{"id":662807,"date":"2023-02-08T08:28:13","date_gmt":"2023-02-08T06:28:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=662807"},"modified":"2023-02-08T08:28:13","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T06:28:13","slug":"5-important-things-happening-in-south-africa-today-1462","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/662807\/5-important-things-happening-in-south-africa-today-1462\/","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<ul>\n<li><strong>Ramaphosa cannot stop tariff increase<\/strong>: Eskom chairperson Mpho Makwana says Cyril Ramaphosa never told the board not to hike electricity tariffs but did ask the embattled power utility to minimise the impact of the increase. Makwana added that Ramapahosa&#8217;s refusing to allow for the increase would be a neglect of his duties. If Eskom did not implement the increase, National Treasury would still not give them any financial assistance on budget day. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.news24.com\/fin24\/economy\/as-anc-mps-attack-de-ruyter-eskom-chair-denies-ramaphosa-asked-for-tariff-hike-halt-20230208\">News24<\/a>]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Insurance exclusion:<\/strong> Several big South African insurance companies won\u2019t cover their customers for certain damages related to the failure of Eskom\u2019s power grid. Insurance companies sent a notice to clients notifying them of a new \u201cElectricity Grid Failure\u201d exclusion added to their policies. Hollard spokesperson Warwick Bloom said that although a total grid failure remained unlikely, it was now a \u201cpossibility\u201d. Other insurers have confirmed similar notices. [<a href=\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/energy\/479309-south-african-insurance-companies-add-exclusion-for-total-eskom-grid-collapse.html\">MyBroadband<\/a>]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Blood rationing is possible<\/strong>: The South African National Blood Service (SANBS) says blood rationing in hospitals may be a future possibility. High demand for blood across the country has left stocks incredibly low. The SANBS said that those who rely on consistent blood transfusions could fall severely ill. The organisation has pleaded with South Africans to donate blood to maintain safe stock levels. [<a href=\"https:\/\/ewn.co.za\/2023\/02\/08\/blood-rationing-could-become-sa-reality-if-more-people-don-t-donate\">EWN<\/a>]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Mixed messages over Spurs deal<\/strong>: Thandi Mahambehlala, the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Tourism, says the planned sponsorship deal with Tottenham Hotspur will not go through, but Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu says parliament does not have the authority to stop the deal. Sisulu said that only Ramaphosa could veto the proposed deal, as the matter is of national interest. [<a href=\"https:\/\/ewn.co.za\/2023\/02\/08\/deal-or\">EWN<\/a>]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Markets<\/strong>: South Africa&#8217;s rand inched higher against the dollar on Tuesday ahead of a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that could provide further clues on the US interest rate hike path. The domestic focus this week is on Ramaphosa&#8217;s annual State of the Nation Address on Thursday amid local media reports of a possible cabinet reshuffle by the South African President. On Wednesday (8 February), the rand was trading at R17.55\/$, R18.83\/\u20ac, and R21.15\/\u00a3. Brent crude is trading at $83.78 a barrel. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasdaq.com\/articles\/south-african-rand-inches-up-ahead-of-fed-chair-powells-speech\">Nasdaq<\/a>]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ramaphosa cannot stop Eskom tariff hike, insurers adding grid collapse exclusions to policies, SANBS warns of blood rationing, confusion regarding Spurs sponsorship deal.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":661895,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[26],"class_list":["post-662807","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\/662807","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=662807"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662807\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":662835,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662807\/revisions\/662835"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/661895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=662807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=662807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=662807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}