Flash Briefing: SA remains most unequal country; SA’s ‘perpetual’ state of disaster; Ramaphosa, cabinet to face motions of no confidence

• South Africa is the most unequal country in the world, with race playing a determining factor in a society where 10% of the population owns more than 80% of the wealth, a World Bank report said Wednesday. "South Africa… is the most unequal country in the world, ranking first among 164 countries," the Washington-based institution said in a report called Inequality in Southern Africa. Nearly 30 years after the end of apartheid, "race remains a key driver of high inequality in South Africa, due to its impact on education and the labour market," it said. When race is considered as a factor in income disparities, the report added, "its contribution to income inequality amounts to 41%, while contribution of education is reduced to 30%." 
• The government is considering extending the national state of disaster despite the cabinet's promise that it would end on March 15, because it has yet to finalise alternative legislation to manage Covid-19. The government declared a state of disaster in mid-March 2020 in response to the pandemic, using its sweeping powers to impose regulations controlling the movement of people, the size of gatherings, mask wearing in public, curfews, and periodic bans on the sale of alcohol and tobacco. The issue of lifting the state of disaster has been high on the government's agenda this week and was discussed at a national coronavirus command council meeting on Tuesday and by the cabinet on Wednesday. The council was set up after the start of the outbreak and has attracted controversy as critics question its legal and constitutional standing. The cabinet is due to hold a post-meeting briefing on Thursday.
• President Cyril Ramaphosa will face the first motion of no confidence in his leadership on March 30. This will be the same day his cabinet's fitness for office will also be called into question. National Assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula announced on Thursday morning that both motions would be held then. "The scheduling of the two motions of no confidence in the president and in cabinet … I will provide feedback, but for now we are proposing the date of March 30 for both the debate and the voting for these two motions, which have been submitted by both the ATM and the DA," she said. Mapisa-Nqakula added that voting on both motions would be done openly and there would be no secret ballot. She rejected a DA request that members of the executive not participate in the process because of a possible conflict of interest.

In the financial news:

• Nedbank CEO Mike Brown has added his voice to calls by senior business leaders for less talk and more action on the structural reforms needed to kick-start economic growth. Echoing the sentiments of FirstRand CEO Alan Pullinger, who last week bemoaned the "glacial pace" of reform efforts, Brown said SA needed to act "yesterday" to cut red tape dramatically to boost investment, particularly in power and energy. Brown said red tape was undermining President Cyril Ramaphosa's surprise decision in 2021 to lift the threshold for embedded power generation to 100MW.
• Oil fluctuated after the biggest drop since November as the fallout from Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues to rattle markets. Futures in New York swung between gains and losses after plunging 12% on Wednesday to just below $109 a barrel. Oil sank after the United Arab Emirates called on OPEC+ to boost production faster, though the nation's energy minister appeared to temper that message a few hours later. The slump came just days after prices closed at the highest level since 2008 on Monday.