Here’s what is happening in and affecting South Africa today:
- Shutdown: The government has warned any workers that take part in today’s planned national shutdown that a ‘no work, no pay’ principle will apply. It also said that leave will be strictly controlled – no paid leave will be granted unless there are exceptional circumstances. Workers across the country are expected to down tools today to protest the rising cost of living in the country and demand action from the state. [ENCA]
- Job numbers: Economists say the marginal decrease in the country’s unemployment rate is not anything to celebrate, mainly as the improvement is due to technicalities, not actual job creation. The improvement came as fewer people were deemed ‘not economically active’ and returning to employment. Meanwhile, the number of unemployed people increased by 132,000. The economists noted that many of the jobs created were also temporary ones. [702]
- Grants: New regulations controlling the R350 social relief distress grant require beneficiaries to confirm they still need the grant every three months or default to being removed from the system. A new condition has also been added to the regulations requiring clients not to refuse to accept employment or educational opportunities unreasonably. Sassa is entering into a Memorandum of Understanding with other departments to facilitate data sharing and exchanges between the parties. [News24]
- Tshwane power: The City of Tshwane says it’s disappointed by Eskom’s threats to disconnect the metro due to non-payment of its bills. It said that it has been engaging with the power utility and is fully aware of why there has been a delay in settling the accounts. Simply put, there is incongruency between the metro’s and Eskom’s billing periods, which has led to a delay of around four days. The city said it is aware of the R1.6 billion bill and intends to settle the amount. [CoT]
- Markets: The rand held its ground on Tuesday as Wall Street indexes tumbled, followed by a sharp decline in Chinese stocks. The euro has tumbled below parity against the dollar as the region continues to suffer at the hands of gas shortages and the effects of the ongoing war in Ukraine. On Wednesday, the rand was trading at R17.02/$, R16.94/€ and R20.11/£. Brent crude is trading at $100 a barrel. [Citadel Global]
