We have so much to deal with: omicron, expensive food and fuel, high unemployment, missed parties… the list is long, so here’s something different for your weekend table talk.
In the UK (surprisingly not the US), in a landmark ruling that aims to fix the responsibility of healthcare professionals and hold them liable for improper pre-conception advice, 20-year-old Evie Toombes sued her mom’s doctor for allowing her to be born. And the para-showjumping star with spina bifida won the right to millions of pounds in damages. Spina bifida is a condition where a baby’s spine and spinal cord fail to develop in the womb. Toombes claimed that Dr Philip Mitchell failed to advise her mother to take vital folic acid, which minimises the risk of the defect, before becoming pregnant. Toombes claimed her mother, Caroline, would have delayed conception until she had taken the supplement and, as a result, she wouldn’t have been born.
But just so you don’t get caught off guard when the conversation shifts to the real issues affecting all of us, here’s a roundup:
Omicron: It will serve you well not to frequent public places unnecessarily as a local study shows that the risk of reinfection from the Covid variant is three times higher than for any previous variant. The rapid rise in case numbers underlines this. The jab does offer some form of protection and in a big push to get SA vaxxed ahead of the festive break, the government has declared 3 to 10 December 2021 “Vooma Week”.
Expensive food and fuel: You’ll have to tighten your belts going into the holiday spending season as the latest massive jump in fuel prices adds inflationary pressure to groceries and other expenses across the country. And a point to debate, should the government refund motorists the 6c on a litre of petrol they paid before the department of energy admitted its calculation bungle?
High unemployment: Amid our jobless horror, a new report shows that more than a third of the people who applied for the social relief of distress grant have matric or a higher qualification in the form of a diploma or a degree. At least 61.3% of them are between the ages of 20 and 34. This comes as Stats SA this week revealed the unemployment rate had increased to 34.9% in the country in the third quarter of 2021 – the highest since the start of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey in 2008.
Missed parties: While the Ballito Rage festival has been cancelled after 36 people tested positive for Covid-19, the Plett Rage is set to continue, on condition. In the US, all 53,000 attendees of Anime NYC have been urged to get tested after one tested positive for omicron. Talking point: Are you willing to risk it?
In the markets, the rand traded in a 30 cent range yesterday but spent most of the day in the mid-R15.80s as it traded in line with most of its EM peers. But the local unit weakened at the close to end at R15.93 and has opened a touch softer at R15.97 this morning as omicron cases spike both locally and internationally, reports TreasuryONE. “The rand is unlikely to break below R15.75 in the short term and will probably consolidate in an R15.75/R16.15 range for now.”
The forex trading house added that various Fed officials affirmed the new, more hawkish stance yesterday, with markets now betting on a June 2022 rate hike.
Here’s a roundup of the world’s top and most interesting headlines:
SA Business
Shifting gears: Ford to invest R600m in Gqeberha engine plant – Daily Maverick
How much you now pay in tax when filling up on petrol in South Africa – BusinessTech
Numsa welcomes Prasa CEO Zolani Matthews’ axing – SABC News
Global Business
US adopts rule that could see Chinese firms leave Wall Street, and Ride-hailing giant Didi’s the first to hit the road – AFP
Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos have sold $20 billion of stock this year as insider sales soared to record high – Business Insider
Oil producers to increase output in January despite Omicron jitters – AFP
Markets
Dollar Up, Investors Await Latest U.S. Jobs Report – Investing.com
Global stocks wobble as Didi delisting revives US-China worries – SABC News
Asia markets mixed as Omicron, Fed taper keep traders on edge – AFP
Opinion/In-depth
Karpowership’s R3.3bn-per-year ‘freebie’ – Daily Maverick
South Africa is failing to ride the digital revolution wave. What it needs to do – The Conversation
The high price of economic bumbling and austerity: 64% of working-age people are without jobs – Daily Maverick
Video
Fuel made from recycled plastic bottles is being tested to propel rockets into space – Euronews
Do carbon-neutral companies even exist? – Deutsche Welle
Consumer inflation | A costlier Christmas ahead? – eNCA
