High treason cases coming, and trouble for car insurance in South Africa

The South African rand strengthened against a weaker dollar on Monday (3 March) as the market reacted to the U.S. plan to impose tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China.

This movement occurred alongside the fallout from U.S. President Donald Trump’s confrontation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

The rand was trading at 18.6150 against the U.S. dollar, which is approximately 0.5% stronger than its previous close.

On Tuesday (4 March), the rand was trading at R18.63 to the dollar, R23.49 to the pound and R19.41 to the euro. Oil is trading lower at $73.22 a barrel.

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

High treason: On Monday (3 March), the Hawks head Godfrey Lebeya confirmed that four case dockets of high treason are being probed by the Hawks in relation to claims made against President Cyril Ramaphosa and the ANC to the US government. “We have indeed received four case dockets against the entities that I do not want to start by mentioning their names, which is the normal practice in that we don’t mention the names of the entities before they are charged,” said Lebeya. [EWN]

Trouble for car insurance prices: Santam, South Africa’s largest short-term insurer, says the looming closure of ArcelorMittal SA’s (AMSA) long steel business could worsen the cost of replacing or repairing motor vehicles as the industry turns to more expensive imports. [News24]

Dodgy lawyers: Concerns about an increase in poor-quality work and the misappropriation of clients’ funds are rising within the legal profession, with nearly 400 lawyers disbarred from practising over the past six years. [Business Day]

A R2 billion problem: Copper cable thieves are becoming more sophisticated and extreme in their methods, making it increasingly difficult for authorities to crack down on the problem. Experts estimate that the theft of copper is a R2-billion-per-year problem. [MyBroadband]

A threat to interest rates: Investec Chief Economist Annabel Bishop stated on March 3 that the proposed 2%pt VAT increase in the cancelled 2025 Budget could have raised CPI inflation by nearly 1%pt. The Bureau for Economic Research (BER) also suggested that this increase might lead South Africa toward interest rate hikes. [BusinessTech]