sentiment on the ground turned more upbeat locally as level 3 restrictions were eased and the first batch of the Covid-19 vaccines arrived on Monday. EU GDP is due this afternoon. The rand is still enjoying the benefits of the favourable global environment, testing the R15.00 to the dollar mark. The rand starts the day on Tuesday at R15.00 to the dollar, R18.13 to the euro and R20.54 to the pound. Commentary by Peregrine Treasury Solutions. [<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>Indemnification talks are holding up Covid vaccine negotiations; alcohol producers ask government to stop springing surprise bans on the sector; court cases challenging government&#8217;s lockdown powers are still on; and analysts criticise the ANC for staying silent as Jacob Zuma openly defies the Constitution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":464590,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872,23],"tags":[26],"class_list":["post-464818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-government","tag-headline"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464818","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=464818"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464818\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":464840,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464818\/revisions\/464840"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/464590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}