- The DA has appealed to finance minister Enoch Godongwana and the Treasury to create a new municipal grant so that metros with the required capacity can take control over local policing. This comes on top of the DA’s drive for Cape Town to take control of local train services and the commitment by its mayoral candidate for the city Geordin Hill-Lewis that if the DA is re-elected to control the city in Monday’s local government elections it will seek greater independence from Eskom by relying more on independent power producers. Hill-Lewis, who is also the DA’s national spokesperson on finance, said in a statement on Wednesday that the proposed new municipal grant should be financed out of the current VIP protection budget.
- A former captain of South Africa’s national cricket team withdrew from a T20 World Cup match on Tuesday after the sport’s national body instructed all players to “take the knee” before every game in the tournament that’s under way in the United Arab Emirates. Quinton de Kock, the wicketkeeper and star batsman, declared himself unavailable for the game against the West Indies, according to captain Temba Bavuma. The decision was for “personal reasons,” said Bavuma, who is the first Black player to lead the national side. Cricket South Africa made the symbolic act to show opposition to racism compulsory for all its players shortly before the match, its second of the tournament. De Kock hasn’t knelt before previous games.
- South Africa is considering buying the country’s biggest oil refinery, a joint venture between Royal Dutch Shell and BP, known as Sapref. The state-owned Central Energy Fund, which manages the country’s energy assets, is looking at acquiring the 180,000-barrel-a-day plant, which is located on the coast near Durban, according to two people familiar with the information. The government published new rules in September that require refiners to meet low-sulfur fuel specifications by 2023, which will render most of the fleet obsolete, according to a lobby group representing the fuel manufacturers.
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