Here’s what is happening in and affecting South Africa today:
- No new energy plan: New minister of electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has asked South Africans to be patient regarding the country’s 15-year energy crisis. Ramokgopa said that he was not coming to the job with a new plan, instead ensuring the delivery of the energy plan that the president previously announced. He added that his new ministry will communicate with the public regarding the crisis and hold itself accountable. [News24]
- Recession hopes: South Africa is expected to enter a recession in the first quarter of 2023 due to load shedding, huge interest rate hikes and Transnet’s issues, following a 1.3% contraction in Q4 2022. However, Johann Els, chief economist at the Old Mutual Investment Group, said that the recession will not last long, expecting growth of 2% in 2023. Els argued that the country is less electricity intensive compared to the past and that power cuts should ease from April due to the rollout of renewable energy projects. [News24]
- SARS on Phala Phala: SARS says president Cyril Ramaphosa and the Nyoni Estate and Ntaba Nyoni feedlot – business names for his Phala Phala farm – are tax compliant. This means that $4 million was declared after the sale of the game in 2020, despite staffers allegedly stealing it from a leather couch where the money was reportedly sewn. This follows SARS saying that it could not find documentation to confirm that cash from Sudanese businessman Hazim Mustafa was declared. [BusinessTech]
- Another Tshwane Mayor search: The City of Tshwane will have to find yet another mayor after COPE’s Murunwa Makwarela was disqualified. Makwarela failed to produce evidence that he is not an unrehabilitated insolvent, making him ineligible to hold office as a councillor. The DA welcomed the decision but denied it had knowledge of him being sequestrated in 2016. He previously served as a speaker for the council, with the matter never being brought up. [City Press]
- Markets: South Africa’s rand extended its losses against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday after new data showed the economy contracted more than expected in the last quarter of 2022. Figures from Stats SA released on Tuesday showed gross domestic product (GDP) contracted 1.3% in the fourth quarter of last year compared to the previous three months, whereas analysts had predicted a 0.4% contraction. On Wednesday (8 March 2023), the rand was trading at R18.61/$, R19.60/€, and R21.99/£. Brent crude is trading at $83.56 a barrel. [Nasdaq]
Source : Business Tech
