April 29, 2026.

For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Trent Roebeck.

Making headlines:

South Africa law firms ask court to quash industry equity code

Shortlists of nuclear regulator board candidates released by Parliamentary Committee

And, Namibia holds key interest rate as Iran war darkens outlook

Some of South Africa’s biggest law firms have asked a court to set aside the nation’s policy governing Black ownership and representation in the profession, saying that its “unlawful” and “unworkable” in its present form.

The Gauteng High Court will hear the request to set aside the so-called Legal Sector Code, published by Trade Minister Parks Tau in September 2024, from May 4 to 8. Norton Rose Fulbright initially brought the legal proceedings to the court and Bowmans, Webber Wentzel and Werksmans have intervened.

The firms argue that the revised code removes recognition for several established measures aimed at so-called transformation — a local term for policies addressing apartheid-era exclusion through steps such as increasing Black ownership and staffing, and expanding skills development.

Among the concerns raised, the firms said the new code “wrongly excludes” Black non-lawyers from management control scoring, even though professionals in areas such as human resources, technology and accounting often hold critical senior management and leadership roles in law firms, Bowmans, Webber Wentzel and Werksmans said.

Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Electricity and Energy has released the list of 26 candidates that it has shortlisted for interviews, to fill vacancies on the board of the National Nuclear Regulator. Four of these were candidates for the community representative and 22 were candidates for the labour representative.

NNR’s mandate is to regulate, monitor and enforce safety standards to achieve safe operating conditions, prevent nuclear accidents and mitigate the consequences of such accidents.

The process of selecting new board members was started last year, when Electricity and Energy Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa issued a call for nominations, to ensure both community and labour representation on the board.

A total of 120 applications were received by the committee. From these, the committee selected its two shortlists.

Namibia's central bank kept its main interest rate unchanged at 6.50% on Wednesday, saying the outlook for economic growth and inflation had worsened due to the spillover effects of the Iran war.

It was the third meeting in a row the Bank of Namibia has maintained its repo rate.

Annual inflation slowed to 2.1% in March, down from 2.4% in February and hitting its lowest level since 2020, though it is expected to pick up in the months ahead.

In an effort to cushion the impact of the global energy price surge triggered by the US-Israeli war against Iran, the Southern African country's government cut fuel levies by 50% for at least three months until the end of June.

Uganda’s Central Bank Governor said risks to the domestic inflation outlook remain tilted to the upside, notably through potential increases in administered prices, exchange rate volatility, and the spillover effects of the prolonged war in the Middle East.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

Don’t forget to follow us on the X platform, at the handle @PolityZA