Here’s what is happening in and affecting South Africa today:
- Eskom corruption: The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) says it wants a meeting with the newly-appointed electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa to speak on issues of corruption. The Union said that its members have approached its leaders with information on corrupt employees and managers at Eskom. It said that it spoke with public enterprise minister Pravin Gordhan about corruption at Eskom, but did not receive any further communication regarding action taken against these employees. [Daily Investor]
- Private banking problems: Private banks are not growing at the rates that they once were as the number of wealthy South Africans declines. FNB Private Client Channels CEO, Eric Enslin, said that stagnant economic growth and emigration are reasons for the shrinking private banking market. Although banks continue to report market share growth, Enslin said that the banks might be double counting or making misstatements that the market picks up on. [News24]
- Pretoria power chaos: Large parts of Pretoria are without power after several pylons collapsed, with allegations that metal theft and vandalism caused the disaster. Tshwane Mayor Cilliers Brink said that the city could not give a credible estimate of when the issue will be resolved as the city lacks capacity and requires Eskom’s expertise. Many businesses, including a Ford manufacturing plant, are without power due to the collapse. [BusinessDay]
- Putin online: The South African government is exploring options to have Russian leader Vladimir Putin attend the BRICS summit remotely. It is understood that the government may be looking at a hybrid solution, where some leaders attend the summit physically while others attend remotely. The International Criminal Court, where South Africa is a member, has issued an arrest warrant for Putin due to alleged war crimes in Ukraine. [City Press]
- Markets: The South African rand weakened against the dollar on Monday after the US’s solid jobs report boosted expectations for a US interest rate hike in May. US employers hired at a strong pace in Marchadding 236,000 jobs that pushed unemployment down to 3.5%, signalling labour market resilience that will keep the Federal Reserve on track to raise rates again next month. On Tuesday (11 April), the rand was trading at R18.46/$, R20.10/€, and R22/91/£. Brent crude is trading at $84.78 a barrel. [Nasdaq]
