Big changes coming to electricity prices in South Africa, and SARS’ plan to collect more tax revenue
The South African rand began the week positively on Monday, buoyed by a stronger global risk appetite due to increasing expectations of an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve next month.
Last week, both the rand and other risk-sensitive assets experienced a significant decline, driven by concerns regarding the US economy and high equity market valuations.
As of the end of Monday, the rand is trading at 17.34 against the dollar, reflecting an increase of about 0.2% compared to Friday’s closing level.
South Africa’s benchmark 2035 government bond has also shown slight improvement, with the yield decreasing by 2.5 basis points to 8.635%.
This week, we can expect a series of local economic data releases, including a leading business cycle indicator on Tuesday, producer inflation figures on Thursday, and credit, trade, and budget data on Friday.
On Tuesday, 25 November, the rand was trading at R17.30 to the dollar, R22.66 to the pound and R19.92 to the euro. Oil was trading slightly lower at $62.60 a barrel.
5 important things happening in South Africa today
Big changes coming to electricity prices: The South African electricity market is shifting from a monopoly to a competitive model. Eskom is being unbundled into three parts, with the National Transmission Company of SA (NTCSA) created as a subsidiary. Starting in 2026, with full market liberation in 2031, Eskom and independent producers will sell power through NTCSA, fostering competition and lower prices. [News24]
SARS’ plan to collect more tax revenue: The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has established a formal channel with one of its largest corporate taxpayers, part of a group that contributed R600 billion in 2024/25. This move aims to restore credibility and stabilise collections from the second-largest source of state revenue. The new large business forum (LBF) is part of SARS’s efforts to recover from the damaging effects of state capture. [Business Day]
G20 presidency handover to the US: The G20 presidency will be handed over to the United States on Tuesday at the Department of International Relations. This will take place between officials of the same rank, as stated by Director General Zane Dangor on Monday. [Mail & Guardian]
Hawks and Tembisa Hospital officials in court over bribe: A DPCI sergeant and a Tembisa Hospital official are in court today for corruption after attempting to bribe a Hawks officer with R100,000 to obstruct an investigation into over R2 billion looted from the hospital. [Newsday]
Warning to Netstar customers: Altron-owned vehicle tracking firm Netstar has started notifying customers whose data was exposed in a data breach to support them in taking necessary steps to protect their personal information. This comes after Netstar suffered a ransomware attack in June 2025 and subsequently discovered that some customer data had been published by threat actors. [MyBroadband]
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