Five Key topics trending in SA today

It's only been a few months since our last update on all the current comings and goings in South Africa and so much has changed since then. Since the war in Ukraine, (read more about that here) much has changed in both the social and political landscape of South Africa and the world abroad. 

In order to help keep our readers informed, we've taken a look at five of the biggest stories that may impact 2022 going forward.

90,000 Pfizer doses to be thrown out

During the course of the 2021 pandemic, South Africa's government spared no expense on Pfizer vaccine doses. However, due to their inability to encourage enough public demand for vaccination they have been forced to destroy over 92,000 doses that expired at the end of March.

The government did not make any preparations to donate them to other countries before the end of their shelf life. Thus leaving us with a massive stockpile of unusable jabs. This is partly due to their announcement in February regarding the Pfizer booster shot having a shortened required interval between the initial two doses and the booster regardless of which brand they were jabbed with.

Public Servants take a financial hit

According to the Finance Minister, Enoch Godongwana, the government has been forced to seriously reconsider its national debt. Stating that the National Treasury needs better management in debt-servicing and expenditure areas.

As such, borrowing more money to compensate public servants is no longer tenable. This follows a recent move by the treasury to bail out national energy provider Eskom which he admitted resulted in the neglect of public service sectors.

Despite a significant bailout, the government has seen little to no progress in solving the "Eskom Problem." This is despite them diverting funds to the embattled energy giant from frontline departments such as police stations and home affairs as far back as 2013.

The declining rental scene

It's been confirmed that South Africa's biggest property practitioners are now being forced to mark down their rental prices as they redraw new leases with existing and new tenants. Some rent reversions have been revised and downscaled by almost 20% according to a majority of property funds. 

For context, this implies that many leases for the same property are being concluded at almost a quarter lower than in previous years. This is said to be mostly felt within the commercial sector where there seems to be an oversupply in business hubs specifically in areas like Sandton. The cause may be linked to more flexible working hours imposed by lockdown which reduced the need for traditional office real estate.

ANC Party Elections

It has officially been 5 years since Cyril Ramphosa was elected as ANC president, beating out his rival Dlamini-Zuma by over 200 party allocated votes and securing his future presidency. 

The latest polling data suggests that the incumbent president will likely win again at the Elective Conference held this year in December. Despite this, there will be some serious changes in terms of governance as now for the first time since 94 a president will be forced to lead a coalition government.

Further research suggests that support for the ANC continues to decline rapidly. An electoral model postulated by the Institute of Security Studies showed that three out of four scenarios will result in a sub 50% share of the total votes for 2024. These scenarios translate to a difficult presidency for his 2nd term as he oversees a period dubbed "hesitant reform."

The market trends 

Taking a look at the global scale, China's central financial hub of Shanghai has been placed on an extended lockdown following a resurgent outbreak of Coronavirus disease. This resulted in a large dip in Chinese market shares.

As a response, Oil prices began to dip as investors prepared for weaker demand from the world's 2nd largest economy. U.S. Crude Oil fell by 8.4% bringing the total price per barrel to $98.13 and Brent Crude by a similar 8.33% for a total of $106.90 per barrel. A brief reprieve in costs but financial analysts warn that stocks could suffer deeper losses in the upcoming months.

As of mid-April, the Rand has strengthened slightly from our last update picking up and plateauing at an average of R15,70 to the dollar, R16,79 to the euro, and R19,94 to the pound.

At Homes of Distinction, we keep track of the economic and global trends that could affect your property sale or purchase. This adds another dimension to our personalised service and advice we offer our clients,

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