While you were asleep: Shame on us for allowing shamelessness to thrive

The first lab tests into omicron showing that the Covid-19 variant can partially sidestep the protection afforded by vaccines are somewhat worrisome, but not as worrisome as the people entrusted with serving and protecting our people behaving outright shamelessly, over and over again. Parliament was told yesterday that the Special Investigating Unit is investigating R14.8bn worth of alleged irregular contracts related to the procurement of protective gear during the pandemic. Worse is the revelation that directors and CEOs of companies that are blacklisted from working with government departments close these businesses and start new companies to again land government contracts.

Parliament also heard that investigators could so far only recover around R12m from those who illegally benefitted from the R150m Digital Vibes contract. The saga, which unmasked the immoral actions of the highest authority in a health pandemic, the then-health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize, rocked the country. Other than resigning after reports and investigations by the SIU alleged he unlawfully gave communications contracts to a company which his associate ran, nothing happened to Mkhize. Back in August already, the Daily Maverick wrote about this crime against humanity from an elite who are immune to everything, including shame. The perpetrators are known, so what are we waiting for? When can we expect accountability?

Meanwhile, the idyllic Boland town of Franschhoek has become the first town in South Africa to have more than 80% of its people vaccinated against the Covid-19 virus – at its own cost. And it did it to boost the return of international visitors to the region, and more importantly, stimulate employment growth. Now that’s an example to follow!

In the markets, the rand remained steady around the R15.85-level to the US dollar on improved global risk sentiment, with TreasuryONE expecting the unit to continue to trade in an R15.75/R16.00 range.

Commodities too continued their rally of the previous session, with gold gaining 0.27% to $1,789 and platinum and palladium both up around 1.0% at $971 and $1,880 respectively. Brent crude is still trading above $75 a barrel.

Here’s a roundup of the world’s top and most interesting headlines:

SA Business

South African law change plan to allow land expropriation fails to pass – Reuters
These are the types of side hustles middle-class South Africans are turning to – BusinessTech
Under pressure: Hypertension is South Africa’s ‘silent killer’ – The Conversation

Global Business

Biden warns Putin of ‘strong’ economic response and more if Russia invades Ukraine – SkyNews
Bitcoin ‘founder’ to keep 1m Bitcoin cache – BBC News
Volkswagen mulling Porsche IPO to help fund shift to electric – The Guardian

Markets

Asia markets up but fears over Chinese real estate linger – AFP
SA’s first specialised petrol service station REIT to list on the JSE – PropertyWheel
Omicron threatens Asia oil demand just as pricing favours Atlantic crude – Reuters

Tech

TikTok gets into shopping – BBC News
What did Apple get out of its secret, $275bn China deal in 2016? – SupChina
Google disrupts cybercrime web infecting 1 mn devices – AFP

Opinion/In-depth

Mcebisi Jonas: To be a force for good in the world, we must strengthen democracy in South Africa – Daily Maverick
How changes to South Africa’s value-added tax affect compliance among small firms – The Conversation
The joke’s on us, South Africa. The cruel logic of Omicron travel bans — debunked – Daily Maverick

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