5 important things happening in South Africa today

Here’s what is happening in and affecting South Africa today:
Alerts
Coronavirus: Global infections have now hit 13.53 million cases, with the death toll at 584,000. In South Africa, cases have risen to 324,221, with 4,669 deaths. Recoveries have increased to 165,591, leaving a balance of 153,961 active cases in the country.
Load shedding: Eskom says it has managed to restore enough generating capacity that it will not have to implement load shedding for the rest of the week. However it has warned that, as always, the grid remains severely constrained, and any sudden changes could lead to load shedding again being introduced.
- Taxi pressure: Transport minister Fikile Mbalula insists that scientists and medical experts were consulted in government’s decision to allow taxis to transport people at 100% capacity. While the move meets taxi owners’ demands, some are unhappy with the decision – union Cosatu, especially, and it is now threatening to boycott taxis. Mbalula, meanwhile, is happy to accede to the industry’s other demands, and says banks will provide taxis with more relieve funds. [Moneyweb, ENCA]
- Hero to zero: South Africa has gone from being praised for its coronavirus response in the eyes of the global health community – to being the subject of alarming headlines amid the rapidly growing Covid-19 crisis. International media has honed in on several sensitive pressure points in South Africa, including the disastrous state of some hospitals, how infection numbers have risen to be among the worst in the world, and how ill-prepared we were for the spike in infections, despite a debilitating lockdown. [TimesLive]
- Civil servants: South Africa’s civil services continue to be battered by the Covid-19 pandemic, with over 21,000 workers now infected – and those in the front line at state hospitals have been hit particularly hard. This is cause for concern as the risk of disruption to service delivery is very real. With doctors, nurses and other medical staff being affected, capacity to treat other patients also becomes heavily reduced. Teachers, too, are impacted, and some are refusing to teach over fears they will be next. [Mail & Guardian]
- Foreigners bailing: South Africa saw record outflows of foreign investment in the first quarter of the year, with the South African Reserve Bank recording just under R100 billion in sales happening. Most of the outlflows came from the sale of bonds, but also in other debt securities and equities. The reason for the sudden exodus is the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, which created global risk aversion and destabilised many markets. [Business Day]
- Markets: South Africa’s rand weakened on Thursday, pausing a recent rally to one-month highs as disappointing Chinese consumption data dampened investor hopes of a quick economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. Risk assets gave up some of their gains on Thursday as the surging virus numbers and US-China tension reignited economic fears. On Friday, the rand was at R16.72 to the dollar, R21.01 to the pound and R19.04 to the euro. Commentary by Reuters and Peregrine Treasury Solutions. [XE]