Here’s what is happening in and affecting South Africa today:
- Koeberg warning: The return to service of unit 1 of the Koeberg nuclear power station has a new target date of 13 September – 90 days after the outage was supposed to end in June. This means that Unit 1’s 920MW will not be available during Winter when demand increases – adding roughly one stage of load shedding. This also leaves a small timeframe for replacing a similar steam generator in Unit 2 before Koeberg’s license expires in mid-2024. [Moneyweb]
- Gordhan to China: Transnet says a delegation led by public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan will head to China next month to try and break the deadlock over the delivery of locomotives and parts by CRRC E-Locoby. Transnet previously halted the supply of over 1,000 locomotives from four suppliers, including CRRC, contending that the previous board unlawfully awarded over R50 billion of contracts in 2014. Over 100 locomotives are currently not running after CRRC refused to supply spare parts. [TimesLive]
- Transaction Capital stays positive: Despite misjudging the slowdown in price increases, Transaction Capital says it is confident in its margins recovering from used car sales. CEO David Hurwitz said that volume growth at WeBuyCars remained strong. Although the company expected a slowdown, it anticipated higher average selling prices. He said that 2023’s earnings should align with 2022’s as it trades through its stock and implements cost-saving measures. [News24]
- Capitol has a new mayor: The DA’s Cilliers Brink is the new executive mayor of the City of Tshwane. 109 councillors voted for Brink, which was enough to beat the 102 votes for COPE’s Ofentse Moalusi. Brink said that he will address the city’s dire finances, improve service delivery in the metro, and lessen the city’s dependence on Eskom. The city had been without a mayor since 10 March after COPE’s Murunwa Makwarela resigned due to faking a court rehabilitation notice. [EWN]
- Markets: South Africa’s rand strengthened against the dollar in early trade on Tuesday after efforts by regulators to allay fears over the global banking system fuelled risk appetite. No major local economic data is expected until Thursday when investors are likely to turn their focus to the central bank’s interest rate decision, with markets expecting a 25-basis-point hike. On Wednesday (29 March), the rand was trading at R18.19/$, R19.71/€, and R22.42/£. Brent crude is trading at $78.83 a barrel. [Nasdaq]
