While you were asleep: What is John Steenhuisen’s role in visiting Ukraine?

Welcome back from the long weekend, we trust you had a restful and enjoyable few days off. We begin this morning with the Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen’s visit to war-torn Ukraine.

Steenhuisen said he arrived in Ukraine on Sunday in the western city of Lviv and would embark on a six-day tour of the country in what he has dubbed a ‘fact-finding’ mission.

The South African opposition leader gave remarks about his reasoning to come to Ukraine during a visit to a refugee camp near the Ukraine-Poland border where he also met the mayor of Lviv, Andriy Sadovyi. He said Russia’s invasion had global consequences and does not only affect European countries.  

But many have been left asking what Steenhuisen is doing in Ukraine in the first place despite his purported reasons for ‘fact-finding’. The DA leader holds no position within government and cannot affect foreign policy in any way, but he is a member of parliament.

South Africa’s official line on the war in Eastern Europe is to remain neutral and to avail itself as a potential mediator for peace between Russia and Ukraine.

Social media is awash with questions for Steenhuisen including who is funding his trip to Ukraine, why has the DA not prioritised focusing on a crisis directly affecting SA like the floods in KwaZulu-Natal, and one Twitter user pointed out that areas in the Western Cape (where the DA governs) are akin to a war zone with gang-violence rife.

Meanwhile, staying on the political front, two members of the ANC in the Eastern Cape, Andile Andries and Lubabalo Keso, were gunned down outside of Andries’ home on Monday ahead of a fiercely contested provincial elective conference.

Andries is the Nelson Mandela Bay Ward 43 councillor while Keso was the party’s regional executive committee member and branch secretary.

Andries was also the deputy general-secretary of the Uncedo Taxi Association nationally and a chair of SANTACO in the Nelson Mandela Bay region. His connection to the taxi industry has sparked theories that he was allegedly murdered in an ongoing spat of taxi violence gripping the area.

Police are on the hunt for the perpetrators who allegedly pulled up in a Quantum mini-bus and opened fire on the two men as they came out of Andries’ house.

Markets are pricing in a potential 50bp rate hike ahead of the US Fed’s FOMC interest rate decision tomorrow. 

In the currency markets, the Rand lost nearly 2.2% on Monday, closing at R16.15/$ compared with Friday’s close of R15.81/$. The local unit briefly touched R16.19 levels at one point with the Rand currently trading flat at R16.15/$ with sustained pressure expected going into tomorrow’s Fed decision. 

“The Reserve Bank of Australia hiked its policy interest rate for the first time since the end-2010 today, by 25bps to 0.35%. This was more than the consensus expectation for a 15bps move and has pushed the Aussie Dollar around 1.0% stronger,” comments TreasuryONE. 

On the commodities front, a stronger Dollar seeped into metal prices as well with gold and palladium losing 1.7% and 4.5% respectively while platinum traded flat. 

“This morning finds gold a touch softer at $1,858, platinum flat at $937, and palladium up at $2,235. Brent closed marginally firmer at $107.50 yesterday and has opened unchanged this morning, with WTI also flat at $105.10.”