Good news for load shedding, and construction mafia hits KZN

South Africa’s rand weakened on Friday against a buoyant dollar as markets awaited US President Donald Trump’s tariff deadline for Canada and Mexico.
South Africa’s central bank said on Thursday that it had modelled the potential impact of a trade war, as it highlighted the uncertain global backdrop while trimming interest rates.
The rand is trading at R18.97 to the dollar, R23.28 to the pound and R19.42 to the euro. Oil is trading lower at $76.38 a barrel.
Here are five other news stories making waves in South Africa today:
Good news for load shedding: Eskom says its summer outlook for electricity supply remains unchanged and will meet its power demand. Eskom suspended load shedding and recovered five coal-fired generation units. This comes after Eskom had to implement load shedding for the first time in ten months due to failures at two of Eskom’s best-performing power stations, Matimba and Lethabo. [EWN]
KZN construction mafia challenges: KwaZulu-Natal needs to address the construction mafia, government BEE legislation and environmental compliance, which are blocking the province’s property boom and meaningful economic growth. This was said at the two-day Build KZN Better conference driven by the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure and eThekwini municipality. [Times Live]
No hope for 3,500 jobs: ArcelorMittal is going forward with the closing of its long steel plants in Newcastle and Vereeniging, which will lead to the loss of 3,500 jobs. [eNCA]
Rand takes a hit: The South African rand and Mexican peso were the biggest losers in an emerging-market currency slump after US President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on some of America’s biggest trade partners. [Bloomberg]
Bringing them home: The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Summit will be sending senior members to the Democratic Republic of Congo to facilitate the repatriation of 14 South African soldiers killed in conflicts with M23 rebels in the city of Goma. [EWN]