Here’s what is happening in and affecting South Africa today:
- Wage increase: More than 200,000 public servants have threatened to test the government’s finances as they push for an inflation-beating 10% increase across the board as part of ongoing wage negotiations. The Public Servants Association (PSA) has lodged a dispute with the government after wage negotiations stalled and threatened that workers could down tools if an agreement is not reached in the next month. [BusinessDay]
- Eskom corruption: More dodgy dealings have been uncovered at Eskom, with two former employees of Swiss engineering firm Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) arrested, along with their wives, in connection with alleged kickbacks in exchange for inflated contracts. The contracts, including a R2 billion control and instrumentation deal at Kusile, resulted in ABB paying Impulse International R549 million in 2016 and 2017 – at a time when former acting Eskom chief executive Mathsela Koko’s stepdaughter, Koketso Choma, stood to benefit. [News24]
- Mandatory vaccinations: Trade federation Cosatu plans to take a formal stance against mandatory vaccination policies in workplaces, despite long being a proponent for Covid-19 vaccination in South Africa. Cosatu pointed to the end of South Africa’s national state of disaster and recent instances where employees were dismissed for failing to vaccinate as reasons for the change of heart. [EWN], [BusinessDay]
- Crypto regulation: The South African Reserve Bank plans to declare cryptocurrency as a financial product in the coming year, meaning South Africans could be able to buy and sell listed cryptocurrencies on local exchanges, in a completely regulated environment. Reserve Bank deputy governor Kuben Naidoo said the change is necessary given the vast level of transactions that South Africans are doing in a completely unregulated space. [Fin24]
- Markets: South Africa’s rand strengthened against the dollar on Tuesday after slipping to its weakest for 21 months in early trade. The rand is currently trading at R17.00/$, R17.06/€ and R20.23/£. The price of Brent crude oil today is $99.38/barrel. [Reuters]