News in South Africa 3rd February: 1. Calls for transparency with vaccine tenders: The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) has sent a letter to the ministers of health and finance calling for open tender processes for the storage and distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine. The committee has requested the two ministers in the letter […]
News in South Africa 2nd February: 1. SA Lockdown measures relaxed: South African lockdown measures have been relaxed as the country records its lowest number of daily infections since the start of December. Ramaphosa announced the country would remain on an adjusted Level 3 with the sale of alcohol, among other things, being permitted. “In fact, […]
News in South Africa 29th January: 1. Eskom to collect R6 billion from customers: Eskom has announced that the price of electricity in South Africa will increase from 1 April 2021. This is as a result of three decisions made by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa), which Eskom said will bring electricity […]
News in South Africa 28th January: 1. Vaccines due to arrive Monday: South Africa’s first batch of COVID-19 vaccines are set to arrive in the country on Monday. Health Minister Zweli Mkhize made the announcement on Wednesday, saying that work would now begin to vaccinate the country’s more than 1,25 million health workers first. The Serum Institute of […]
News in South Africa 27th January: 1. Eskom debt repayments difficulties: Two recent court rulings have made it much more difficult for Eskom to leave paying municipal customers in the dark when cutting or restricting electricity supply to delinquent municipalities. While this will hinder Eskom’s efforts to collect more than R30 billion in outstanding municipal […]
News in South Africa 26th January: 1. Jobs at risk due to lockdown: Nearly 1.4 million formal and informal jobs are at risk in the South African economy, with the current Covid-19 lockdown alert Level 3 restrictions having a direct impact across at least seven sectors: travel, tourism, entertainment, leisure, manufacturing, agriculture, and services not […]
News in South Africa 22nd January: 1. Repo rate unchanged at 3.5%: The Reserve Bank has decided to keep rates unchanged at 3.5%, in line with the expectations of economists. Governor Lesetja Kganyago made the announcement on Thursday afternoon, following the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee’s (MPC) first meeting for the year this week. Two of […]
News in South Africa 21st January: 1. Economy needs restrictions reduced: Western Cape premier Alan Winde is offering suggestions how to allow a controlled reopening of the economy under Covid-19 regulations, including a limited resumption of the sale of alcohol. He told the provincial legislature about his concerns for businesses and that he had held […]
News in South Africa 20th January: 1. Funding for vaccines ‘won’t be a problem’: President Cyril Ramaphosa says that finding funds for the Covid-19 vaccine rollout ‘won’t be a problem’. The president did not specify why it wouldn’t be a problem or where the money would come from, given South Africa’s dire financial state. Treasury […]
News in South Africa 19th January: 1. Unjust naming of new Covid variant: A group of South African and international scientists have taken a strong stand against calling 501. V2, the latest variant of SARS-CoV-2 spreading like wildfire across the country, “the South African variant”. Top researchers, who have delved into the variant for the […]
