Good morning. Today we’re covering claims by the Limpopo MEC for health that Zimbabwean nationals are placing a strain on the provincial healthcare system, the competition watchdog has raided several insurance companies it suspects of collusion, and Boeing will send a manned flight to the International Space Station next year.
FACT CHECK | No, MEC Ramathuba, poor management is killing Limpopo hospitals – not immigrants – News24
Earlier in the week, Limpopo health MEC Dr Phophi Ramathuba made headlines when she was caught on camera telling a Zimbabwean patient that migrants were a “huge strain” on the provincial healthcare system.
Ramathuba’s utterances drifted into the realm of xenophobia and her critics have been quick to point this out. News24 reports that the Limpopo health department is currently facing claims of close to R14 billion for alleged negligence by medical practitioners in the province.
News24’s team investigated Ramathuba’s claims and found that medico-legal claims, lack of consequence management, irregular expenditure and vacancy rates are affecting hospitals and the healthcare system, according to official statistics and audit reports. Read more here.
Competition watchdog raids SA’s top insurers over ‘potential’ price collusion – Times LIVE
On Thursday, the competition commission began raiding the offices of insurers BrightRock, Discovery, FMI – which is a division of Bidvest Life – Hollard, Momentum, Old Mutual Insure Limited, Professional Provident Society (PPS) and Sanlam across Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.
The body said it has reason to believe the insurers colluded to fix prices or trading conditions in respect of fees for products like retirement savings and other insurance-related products.
“According to the information at the disposal of the commission, the companies under investigation share information on premium rates for risk-related products and fees for investment products,” said the commission in a statement. Read more here.
Boeing, Nasa target early 2023 for first Starliner mission carrying astronauts – Daily Maverick/Reuters
Boeing is set to launch its first Starliner mission to the International Space Station with astronauts aboard in February 2023. The aeroplane manufacturer is in the final stage of its development of the Starliner spacecraft.
The crewed space flight will come just a year after Boeing successfully flew an unmanned spacecraft to the space station in March, completing a critical mission for Nasa.
Boeing is competing with Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which remains Nasa’s favoured spaceship programme. Read more here.
Here’s what else we’re reading today:
‘Evidence that raided insurers share passcodes to access each other’s systems’ – EWN
Asian shares rise as hopes for audit deal boost China tech – SABC News
General workers are likely to cut down on food expenses: Household Affordability Index – SABC News
South Africa seen avoiding ‘particularly high rates’ in price shock – BusinessTech
World’s most popular password manager says it was hacked – Daily Maverick
‘Unadventurous’ Reserve Bank saved SA from high inflation, interest rates, says deputy governor – Fin24
Civil society organisations call for removal of MPs implicated in State Capture – Daily Maverick
Nedbank to pay R2m fine following unapproved merger – Fin24
Colossal Crisis: Entire SAPS without digital forensic tools after massive IT tender stalls – Daily Maverick
Kyiv renames nearly 100 streets in drive to shed Russian past – Daily Maverick
