We’ve always been positive about the future of our country, but ten days of load shedding really took a toll on our positivity. This is mainly due to the fact that we are now seeing more people approach DebtCare for Debt Counselling either because they’ve been let go from their job or because entire businesses are shutting down altogether simply because their service delivery depends on having power. It’s not looking good, and there’s a growing concern that people who struggle with debt now will be in more financial trouble down the line, not because they don’t try to get out of debt, but because the external factors are stacking odds against them.
Junk status, load shedding, recession and petrol prices – if you’re facing financial difficulties now, get help before your finances go into a freefall.
- Eskom says that it does not expect to implement load shedding this week, but warned that it could return at any time, as the system remains vulnerable. Load shedding is said to continue for at least a year. [Eskom]
- Sewerage pump stations at South Africa’s largest cities risk overflowing if load shedding continues. The cities of Johannesburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, and Cape Town all confirmed that their sewerage network has been constrained by load shedding and that there are overflow risks if it should continue. [Business Insider]
- Economists currently hold a grim outlook for South Africa, with the concerns over the country hitting another technical recession, and facing a downgrade from rating agency Moody’s this Friday which will put the country into full junk. [Fin24]
- The US will reportedly cut South Africa’s HIV treatment funding by R5 billion, saying the country’s fight against Aids is “grossly suboptimal”. South Africa receives around R10 billion in aid from the US for the fight against HIV. [TimesLive]
- South Africa’s rand fell on Friday after disappointing economic data from the eurozone added to concerns of a slowdown in global growth and drove investors away from riskier assets. On Monday the rand was at R14.53 to the dollar, R19.17 to the pound and R16.42 to the euro.
- Dire countrywide water shortage to hit South Africa in 2030. A countrywide water shortage is a decade away unless urgent action is taken to rehabilitate and preserve our rivers and catchment areas, fix and maintain crumbling infrastructure, and implement water re-use. Without intervention, South Africa faces a deficit of about 3,000 billion litres of water per year by 2030 the Department of Water and Sanitation told a ministerial interactive session on transformation in Boksburg on 15 February.
- South African tourism still leads as Africa’s leading destination but lately, it’s growth has seen a notable decline and this was more visible in the sector’s performance in 2018. As reported by Tourism Update, the country, in 2018, saw a 1.9% decline in its tourism economy. [The South African]
- Tighten your belts: Motorists could pay 98 cents more for petrol in April. Motorists could be expected to pay an additional 98 cents per litre in April – bringing the cost to R15,80 cents for a litre of fuel.
- South Africa is likely to harvest 16% less maize in 2019 compared with the previous season after drought delayed plantings, a Reuters poll showed on Monday. [CNBC Africa]
- South Africa ranks number 106 out of 156 in World Happiness Index released by Gallup, a US analytics company, who teamed up with the UN to survey the state of global happiness. Even Nigeria beat us with its 85th spot. [The South African]
If you’d like to discuss your financial situation with one of our qualified debt counsellors, send us a WhatsApp (082 800 8423) and we’ll call you back. You can also complete a free online application form here.