November 20, 2020

For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Sashnee Moodley.

Making headlines:

SABC delays plan to cut jobs by a week

Zuma condemned by former ANC activists

And, IMF urges action as recovery loses steam and Covid-19 surges

SABC delays plan to cut jobs by a week

The South African Broadcasting Corporation says it will delay a plan to lay off 600 employees by a week, following protests by some of its presenters and journalists, who have threatened a radio and TV blackout.

This will allow all stakeholders to further engage and explore further options in an effort to ensure the financial sustainability of the SABC.

The broadcaster's board said it needed at least R1-billion a year to keep operations going, and that its plan to cut costs by lowering headcount was not yet working.

Zuma condemned by former ANC activists

The Strategic Dialogue Group, a collective of ex-African National Congress youth activists, has condemned former president Jacob Zuma's decision to walk out of the commission of inquiry into state capture.

The group said Zuma's allegation of a political conspiracy had no factual standing.

On Thursday, state capture inquiry chairperson Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo dismissed Zuma's application for his recusal.

Zuma's counsel said his legal team will review Zondo's decision, with the former president leaving the inquiry without Zondo's permission.

IMF urges action as recovery loses steam and Covid-19 surges

The global economy’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic is losing steam even as vaccine breakthroughs offer hope and “the economic path ahead remains difficult and prone to setbacks,” the International Monetary Fund has warned.

The IMF has projected global GDP will contract by 4.4 percent in 2020 – and growth will remain at a modest 5.2 percent next year as countries experience a “partial and uneven recovery”.

The outlook has worsened for developing countries, and the fallout from Covid-19 is expected to leave global GDP more than 6 percentage points below pre-pandemic projections for 2021.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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