Ramaphosa Faces Final Q&A for 2021, Eskom & Hung Metros on the Menu

LOCAL NEWS

• Ramaphosa set to face questions on Eskom & hung municipal councils in today's parliament Q&A – which is the final session of the year. Most questions centre around the R131bn gained at the COP26 summit and potential Eskom reforms to mitigate load-shedding
  • ANC narrowly wins the mayorship of eThekwini yesterday, gaining control over four metros (Mangaung, Buffalo City, eThekwini and Nelson Mandela Bay), with the DA governing the other four (Cape Town, Joburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni).
  • The ANC victory came after the party managed to rally smaller parties to support it in the metro, beating out a DA/IFP collaboration. While the metro split may be even, the DA faces an uphill battle governing as a minority in the Gauteng metros.
  • The DA's Federal Executive will meet next week to determine how it will proceed with the forced coalition. Political analyst warns DA-EFF partnerships may result in chaos during their term
• Treasury blocks state rail agency SANRAL from receiving a R7bn loan from the Brics bank due to uncertainty over the e-toll programme. Treasury says it is not prepared to take on the guarantees for the loan while this uncertainty persists
• Covid infections show a spike in Gauteng as experts warn about a fourth wave during of after the festive season – although it is expected to be more moderate than the earlier waves.
  • NICD said the rise is concerning as the country's vaccination programme has slowed down significantly, with around only 100,000 jabs happening a day – a third of the numbers seen a few months ago. Total fully vaccinated is 14m vs 40m needed for herd immunity

Data:

• 0930GMT: Oct PPI m/m exp at 0.6% vs 0.9% prior
• 0930GMT: Oct PPI y/y exp at 8.0% vs 7.8% prior