‘New’ kind of university coming to South Africa, and ANC snubs America
The rand remained stable on Monday as traders watched for a potential trade deal between the world’s two largest economies, which could positively impact global growth prospects.
US President Donald Trump announced that the United States and China were likely to reach a trade agreement during an anticipated meeting in South Korea later this week.
South Africa’s risk-sensitive assets often respond to global influences, such as US policies and economic indicators.
The rand was trading at 17.2425 against the dollar, showing little change from Friday’s closing rate.
In early trading, the local currency, bonds, and stocks started the week on a positive note, buoyed by investor optimism over South Africa’s recent removal from the global financial crime watch list.
However, this momentum has since diminished as attention shifted to US-China developments and important central bank meetings scheduled for this week.
South Africa’s economy was added to the watch list in February 2023 due to concerns about its effectiveness in preventing money laundering and terrorist financing.
On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Top 40 index fell by 1.5%, reversing some of its recent gains. The yield on South Africa’s benchmark 2035 government bond also increased, rising by 1 basis point to 8.895%.
On Tuesday, 28 October, the rand was trading at R17.22 to the dollar, R23.01 to the pound and R20.09 to the euro. Oil was trading slightly lower at $65.48 a barrel.
5 important things happening in South Africa today
‘New’ kind of university coming: The Minister of Higher Education and Training announced a new policy in the Government Gazette regarding the Recognition of South African Higher Education Institutional Types. This policy allows private higher education institutions to register as “private universities” if they meet specific criteria. It also establishes standards for recognising “private university colleges” and “private higher education colleges,” focusing on governance, research output, program accreditation, and community contributions. [News24]
ANC deputy president Paul Mashatile snubs America: ANC deputy president Paul Mashatile urged the government to seek alternative markets instead of relying on the US He emphasised the need to diversify trade, stating, “We must not beg [Trump]; we need to explore other markets to avoid being affected by high trade issues in America.” [Mail & Guardian]
Investors dump Pick n Pay: Shares of Pick n Pay declined by as much as 8% on Monday as investors seemingly reluctantly began to accept CEO Sean Summers’s view that the turnaround of its core business to profit will still take at least another two years. [Moneyweb]
Warning to people who use Gmail: An extensive breach has resulted in the leak of data from 183 million email users, many of whom are Gmail users, including email addresses, passwords, and the websites where users entered the data. [MyBroadband]
Wage demands in important sector deadlocked: The Automobile Manufacturers Employers Organisation (AMEO) has offered a 6.5% increase for the first year and a 5% increase for the following two years. Numsa rejected the offer, citing higher recent wage agreements in other sectors. The union may consider striking as a last resort and is calling for an urgent meeting between company CEOs and Numsa leadership to resolve the deadlock. [Engineering News]
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