{"id":494123,"date":"2021-05-28T08:21:02","date_gmt":"2021-05-28T06:21:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=494123"},"modified":"2021-05-28T08:21:02","modified_gmt":"2021-05-28T06:21:02","slug":"5-important-things-happening-in-south-africa-today-1048","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/494123\/5-important-things-happening-in-south-africa-today-1048\/","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 169.3 million confirmed, with the death toll reaching 3.52 million. In South Africa, there have been 4,424 new cases, taking the total reported to 1,649,977. Deaths have reached 56,170 (+93), while recoveries have climbed to 1,548,092, leaving the country with a balance of 45,715 active cases. The total number of vaccines administered is 828,204 (+66,301).<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Ship deal<\/strong>: Turkish power ship company Karpowership SA has hit back at its rival bidder for a R255 billion state power deal. The Turkish-led consortium has, in court papers, denied any involvement in corruption. It hit back at accuser DNG Power Holdings \u2013 asking why, if DNG was aware of corruption, it said nothing until its bid was disqualified. DNG said that the bidding process was manipulated to help Karpowership win the deal, and says he was &#8220;shaken down&#8221; by senior government officials and associates of mineral resources minister Gwede Mantashe.\u00a0 Kapowerships says that if this were the case, DNG would have been aware of the alleged corruption for 10 months and did not act. [<a href=\"https:\/\/amabhungane.org\/stories\/210528-karpowership-slams-rival-bidder-in-corruption-case\/\">AmaBhungane<\/a>]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Ivermectin<\/strong>: The debate around the use of Ivermectin to treat Covid-19 continues to flare up, with some doctors eager to prescribe the medicine to desperate patients &#8211; while others are not convinced that the treatment does anything to help. A new study about the drug has reportedly found that it had no impact on Covid-19 patients with mild symptoms. However, it continues to divide medical professionals, with no conclusive proof either way being clouded by conspiracy theories about a global move to suppress information about this &#8216;miracle drug&#8217;. Some doctors say that people are simply desperate. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeslive.co.za\/news\/south-africa\/2021-05-28-ivermectin-saga-continues-plus-five-highlights-from-vrye-weekblad\/\">TimesLive<\/a>]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Legal bills<\/strong>: In an ironic twist, Jacob Zuma&#8217;s appeal to the Constitutional Court to have punitive cost orders against him reversed, has now resulted in a further punitive cost order. Zuma was to lay his case before the Constitutional Court on Thursday, arguing that an order that he pay legal costs in his fight against the State Capture report was incorrect. However, the former president&#8217;s legal team withdrew from the case, leaving Zuma with no one to represent him. The case was subsequently dismissed by the court within minutes, leaving Zuma with the initial cost order of up to R10 million, and another cost order from the failed appeal process. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymaverick.co.za\/article\/2021-05-27-concourt-swiftly-dismisses-zumas-state-of-capture-case-slaps-him-with-huge-legal-bill\/\">Daily Maverick<\/a>]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Factionalism<\/strong>: Suspended ANC secretary general Ace Magashule has mellowed his aggressive tone regarding his fight with ANC leaders over his suspension and order to step aside. Contrasting his fiery approach and threats of mobilising branches of the ANC against its current leadership, Magashule was silent on factional battles this week, avoiding the media and telling supporters to be patient. The ANC hit back at Magashule in court papers this week, saying he can&#8217;t be surprised at the party&#8217;s step-aside policy, given he was part of the leadership that drafted and delivered it, and was present at every meeting where it was discussed. [<a href=\"https:\/\/mg.co.za\/politics\/2021-05-27-duarte-claps-back-at-ace-in-court\/\">Mail &amp; Guardian<\/a>]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Markets<\/strong>: The rand continued to remain firm against the dollar on Thursday, driven largely by external market sentiment which drove appetite for risk. The main factor at play was the dovish stance from the US Federal Reserve &#8211; a reversal of market fears that it would be tightening. The local unit has also been supported by rising commodity prices, as well as the South African Reserve Bank&#8217;s more positive outlook on economic recovery. Economists have warned that the rand may be overbought though, and a correction may follow. On Friday the rand is at R13.77\/$, R16.78\/\u20ac and R19.55\/\u00a3.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Turkish power ship company hits back at its rival bidder accusing it of corruption; Ivermectin continues to divide health professionals; Zuma&#8217;s legal costs just got much bigger; and the ANC hits back at Magashule&#8217;s factional antics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":370944,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-494123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494123","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=494123"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":494161,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494123\/revisions\/494161"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/370944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=494123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=494123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=494123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}