Cape Town —
Update as at 16h30 SAST
Yet Another Interest Rates Hike - 75 Basis Points
No reprieve in sight for consumers as the Reserve Bank fully unwinds its extraordinary pandemic-era stimulus measures with a 75 basis point increase. The five-member Monetary Policy Committee spent the morning deliberating before making the all-important announcement. The repo rate is now increased from 5.5% to 6.25%. The prime lending rate will increase to 9.75%, from 9%. Efficient Group Economist Dawie Roodt has said that d espite expectations of a dramatic hike in South Africa, he believes the worst is behind us.
Police Top Brass Get Bail After Fraud, Corruption Arrest
Former national police commissioner Khomotso Phahlane and his five co-accused in a R54 million police tender scandal have been granted bail. The accused were arrested in a series of swoops in Bloemfontein, Pretoria and Durban on Monday and Tuesday. Their bail varied from R5,000 to R50,000. The charges the accused face relate to contracts for the procurement of social media monitoring software called RipJar and telephonic encryption services called Deadalus. They were ordered to hand over their passports and the case was postponed to December 7, 2022.
Thabo Mbeki Has Solution for South Africa's Woes - Good Leadership
President Thabo Mbeki has placed blame for load shedding and the ailing economy on a lack of quality leadership in both government and society. Mbeki said that good leadership was the key ingredient to solving most of the country's many challenges, Eye Witness News reports. Mbeki failed to mention his own administration's lack of response to the warning around Eskom's capacity to produce electricity in the early 2000's. The country has been hit with more bouts of severe power cuts, impacting on households and businesses. This week is 14 years since Mbeki was forced to step down, after the ANC's National Executive Committee decided to recall him.
Load Shedding at Hospitals a Danger to Patients
The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) has called on the government to stop cutting power to the country's hospitals.The council believes Eskom's outages are hitting clinics and hospitals hard, as they grapple with an already tight budget and can't keep up with the demand compounded by the price of diesel, Eye Witness News reports.
