5 important things happening in South Africa today

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

• Transnet buying guns: Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) aims to issue a tender by next month for procuring ammunition, including handguns and longer-range weapons, for its internal security personnel amid growing frustration over rising cable theft and vandalism of its infrastructure. [Business Day]

• Transmission expansion: The government is making progress on its plans to urgently upgrade SA’s energy infrastructure, with Cabinet having signed off on plans to use part of the $12.5 billion (R225 billion) in financing commitments from the Just Energy Transition Investment (JET-IP), Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said on Sunday. He noted priority areas have been identified as both transmission and distribution. [News24]

• Kidnapping for ransom: Kidnapping for ransom in South Africa has surged by over 76% between July and September 2023 alone. Experts say criminals are treating abduction and extortion as a business transaction as there has been a noticeable increase in the number of wealthy individuals insuring against it. [Mail & Guardian]

• Voter registration: More than a million registrations were recorded at the Electoral Commission of South Africa’s (IEC) voting stations on Saturday, with 609,000 more registrations on Sunday. Gauteng recorded the most of these transactions, with 120,294, followed by the Eastern Cape with 118,574, KwaZulu-Natal with 108,878, Limpopo with 82,408, Mpumalanga with 44,694, the North West with 42,375, Free State with 38,860, the Western Cape with 37,921 and Northern Cape with 15,443. [News24]

• Markets: The South African rand weakened on Friday as investors awaited a review of South Africa’s sovereign credit ratings by S&P Global. S&P Global Ratings affirmed South Africa’s credit ratings and maintained a “BB-/B” rating with a stable outlook. On Monday (20 November), the rand was trading at R18.26 to the dollar, R22.80 to the pound and R19.95 to the euro. Oil is trading at $81.30 a barrel. [Reuters]