News in South Africa 20th February: 1. Rand weakens: The rand has weakened with the market worried about South Africa’s marked fiscal slippage. In the 2023 Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MBTPS), gross debt was projected to peak at 77.7% of GDP in 2025/26, far higher than February 2023’s Budget estimate of 73.6%. Investec Chief Economist […]
News in South Africa 29th November: 1. No support after bird flu outbreak: Government’s promises to assist the local poultry industry following the avian flu outbreak earlier this year have yet to materialise. The outbreak led to the culling of millions of birds, which caused a reduction of 30% in the production of hatching eggs. […]
News in South Africa 27th November: 1. Eskom hit stage 8 load-shedding: Energy analyst Chris Yelland said Eskom hit stage 8 power cuts according to the official national code of practice for load shedding. Speaking to reporters, Yelland said many people, including his family in Craighall Park, are experiencing 12 hours of load-shedding daily. “If […]
News in South Africa 16th October: 1. Population grows – economy falls: The most notable figure in the 2022 census of SA’s population is confirmation that the population increased to above 62 million people, which is close to 20% higher than in the previous census 10 years ago. An immediate thought that comes to mind is that […]
News in South Africa 27th September: 1. Government to fail on its promises: South Africa is set to miss all but one of the 2030 development targets its National Planning Commission set just over a decade ago. Of nine targets set in the National Development Plan, ranging from employment to investment, five measures have deteriorated […]
News in South Africa 30th August: 1. 5 years more of load shedding: There is no ‘silver bullet’ to end load-shedding, and South Africa’s electricity crisis will be with the country for five more years, despite recent deals made with Chinese representatives. This is the view of energy expert and University of Johannesburg professor Hartmut […]
News in South Africa 19th July: 1. EU carbon levy impact: The European Union’s plan to put a carbon levy on imported goods from outside the bloc is an attempt to shift the burden for climate action to developing countries and may contravene World Trade Organization rules, South Africa said. The so-called carbon border adjustment […]
News in South Africa 5th July: 1. Severe water shortage: Experts are warning of a looming water crisis on a scale worse than load-shedding in South Africa as criminal syndicates have begun targeting water infrastructure to score tenders. Professor Anthony Turton from the Centre for Environmental Management at the University of the Free State warned […]
News in South Africa 14th June: 1. Electricity tariff increase: Residents of six municipalities that want consumers to pay even bigger increases in electricity tariffs than the 15.1% that the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) deems appropriate will get the opportunity to express their views on the matter on Thursday. Nersa recently published […]
News in South Africa 31st May: 1. Reserve Bank preps for grid collapse: South Africa’s central bank is working on a contingency plan to ensure the country’s payments system remains in operation in the event the nation’s electricity grid collapses. The South African Reserve Bank and other financial markets regulators including the operator of the […]
