South Africa: What's Happening In South African News – June 21, 2022

Soweto Residents Gather Ahead of March to Mayor's Office

Officers have been deployed to monitor a planned service delivery protest by Soweto residents. After gathering at the Maponya Mall, taxis brought more participants with some dressed in military gear. Additional demonstrators are expected to join at Parktown before the community travels to the Johannesburg mayor's office in Braamfontein. Community leader Keabetsoe Malebo said the community aims to stand against electricity costs and reiterated calls for the removal of informal settlements.

Medical Aid Schemes Undermining National Health Reform - Report

According to a report by non-profit Section 27, a provision of the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill may delay reform to the country's health system and result in a delay to its implementation. The report also claims that private medical aid schemes are a particularly problematic aspect of health reform. Specifically, Section 33 of the NHI Bill states that medical schemes may only provide cover constituting "complementary or top up cover and that does not overlap with the personal health care service benefits purchased by the National Health Insurance Fund on behalf of users".

Bank Warns of Major Shift in Travel Habits Following Covid-19 Pandemic

According to First National Bank (FNB), several forms of travel are not to make a recovery from the shock of the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown. Despite year-on-year growth, the tourism sector remains slow with additional factors like recent flooding in KwaZulu-Natal limiting tourist numbers in the post-Easter period, according to John Loos, property sector strategist at FNB Commercial Property Finance. The rise in petrol costs brought on by skyrocketing oil prices are also expected to take a toll on domestic tourist travel.