By the end of December 2021, government had hoped to reach its target of having 70% of the population vaccinated against the coronavirus but that has not happened says health minister Joe Phaahla.
The minister said mandatory vaccination discussions were ongoing within government and an announcement on a decision would be made shortly. Phaahla says around 40% of the population is fully vaccinated but the country needs between 67%-70% of the population vaccinated to achieve herd immunity.
The reason South Africa has not reached that 70% mark according to Phaahla is because government had fallen short in convincing the masses to get vaccinated.
The minister said there had been a marked decline in hospitalisation, deaths related to Covid-19 and daily infections but cautioned against becoming complacent with the omicron variant the dominant strain during the fourth wave of infections.
On Sunday, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said there were 2,597 new Covid-19 cases in the country representing a positivity rate of 10.6%.
If you have not already done so, now would be the time to go out and get vaccinated.
Despite the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) Act and the Aarto Amendment Act being declared invalid and unconstitutional by a Pretoria High Court last week, government could still introduce a points demerit system for traffic offences.
Both the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) and the Automobile Association (AA) believe this to be the case but have cautioned that the only way government would be able to implement the points demerit system effectively is if the National Traffic Information System (Natis) and the post office are working effectively.
Outa CEO, Wayne Duvenage says South Africa is not a connected country, which presents a problem for the implementation of a centralised national system that the demerit system would need while the Aarto act usurps the powers of local government.
“Aarto was going to fail because the Natis is inaccurate … [and] because you can’t just rely on electronic communication,” says Duvenage.
“You have to rely on a postal system because a lot of people are not connected to the internet. It’s the same thing with e-tolls.”
Meanwhile, transport minister Fikile Mbalula says South African motorists will soon have a new drivers licence card with a formal announcement to be made before the end of the 2021/2022 financial year and subject to cabinet approval.
The new licence cards will be aligned with international practices and incorporate new technologies. The design of the licence card will also be changed, reports My Broadband.
In the currency markets, “Friday saw the US Treasury yields spike higher and the Dollar close firmer on the day on the back of continued hawkish statements from Fed officials. The Rand remains the best performing EM currency closing relatively flat at R15.38,” comments forex trading house TreasuryONE.
The rand is currently trading slightly weaker at R15.41 to the dollar while trading is expected to be subdued today because of a public holiday in the US.
Metals start the new week where they left off last week with little change to the price. Gold is at $1,819, platinum at $969, and palladium is trading at $1,874. Increased demand for Brent crude saw the price jump 2.3% on Friday with it currently trading at $86.13 a barrel.
Here’s a roundup of the world’s top and most interesting headlines:
SA Business
Consumers ‘should not have to pay’ for Eskom bungling – Tech Central
‘Local economy will continue to suffer because of lockdown regulations’ – SABC
The job sectors with the highest average salaries in South Africa – BusinessTech
Global Business
Switzerland refusing to return money of South African victims in R4 billion pyramid scheme – My Broadband
Record-high car prices won’t be dropping anytime soon – Fin24
Oman teams up with BP in renewable energy development – Reuters
Markets
Asian markets mixed as Fed hikes loom, China growth slows – AFP
Tech Stocks Stumble to Worst Start Since 2016 on Rate-Hike Fears – Bloomberg
Oil edges higher on tight supply, limited Omicron impact – Reuters
Opinion/In-depth
Seismic skirmishes: Murky permitting and scientific debate while Big Oil eyes South African waters – Daily Maverick
SA’s best performing fund manager Piet Viljoen on what’s hot and what’s not in 2022 – BizNews
SA Covid situation in 2022 is unpredictable — poor information clouds our understanding – Daily Maverick
Video
Nigerian startups use apps to counter fake drugs – Reuters
Wikipedia Editors Vote Against Classifying NFTs as Art – Coindesk
Tesla delays production of Cybertruck to 2023 – Reuters
Image: Reuters
