{"id":640303,"date":"2022-11-03T08:04:27","date_gmt":"2022-11-03T06:04:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=640303"},"modified":"2022-11-03T08:04:27","modified_gmt":"2022-11-03T06:04:27","slug":"5-important-things-happening-in-south-africa-today-1400","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/640303\/5-important-things-happening-in-south-africa-today-1400\/","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<hr \/>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Too optimistic:<\/strong>\u00a0 The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says finance minister Enoch Godongwana did the right thing by cutting debt requirements and saving some of the windfalls<strong>, <\/strong>but he may have been too optimistic in assuming that he will hit the fiscal targets he has set. The IMF said that there are substantial risks to the fiscal framework, including public servant wages, state-owned enterprises, and the future of a basic income grant. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.news24.com\/fin24\/economy\/imf-warns-godongwana-may-have-underestimated-risks-in-medium-term-budget-20221103\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News24<\/a>]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Greylisting hiccough<\/strong>: National Treasury&#8217;s bid to rush through a swathe of new financial laws and regulations to try and avoid being greylisted is running into hurdles in parliament &#8211; where lawmakers say the due process is not being followed. MPs are pushing back against the bills, saying that impact studies have not been done and other shortcuts are being taken at unprecedented levels. They want finance minister Enoch Godongwana to appear to explain why. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymaverick.co.za\/article\/2022-11-02-anti-money-laundering-bill-tripped-up-by-parliamentary-due-process\/\">Daily Maverick<\/a>]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>South Africa&#8217;s &#8220;best investment&#8221;:<\/strong>\u00a0 The Koeberg nuclear power station\u2019s licence expires in 2024, but the utility will now extend its lifespan by replacing key plant areas, such as the steam generators. Eskom management has reiterated that extending the lifespan of the Koeberg nuclear power station is the best investment the country can make in electricity generation capacity. De Ruyter highlighted that work at the site was being carried out safely and would not put the public at risk. [<a href=\"https:\/\/ewn.co.za\/0001\/01\/01\/extending-koeberg-s-lifespan-makes-business-sense-eskom-s-de-ruyter-tells-mps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">EWN<\/a>]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>ANC flirts with EFF:<\/strong> Political shifts are taking place as the ANC moves to regain power in key Gauteng metros. Talks between the EFF and the ANC are expected to continue on a possible power-sharing deal for governance in Ekurhuleni. Currently, there is a deadlock in talks between the ANC and the EFF about which party should hold the mayoral chains, while in Joburg, the ANC is mulling alternatives for Mayor Mpho Phalatse\u2019s removal yet again. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.news24.com\/news24\/politics\/government\/anc-flirts-with-effs-rise-to-power-as-it-aims-to-extinguish-da-rule-in-gautengs-key-metros-20221103\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News24<\/a>]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Markets<\/strong>: South Africa&#8217;s rand weakened against the dollar on Wednesday (2 October) as investors awaited a Federal Reserve policy decision amid speculation it might signal a slowdown in the pace of future rate hikes. Analysts expect the Fed to hike rates by 75 basis points but indicate a slowdown after that. On Thursday, the rand was trading at R18.23\/$, R17.91\/\u20ac and R20.81\/\u00a3. Brent crude is trading at $95.79 a barrel. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasdaq.com\/articles\/south-african-rand-weakens-ahead-of-fed-decision\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nasdaq<\/a>]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says finance minister Enoch Godongwana may have been too optimistic in assuming that he will hit the fiscal targets he has set; South Africa&#8217;s rushed greylisting laws hit a roadblock; Eskom plans on extending the Koeberg nuclear power station\u2019s licence; and political shifts are taking place as the ANC moves to regain power\u00a0in key Gauteng metros. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":561880,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[26],"class_list":["post-640303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-headline"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640303","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=640303"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640303\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":640323,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640303\/revisions\/640323"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/561880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=640303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=640303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=640303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}