Read on to find out about the current events and issues facing South Africa:
Corruption: Lawmakers want to employ the same real-time audit method with the reconstitution of parliament in Cape Town as has been utilized with the use of disaster relief funds in KZN. In January, a fire completely destroyed the structure, and its restoration is expected to cost between R1.5 billion and R2 billion. However, members of parliament are worried about corruption and “cost overruns’ on the project, and they want to see preventative measures put in place to address these issues.
Credit rating: A new credit rating agency located in South Africa has released its first assessment of South Africa’s sovereign debt and given the country an “investment grade” rating, indicating that the agency has faith in South Africa’s ability to meet its financial obligations. This contradicts the assessments of the three largest international rating agencies, which all classify the country as “junk.” Sovereign Africa Ratings of Gauteng says that South Africa’s credit quality is generally high and that the country’s risk of defaulting on its debts is currently low.
Power cuts: The National Association of School Governing Bodies has voiced concerns that frequent and destructive load shedding is disrupting classroom instruction due to power outages. Load shedding will continue at Stage 3 throughout the week, with Eskom saying it will increase to Stage 4 in the evenings. Last week, the country was plagued by stage 5 load shedding that caused significant harm to the economy.
ANC elections: Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma is pitting herself against incumbent ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa by campaigning for the repeal of the party’s step-aside clause at the upcoming electoral conference. Dlamini-Zuma is adopting the rhetoric of the so-called RET faction, which is made up of followers of former president Jacob Zuma. People who have been accused of corruption and are part of the RET faction can’t run for office at the conference.
Markets: The markets saw the South African rand drop by nearly 2% on Friday as the US dollar continued to rise on the back of a fairly hawkish Federal Reserve policy announcement and rising Treasury yields. In the absence of significant domestic variables, the rand often follows the dollar’s movements. But ongoing load shedding is also a factor, as there will be rolling blackouts all next week. The rand’s exchange rates on Monday were R18.08 to $1 USD, R17.42 to EUR, and R19.11 to GBP. This morning, a barrel of Brent crude was worth $85 USD.
