For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Thabi Shomolekae.

Making headlines: South Africa’s Central Bank unlikely to get lower CPI goal soon; GNU Clearing House creates team to address BELA Bill concerns; And, DA urges ‘anti-competitive’ Eskom to withdraw legal proceedings against Nersa

South Africa’s Central Bank unlikely to get lower CPI goal soon

South Africa is unlikely to have a new inflation target by February’s budget, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said.

The central bank began formally pursuing an inflation target in 2000, when it was set at 3% to 6%. In 2017, it began explicitly communicating it was aiming to anchor price expectations around the 4.5% midpoint of its target range and is now working with Treasury to review the goal.

South African Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago reiterated his calls for it to be lowered.

The reserve bank last month reduced borrowing costs by 25 basis points to 8% after inflation slowed and policymakers revised their forecasts to show price pressures remaining at or below 4.5% through 2026. Inflation has since slowed further to 3.8%, its lowest level in four years.

GNU Clearing House creates team to address BELA Bill concerns

The Government of National Unity Clearing House Mechanism has agreed to establish a small team to work on some of the concerns raised around the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act.

The team comprises Deputy Minister Andries Nel, Freedom Front Plus’s Dr Cornelius Mulder, GOOD Party’s Brett Herron, Democratic Alliance’s Helen Zille and African National Congress’s Mdumiseni Ntuli.

Last month, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the BELA Bill into law, despite a significant degree of public rejection and concern over its constitutionality.

He placed on hold two clauses of the Bill for three months to find solutions to the concerns around them.

The team will have two weeks before it has to report to the Clearing House Mechanism.

And, DA urges ‘anti-competitive’ Eskom to withdraw legal proceedings against Nersa

The Democratic Alliance urged Eskom to withdraw what it calls the State power utility’s “futile and costly” legal dispute and said it should support the transformation of South Africa’s energy sector.

Eskom has approached the High Court to review the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s decision to grant four trading licences in what it describes as its area of supply.

Eskom reiterated its objection to allowing more than one licensee to provide electricity in the same area and argued that the approval had been made in the absence of fully developed trading rules.

DA spokesperson on electricity and energy Kevin Mileham said Eskom’s litigation not only distracted from its primary responsibility to deliver reliable energy to South Africans but was also contrary to the Electricity Regulation Act, which explicitly encouraged competition through trading and wheeling provisions.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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