South Africa closes major border, and Sibanye gold boom

Here’s what is happening in and affecting South Africa today:

• Border post closed: The Border Management Authority (BMA) has temporarily closed the Lebombo port of entry amid violent protests in Mozambique. Mozambique has been marred by violent protests after its election results were announced. The commissioner of the BMA, Dr Michael Masiapato, said the decision was made to ensure the safety of all cross-border travellers and called stakeholders to suspend travel through Lebombo port until further notice. [Times Live]

• Sibanye gold boom: Sibanye-Stillwater’s SA gold operations saw a nearly three-fold increase in adjusted earnings for Q3, driven by a 24% rise in the gold price compared to last year. Adjusted EBITDA reached R1.35bn, as global demand for gold surged to a record $100bn in the quarter, according to the World Gold Council. [Business Day]

• ACSA interdicted: Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) has been prohibited from evaluating a tender and awarding a R3.15 billion contract for the procurement of a baggage system for all the country’s airports as part of its plan to bring these services in-house. This is pending the determination of a review application. [Moneyweb]

• BELA Bill fight picks up: Members of 41 civil society organisations, including Solidarity and AfriForum, as well as political parties like the DA, VF Plus and PA, marched against the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act in Pretoria on Tuesday. This was to show their objection to the implementation of clauses 4 and 5 of the act, which relate to language and admission policies. DA leader John Steenhuisen said he was confident that the GNU partners would find each other on the contentious act. [News24]

• Markets: The US dollar rallied broadly on Wednesday, and bitcoin jumped to an all-time high as investors returned to so-called “Trump trades” with initial results trickling in for an extremely close US presidential election. On Wednesday (06 November), the rand was trading at R17.81 to the dollar, R22.62 to the pound, and R19.01 to the euro. Oil is trading at $74.67 a barrel. [Reuters]