5 important things happening in South Africa today

Here’s what is happening in and affecting South Africa today:

• Less load shedding over holidays: Minister of Electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says there will be less load shedding over the December period, adding that some days will be load-shedding-free. This comes as Ramokgopa said that some generating units are expected to return to service during the week, meaning more generating capacity. [EWN]

• Post Office needs private help: The Post Office’s business rescue practitioners say a strategic partner is needed to help manage its R1.8 billion property portfolio. The business rescue practitioners (BRP) say the ailing state-owned entity’s own property team does not have the capacity to do the job.[News24]

• Treasury hits back: The Treasury stated that the alleged currency collusion charged by the Competition Commission against 28 banks did not affect the rand exchange rate and is not the reason for the rand’s decline in the past decade. This statement comes as SA’s big banks have come out to challenge the “false and inaccurate” notion that the currency was manipulated to “collapse the economy” – as minister in the presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni claimed a week ago. [BusinessTech]

• De Ruyter in hot water: A disgraced Eskom chief procurement officer (CPO) has demanded that former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter withdraw claims against him in his top-selling book Truth to Power. Solly Tshitangano’s lawyers have written a letter to the book’s publisher – Penguin Random House – demanding retractions of certain allegations and an apology from De Ruyter.[MyBroadband]

• Markets: The South African rand weakened on Friday, giving back some gains from the previous session when the central bank kept its main interest rate unchanged. On Monday (27 November), the rand was trading at R18.81 to the dollar, R23.72 to the pound and R20.60 to the euro. Oil is trading at $79.80 a barrel. [Reuters]