Tag: national state of disaster

On Wednesday, 24 May 2023, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition (MTIC) published the Energy Users Block Exemption and Energy Supplier Block Exemption. The Energy Users Block Exemption allows for collaboration between energy users to respond to the current electricity supply constraints subject to a process of notification to the Competition Commission and the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC).

At a time when the country is facing a significant energy crisis, the report provides a consolidated overview of the electricity market from consumption to generation to financing. We have launched our South Africa-focused market report, providing a comprehensive overview of the state of play of the country’s energy sector.

We are pleased to share our second South Africa Economic Outlook report for 2023. In the wake of Budget 2023 and announced incentives for investment in solar power generation, this edition focuses on green incentives and their role in encouraging local businesses to invest in renewable electricity generation.

With South Africa being added to the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) grey list, we do not believe markets will continue to react over negatively due to the greylisting, especially since a lot of this unwelcome news has already been priced in by markets.

We oppose various recent government initiatives to prolong COVID-19 lockdown measures. All such measures must be scrapped and a return to the pre-March 2020 legal position must be expedited. South Africans have waited patiently for too long to see constitutional government and their civil liberties restored.

On 4 April 2022, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the National State of Disaster would be lifted with effect from 00:00 on 5 April 2022. One of the effects of this is that the Code of Good Practice: Managing Exposure to SARS-COV-2 in the Workplace (Code) became effective on 5 April 2022.

Since March 2020, South Africans have had to comply with various COVID-19 restrictions implemented by the government to contain the spread of the virus. To this end, businesses have dealt with limitations on capacity and their operational hours, while patrons must meet face mask and sanitisation requirements.

President Cyril Ramaphosa presented the five-level, risk-adjusted strategy that will guide South Africa’s emergence from lockdown. As the finer points of the strategy were shared, it became clearer how - and when - certain sectors will once again gear up into activity.

Legally we have entered unchartered waters that government, perhaps understandably, appears unable to navigate. Practically, the coronavirus regulations cannot be adhered to in a society composed like South Africa’s. In whichever way one approaches the issue, the coronavirus regulations should in large part be set aside and replaced by less restrictive measures to control the pandemic.

An interview with Yasmine Wilson, Associate, Norton Rose Fulbright, and Dr Ivor Blumenthal, CEO, ArkKonsult, discussing the impact of COVID-19 on force majeure clauses in contracts.