Weekly Political and Economic Review 23 April 2021

1. Policy/Legislative Updates 1.1. Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Amendment Bill (COIDA) − On 20 April, the Portfolio Committee on Employment and Labour started its 3-day public hearings on the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Amendment Bill (COIDA), first introduced to Parliament in September 2020; − The amendment Bill seeks to: o Extend the coverage for occupational injuries and diseases to previously excluded vulnerable workers, as well as improvement of compensation benefits to employees; o Align the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act with the requirements of other legislation and to remove ambiguities on some of the act’s provisions; o Empower the National Economic Development and Labour Council to nominate members of the Board, who may then be appointed by the Minister of Employment and Labour to represent the interests of organised businesses, organised labour and the state; o Provide for the term of office of a board member to be limited to two terms as well as providing for the disqualification from membership of the board members, resignations and removal from office; o Introduce rehabilitation, reintegration and return to work in order to address the tendency of some employers to dismiss employees on the basis of occupational injuries or diseases;

− The Bill has come under criticism from numerous organisations, particularly Section 43 of the Bill, which deals with the reopening of claims after the expiry of two years from the date of accident; − The South African Medical Association (SAMA) said the clause would have a catastrophic impact on injured workers, doctors and other healthcare professionals if left unchanged; − SAMA’s Dr Angelique Coetzee said the clause meant medical practitioners could no longer use their medical claims as surety for payment in any manner, placing immense administrative, financial and legal pressure on the medical sector, and placing injured workers at a disadvantage; − The National Employers Association of (NEASA), stated that Section 43 would disadvantage employees the most and would lead to new beneficiaries being excluded from quality healthcare since the current system cannot cope as it is; − NEASA also expressed concern over the possible removal of third party administrators from the system, the quality of healthcare for employees, the death of businesses associated with third parties and the delay in payments to medical practitioners.

1.2. Local Government: Municipal Systems Amendment Bill − On 22 April, the Gauteng Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) and Human Settlements began public hearings on the Local Government: Municipal Systems Amendment Bill; − The Bill concerns the hiring of municipal managers and managers directly accountable to the municipal managers; − The Bill seeks to: o Make further provision for the appointment of municipal managers and managers directly accountable to municipal managers, as well as providing for procedures and competency criteria for these appointments; o Determine timeframes within which performance agreements of municipal managers and managers accountable to them must be concluded;

o Require employment contracts and performance agreements of municipal managers and other managers to be consistent with the Local Government: Municipality Systems Act and regulations made by the Minister; − The Corruption Watch’s Kavisha Pillay has criticised the bill for not including the principles of public participation and transparency since local government should encourage community involvement in matters of local government; − The Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) expressed support for the Bill, saying it will assist in professionalising the sector.

1.3. Annual Policy Benefit Escalations Regarding the Demarcation Regulations − On 21 April, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni published the Annual Policy Benefit Escalations regarding the Demarcation Regulations; − These are regulated under Section 72 of the Long-term insurance Act (LTIA) and Section 70 of the Short-term Insurance Act (STIA); − National Treasury stated that the regulations specify which types of contracts are regulated under the LTIA and STIA, due to accident and health policies respectively being excluded from the Medical Schemes Act; − According to Treasury, escalation of the policy benefits will take place each year for as long as regulation 7.2(2), with the dates and rate of escalation, provides for automatic escalation; − Following queries from providers regarding the current escalated policy benefits, Treasury decided to publish the amounts annually to maintain clarity on escalated policy benefits.

2. COVID-19 Updates 2.1. Online Registration Open to the Public − On 16 April, the government officially launched the COVID-19 vaccine online registration for the public as part of the Department of Health’s preparation for phase 2 of the vaccine rollout; − Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced that the Electronic Vaccination Data System (EVDS) would be available to the general public and that all citizens aged 60 years and above were invited to register for vaccination; − Mkhize commented that this would be the first time in the country’s democratic history that a major public health campaign would be supported by one digital system for all citizens; − There will be no distinction between private and state healthcare users, except that private healthcare users will need to share their medical aid details; − The system will assign a vaccination site closest to citizens’ homes or workplaces and not on whether a particular site is a public or private facility; − Mkhize added that the department would use smartphones and petrol donated by various organisations and companies to send teams out to help vulnerable citizens without access to digital technology, including the elderly, the homeless and those living in deep rural areas difficult to reach; − Government will soon announce a WhatsApp service to assist the process.

2.2. J&J Sisonke vaccination programme to be lifted

− On 22 April, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s cabinet welcomed the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority’s (SAHPRA) recommendation to lift the suspension of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccination programme as long as certain conditions are met; − The conditions include, but are not limited to, strengthened screening and monitoring of participants who are at high risk of a blood clotting disorder; − This follows the precautionary suspension of the rollout two weeks ago due to concerns over a very small number of patients in the US reporting adverse side effects leading to extremely rare blood clots after receiving the jab; − Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, Acting Minister in the Presidency, announced that viewed data confirmed that South Africa had not experienced any blood clots with the already vaccinated healthcare workers; − Ntshavheni added that scientists would continue to monitor all South Africans as and when they were vaccinated.

3. Local Government Elections Date Announced − On 21 April, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the 2021 local government elections will take place on 21 October; − The Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs is set to follow necessary legal processes to proclaim the date and undertake other requirements; − The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) announced that it would be introducing new management voting devices to be used in elections;

− The devices will prevent voters from casting more than one vote, capturing voters’ address and verifying them against their respective wards, serving as an online real-time voter’s roll; − The IEC saw its budget cut by R35 million due COVID-19, but IEC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sy Mamabolo stated he believes the cut will not affect the commission’s work; − Mamabolo added that, due to the budget cut, the IEC would hold only one voter registration weekend as opposed to the usual two; − The Democratic Alliance (DA) has embraced development, stating they were ready to bring about real change to all South Africans and deliver governments that the country deserves; − The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) on the other hand had previously called for the elections to be postponed until 2024, as 2021 elections would deprive opposition parties of an opportunity to freely and fairly campaign due to COVID-19 restrictions.

4. Zondo Commission 4.1. Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe − On 14 and 19 April, Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy and African National Congress (ANC) Chairperson Gwede Mantashe testified at the Zondo Commission; − Manatashe testified about cadre deployment, parliamentary oversight and the ANC’s role in portfolio committees, telling the Commission it was the Secretary-General’s role to ensure that members of parliament voted for positions supported by the party;

− In 2018, former Minister of Public Enterprises, Barbara Hogan testified at the Commission, alleging that the ANC’s deployment committee staffed the public service and state-owned entities (SOEs) with ANC cadres; − The ANC has further faced accusations of forcing members to toe the party line, even when it meant making decisions against their conscience; − Mantashe maintained that the ANC had a deployment policy and not cadre deployment, explaining that the ANC’s deployment committee only recommended cadres but that it did not guarantee the placement of that cadre in a particular position; − The Minister stated that breaking the position of the party was a betrayal of the party’s position, undermining the party’s system as everyone would still go through the interview process and get in on merit; − He added that he believed the party’s system was not unconstitutional, but that the ANC would respect court rulings that declared the party position unconstitutional; − The Democratic Alliance (DA) took Mantashe’s testimony as confirmation of cadre deployment, calling cadre deployment a fundamental cause of corruption and state capture; − As a response to the issue, the DA has gazetted the party’s intention to publish the End Cadre Deployment Bill; − The party stated that, after Mantashe’s testimony, it was now urgent that ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa be compelled to answer questions they submitted to the Commission on his role as Chairperson of the deployment committee between 2013 and 2017; − On 13 April, the DA delivered a Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) request to the ANC in Gauteng, asking it to disclose information about the party’s cadre deployment in the province.

4.2. Thandi Modise And Amos Masondo − On 19 April, National Assembly Speaker Thandi Modise (NA) and Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces Amos Masondo (NCOP) appeared before the Commission;

− Modise admitted that Parliament failed to act against state capture quickly enough and that it was unfortunate that parliament only took action once it was too late as it falls within the powers of the committees; − She stated that sometimes, when allegations surfaced, Members of Parliament (MPs) assumed them to simply be led by political agendas, which got in the way of holding their peers accountable; − She told the Commission that Parliament only really started taking the issue seriously after the Constitutional Court’s ruling on upgrades at former president Jacob Zuma’s ; − Modise told the Commission that after the allegations arose, it became important for parliament to begin focussing the committees and Parliament into being deliberate about following up on issues and this is what they intend to intensify moving forward; − She added that it was also the Gupta leaks, a series of emails linking Ministers to state capture, that made the allegations more real; − When questioned about why committees declined to conduct investigations into state capture, Modise admitted she did not know why no action was taken when serious allegations of state capture surfaced; − She added that MPs needed to know that their mandate was to police existing laws and not just making them; − She declined to answer a question on whether she and then deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa discussed state capture; − Modise and Masondo made a joint submission about oversight and accountability in government; − Masondo said the NCOP, unlike the NA was a platform to debate matters and also get closer to communities, but that one of its most important roles was accountability, admitting there was room for improvement in the question of oversight.

4.3. Lucky Montana

− On 16 and 20 April, former Passenger Railway Agency of South Africa (PRASA) Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Lucky Montana, returned to testify before the Commission; − Montana once again accused the Commission of being compromised, stating that Chairperson Deputy Chief Justice Zondo is biased; − He claimed the cancellation of his appearance before the Commission in January was intended to block his damning evidence; − On 20 April, Montana defended an R82 million contract for skills training services that PRASA had entered into with a company called Prodigy from 2011 to 2016. The contract was suspended in November 2015; − At the time PRASA’s General Manager of legal services, Fani Dingiswayo had refused to sign off on the document after finding irregularities with the contract. Montana signed the contract after it was drawn-up and Dingiswayo eventually found himself dismissed; − Montana denied Dingiswayo’s claims that he had dismissed him for questioning the validity of the contract with Prodigy; − Montana described the partnership between the two companies as value for money and said it changed people’s lives; − However, it was alleged that PRASA chose not to have an open tender for competitive bidding and it was further revealed that the training programme was expected to cost R18 million, which was to be claimed from the Services Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA); − Initially, only 300 employees were meant to be trained through learnerships, but Montana stated that it eventually went beyond the 300 and that PRASA would pay for the programme, only to claim the money from the skills levy later on; − Evidence leader Vas Soni, revealed that the amount and number of people agreed upon rose from R6000 per trainee for 300 people to R24 000 per trainee for 3000 people; − Montana answered that the groups were not trained under the same programme and that a new programme was developed to prepare PRASA employees for the agency’s modernisation programme.

5. State Owned Enterprises 5.1. Plans to Resuscitate SAA − On 19 April, South African Airways (SAA) interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Thomas Kgokolo stated that plans to restart the airline were already underway; − He said the business rescue process had come through and identified the key financial and operational challenges for the airline; − A number of expenses have been cut down, including employee costs through retrenchments; − Kgokolo listed the following as the immediate concerns which the restart plan will address: o Training for pilots who have not been flying for some time; o That the airline has the right compliance certificates in place for flying; o Marketing to ensure clients know the airline is restarting; o Ensuring that corporate compliance issues are addressed; o Filling vacancies left by executes who departed from the airline during the business rescue process; − This development comes after the Labour Court’s decision, on 15 April, to postpone the South African Airways Pilots’ Association (SAAPA)’s hearing to 15 June; − SAAPA had brought an urgent application to the court seeking to have airline’s use of replacement labour during its ongoing dispute with the carrier declared illegal; − The disputes concern unpaid salaries of pilots and pilots being locked out of the airline since December 2020.

5.2. Unable to Pay Salaries

− Denel Land Systems (DLS) has announced that they are unable to pay salaries for April, citing extreme financial and liquidity pressure; − On 15 April, DLS sent a notice out to its employees, stating that revenues had been extremely low, resulting in a weak outlook for total sales for the current month; − DLS stated that they are expecting some of their debtors and clients to make payments within April, which may allow them to pay salaries to certain extent; − DLS also still owes salaries for May, June and July 2020; − They also blamed the government’s COVID-19 enforced national lockdown, which severely impacted its operations, leading to a significant decline in productivity between May and July 2020 and the inability to pay full salaries and third party payments and statutory obligations like medical aid; − DLS spokesperson Pam Malinda stated that the non-payment of salaries in April only applied to DLS and not the entire Denel.

6. Rise in CPI − Data from Statistics South Africa (StatsSA), released on 21 April showed that the Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) increased to an annual 3.2% in March 2021, a 0.3% rise from February’s 2.9%; − This signalled an increase of 0.7% month-on-month increase; − Economists had projected that the rate would increase above 3% following increases in the fuel prices in March;

− According to StatsSA, the main upward pressure came from the prices of food and non- alcoholic beverages, which rose 5.7% in March from February’s 5.2%, the highest rise since October 2016; − The inflation level has remained within the South African Reserve Bank’s (SARB) 3 to 6% inflation target band; − Investment Analyst, Casey Delport said consumer prices were set to continue rising with the economy reopening again after stricter lockdown restrictions were eased. − The SARB’s Monetary Policy Committee warned, in March, that the next change in interest rates could be upward, with the central bank forecasting inflation to increase to an average of 4.9% year-on-year during the second quarter.

7. Qualifications of Senior Government Officials to be Updated − The Heads of national and provincial government have been given until 30 April to update the qualifications of senior government officials on their systems; − This comes after a national outcry over senior public servants who are not qualified for the positions they hold; − Department heads were told to update the information for salary scale 13 to 16 (senior management) officials and 28 may for officials on the 1 to 12 scale; − On 15 April, the Department of Public Service and Administration’s (DPSA) Director- General Yoliswa Makhasi said departments were expected to prioritise updating their systems as it was only the PERSAL system that was considered to be accurate;

− The letter stated that the department was unable to access reliable information for planning and reporting purposes; − Senzo Mchunu, Minister of Public Service and Administration, revealed that out of 9477 senior managers, 3301 did not have the required qualifications and that departments had failed to capture the qualification information, leading to skewed information; − Following the revelation, the Democratic Alliance (DA) published a notice of intention to introduce the Public Laws General Amendment Bill; − The Bill seeks to make the requirement for merit-based appointments legally enforceable, with the exception of the political executive, including Ministers, MECs, councillors and the small group of political advisers; − The party is proposing that anyone in violation of this requirement be sent to jail.

8. Climate Change Summit − On 22 and 23 April, President Cyril Ramaphosa joined 39 other world leaders in a virtual Summit on Climate change, hosted by United States President Joe Biden; − The Summit is a way for countries to exercise leadership in climate change mitigation and just transitions in accordance with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Paris Agreement; − South Africa expects all countries to use this chance to highlight progress in implementation of their national plans and policies on climate change; − All countries will be contributing their best mitigation efforts to reduce emissions of harmful greenhouse gasses to keep the global temperature rise to under 2 degrees Celsius as well as developing a multilateral response to help all countries adapt to the reality of climate change;

− It was also agreed that means of implementation support such as climate finance technology transfer and capacity building would be provided to developing countries; − President Ramaphosa will reiterate South Africa’s commitment to addressing climate change and contributing towards UNFCCC’s Glasgow climate change conference in November 2021; − The leaders of Brazil, Canada and Japan, among others, committed to curb domestic greenhouse gas emissions and tackle climate change, while Biden vowed to reduce U.S. emissions by at least 50% by 2030; − Some of the leaders outlined the specifics of what they would do to curb emissions, such as South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in, who stated the country would end public financing of coal-fired power plants overseas; − Ramaphosa stated that South Africa’s carbon emissions would start declining by 2025, reaffirming commitments to build renewable energy generating capacity of over 17 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2030.

AFRICA WATCH

1. Cape Verde Cape Verde Elections − Cape Verdean Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva has claimed victory in the country’s 18 April parliamentary elections; − The ruling Movement for Democracy (MpD) party is expected to hand e Silva a second five- year term as Prime Minister; − The MpD has won the majority of 36 out of 72 seats against the opposition parties, with the main opposition African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV) only getting 29 seats and a third party winning four; − Results for the remaining seats devolved to overseas Cape Verdeans based in the Americas, Europe and Africa are yet to be counted; − Elections for the Presidency are expected to take place on 7 October.

2. Libya Libya’s COVID-19 Vaccine Drive − On 17 April, Libya officially launched the country’s public vaccine drive, with 430 centres approved across the country; − Priority for vaccines has been given to the elderly and healthcare workers; − Libya is using Russia’s Sputnik jab, the Oxford-AstraZeneca and the Chinese Sinovac vaccine; − Those over 70 years are set to receive the AstraZeneca jab, while Sputnik V is to be administered to medical personnel and those aged 50-60 according to the National Centre for Disease Control; − Libya received a combined total of 400 000 doses of the vaccines; − Libyan authorities have urged the public, including illegal migrants, to register for vaccination, having set up an electronic portal for registrations in March;

3. Chad Chadian Presidency, Death and Succession − On 20 April, Idriss Deby, the Chadian President, who had just won a sixth term in office after release of provisional election results, passed away; − Chad’s armed forces announced that Deby died of wounds suffered on the front line in the country’s north, where he had gone to visit soldiers battling rebels; − The exact circumstances of his death remain unclear; − Deby was however known to visit battlefields in the past, having been seen visiting the army after a deadly attack on an army base by Boko Haram in March 2020; − The country’s armed forces seized power after the president’s death, announcing that General Mahamat Idriss Deby, the deceased President’s son, would be interim Head of State, heading the 18-month transitional council; − The army further announced the following:

o The dissolution of the government and the national assembly as well as the use of a transitional charter to be put in place by the head of the transitional council instead of the current constitution; o Closure of land and air borders and a nationwide curfew imposed from 6pm to 5am; o Fourteen-day national mourning period; o New republican institutions to be put in place to facilitate the transition with the organisation of free, democratic and transparent elections; − The international community responded, with Head of the African Union and former Chadian Prime Minister Moussa Faki Mahamat sending condolences to the family; − French President Emmanuel Macron’s office released a statement saying France had lost a brave friend, but also noting the creation of an interim military body and urging a quick return to civilian rule and a peaceful transition; − Mali’s interim President Bah Ndaw expressed deep sadness, calling the death a heavy loss for the Sahel region and for Africa; − South African President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed sadness at Deby’s passing, sending his condolences to Deby’s family, the Chadian government and Chad’s citizens, also condemning the violence that led to the death of the president and other Chadian citizens.

4. Democratic Republic of Congo DRC Seeks Reparations from Uganda − On 20 April, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) lawyers told the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that they sought $4.3 billion in reparations payments from Uganda; − The reparations are for Uganda’s role in the conflicts in the DRC’s mineral-rich Ituri province; − The court is holding hearings on the long-running dispute between the DRC and Uganda over damages caused between 1998 and 2003; − Paul-Crispin Kakhozi Bin-Bulongo, the DRC’s legal agent, told judges that the damage done by Uganda during the 5 year conflict was of incommensurate magnitude and that Uganda had not negotiated in good faith during reparations talks;

− The case was first brought before the court in 1999, with the court ruling in 2005 that Uganda had violated international law by occupying parts of Ituri with its own troops and supporting other armed groups in the area during the conflict; − The court also ruled that the DRC had violated international law with its attack on the Ugandan embassy in Kinshasa, also ordering that the two negotiate mutual reparations; − In 2015 the DRC returned to tell the court that talks were not progressing, which eventually led to the court setting up a commission of experts to help it assess damage amounts;