Daily Podcast - July 05, 2024

For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Halima Frost.
Making headlines: Eskom celebrates 100 days without loadshedding; CDE says bloated Cabinet needs to agree on priorities, agenda for deepened economic reform; And, South Africa inflation expectations dip before rate decision
Eskom celebrates 100 days without loadshedding
State-owned power utility Eskom has achieved 100 consecutive days without loadshedding, which reflects the enhanced reliability and performance of its generation fleet.
The continuous suspension of loadshedding has been achieved against a backdrop of a significant decrease in the use of open-cycle gas turbines to supplement generation capacity.
Eskom Group CE Dan Marokane said the 100 days milestone includes around a R6.2-billion reduction in open-cycle gas turbines diesel expenditure from April 1 to June 30, compared to the same period last year and, if we maintain our trajectory on reduced diesel spend, it will be a strong driver in a possible return to profit in the 2025 financial year.
This accomplishment is the result of its multi-dimensional generation operational recovery plan, started in March 2023, and aggressive planned maintenance. These were made possible by financial support from the National Treasury Eskom debt relief scheme.
CDE says bloated Cabinet needs to agree on priorities, agenda for deepened economic reform
The Centre for Development and Enterprise said today the centre of government needs to be streamlined with more effective processes feeding into Cabinet to ensure better decision-making.
Crucially, only the best people should be appointed to senior positions in the public service and in entities such as Eskom and Transnet, stressed CDE executive director Ann Bernstein.
On Sunday President Cyril Ramaphosa announced his new Cabinet after forming a government of national unity, announcing a high number of Ministers and Deputy Ministers.
Ramaphosa added two Ministers and seven Deputy Ministers, increasing the Cabinet size to 75. It is the largest Cabinet the country has ever had.
Bernstein said it was unfortunate that Ramaphosa went for an even bigger Cabinet than the enormous ones of previous administrations.
She said big Cabinets are difficult to manage, slow to make decisions, hard to hold accountable and less likely to commit to a clear set of reforms on which there is no back-tracking.
She advised that the incumbents in some 130 mission-critical posts should all reapply for their jobs and, where individuals were not the best possible candidates for these jobs, they should be replaced.
And, South Africa inflation expectations dip before rate decision
South African inflation expectations for the next two years declined, signalling progress in the central bank’s efforts to rein them in before its policy meeting later this month.
Average inflation expectations two years ahead - which the bank’s monetary policy committee uses to inform its decision-making - fell to 4.9% in the second quarter from 5.2% previously, according to a survey released today by the Stellenbosch-based Bureau for Economic Research.
All social groups including analysts, businesspeople, and labour officials lowered their inflation forecasts for the entire three-year horizon Bureau for Economic Research surveys, it said.
On average, they now anticipate inflation of 5.3% in 2024, 5% in 2025, and 4.9% in 2026. Their five-year inflation forecast fell below 5% to 4.9% for the first time since the fourth quarter of 2021.
The drop will help ease concerns expressed by the monetary policy committee at its last meeting that inflation expectations remain above the 4.5% midpoint of the bank’s target range, where it prefers to anchor them. The reading, coupled with easing inflation pressures, may pave the way for interest rates to be lowered later this year.
For now, however, analysts expect the monetary policy committee will leave the key interest rate at 8.25% for a seventh straight meeting on ...