Botswana-sized problem for Eskom, and public holiday win for South Africans

The rand was little changed on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump announced more tariff plans, adding to worries over a global trade war.

The rand traded at R18.42 against the U.S. dollar, near its Friday closing level of R18.43.

Trump said on Sunday he would introduce 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports into the U.S. on top of existing metals duties.

“The South African rand is likely to face pressure from President Trump’s proposed tariffs on aluminium and steel,” Zain Vawda, market analyst at MarketPulse by OANDA, said.

On Tuesday (11 February), the rand strengthened slightly, trading at R18.46 to the dollar, R22.81 to the pound and R19.02 to the euro. Oil is trading lower at $76.10 a barrel.

Here are five other news stories making waves in South Africa today:

Eskom’s problem: Energy experts have warned that Eskom’s finances could be at risk if big industrial players close down in South Africa. For example, ArcelorMittal SA–who plans to close to major plants– runs on about 300MW. The whole country of Botswana runs on under 500MW, meaning a significant financial loss to Eskom. [Business Live]

Public holiday win: Due to a clause in the Public Holidays Act, South Africans will still enjoy the benefits of Freedom Day, which falls on Sunday, 27 April 2025. [BusinessTech]

Blow to the RAF: A Western Cape High Court judgment has highlighted “difficulties” with the majority judgment in December 2024 related to the payment by the Road Accident Fund (RAF) of past medical expenses of road accident victims who are members of medical schemes. Court rules RAF must pay ‘medical aid’ claimant’s past expenses. [Moneyweb]

Private sector boost: The National Treasury has updated its rules for public-private partnerships (PPPs) to ease the approval process for projects with a total cost of under R2 billion. Experts and the private sector have largely welcomed the amendments. [News24]

Good news for Starlink users: While South Africans still have no official way of signing up for Starlink, existing roaming users in the country have recently received a major upgrade due to the SpaceX-owned satellite Internet service’s launch of a terrestrial ground station in Nairobi, Kenya, towards the end of January 2025. [MyBroadband]