Five Key topics trending in SA today 2

It's that time of the month when we go over the biggest issues that South Africans are facing currently. From the increasingly unstable rises in fuel levies to the growing energy crisis that Eskom presents, we intend to keep our readers informed and abreast of the latest current affairs.

Without going into too much detail, we take a look at five of the biggest stories that may impact 2022 going forward.

Major Fuel Price Hikes

You have no doubt already noticed but last month, South Africans were expected to foot the bill for a significant increase in petrol. This comes after the introduction of the emergency fuel levy intervention which took place between March and May of this year. The fuel levy was designed to provide limited short-term relief to households from rising fuel prices following Russia's attack on Ukraine in late February. Read more about that here.

However, now that the emergency levy has expired, South Africans saw a hefty spike in petrol prices by almost R2 per litre. According to the economist, Dawie Roodt, the government can do very little to soften the impact of these increases as prices are driven by external factors that are out of its control.

Read the full story here - Eyewitness News

Adverse risk to weather forecast capabilities

Weather stations throughout the nation are facing challenges due to a lack of quality funding that is necessary for their maintenance. This could leave us in a situation where being able to predict and accurately provide steps to avoid disaster could be at serious risk.

The Inability of the South African Weather Service to predict events such as the recent devastation in Kwa-Zulu Natal makes it extremely difficult for insurance companies to verify certain weather-related claims.

Read the full story here - BusinessDay

Eskom and the Fuel Theft Saga

We seem to be covering the energy giant in almost every edition of this series. Would it surprise you that it has been revealed that an ageing power station in Mpumalanga may be the epicentre of a major fuel theft operation?

According to amaBhungane (a major organisation of investigative journalists), millions of rands worth of fuel has been syphoned from this plant with the help of both trucking companies, the police, and corrupt officials at the very top. The fuel is used to start up coal-powered plants and is reportedly smuggled across the border.

Fuel theft has risen in recent years due to rising costs of petrol and is only putting more pressure on the embattled power utility company.

Read the full story here - amaBhungane

Major budget increases for Service Delivery

On a more positive note, at least 110 organs of the state have been granted an exemption for provisions of the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act (PPPFA) which was granted by the Treasury Council. This essentially means that government agencies have been pushing for steps to ensure that Service Delivery and Public Procurement are fast-tracked through several avenues.

This move follows a warning from South African economists that waiting periods between putting out and accepting a tender are severely impacting the GDP of the country. This provision will ensure that these selected agencies have access to uninterrupted procurement policies, speeding up the process and keeping things on track. We will follow up on the outcome of this process.

Read the full story here - MoneyWeb

Markets

After our previous report on the dip in the Chinese market capabilities, Asian markets have been attempting to rally their stocks after an increase of deep lows on the Wall Street Stock Exchange. However, this seems to have come to no avail as experts continue to warn that Chinese annual retail sales are performing poorly with a 6.1% drop from the previous financial year.

The US Federal Reserve continues to tighten its financial conditions as fears of another economic recession continue to plague investors. This was noted after a massive rally in bonds during May.

SA's exchange rate continues to fluctuate. The rand is trading at R16,21 to the dollar, R16,86 to the euro, and R19,85 to the pound.

See the full index here - Nasdaq

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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