Major banks closing branches across South Africa, and storm brewing over Cape Town property taxes
The rand traded relatively stable on Tuesday after South Africa’s statistics agency reported slower economic growth in the third quarter compared to the previous quarter.
The rand was valued at 17.1125 against the dollar, only slightly different from Monday’s close.
Africa’s largest economy grew by 0.5% in seasonally adjusted quarter-on-quarter terms, which aligns with the median forecast from analysts surveyed by Reuters. However, it is slower than the revised second-quarter growth of 0.9%.
The largest positive contributions to growth came from trade, mining, finance, and government services, while sectors such as electricity, gas, and water had a negative impact on the overall outcome.
Investor attention will shift to the third-quarter current account data scheduled for release on Thursday, followed by foreign reserves numbers on Friday.
On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Top 40 index was last down by 1.1%, primarily due to declines in mining stocks.
On Wednesday, 3 December, the rand was trading at R17.10 to the dollar, R22.63 to the pound and R19.91 to the euro. Oil was trading slightly lower at $62.46 a barrel.
5 important things happening in South Africa today
Big banks closing branches: Four of the five largest South African banks have considerably reduced their branch networks in the past decade, while one bank has expanded its presence. Absa, FNB, Nedbank, and Standard Bank have collectively shut down 614 branches, with Nedbank closing the most at 194. [MyBroadband]
Battle over Cape Town property taxes: The South African Property Owners Association (Sapoa) is challenging the City of Cape Town’s building tariffs for the year through June 2026 in court. Sapoa has raised “serious legal concerns” regarding the budget, including a city-wide cleaning tariff and new sanitation and water charges linked to property values. Sapoa is seeking to have the tariffs set aside.[Daily Investor]
Proposal to change grade 12 pass mark fails: Parliament on Tuesday rejected a motion to scrap the longstanding 30% matric pass threshold, a proposal that had drawn rare cross‑party attention and exposed deep divisions over the future of SA’s education system. [Business Day]
Europe throws a lifeline to South Africa: China’s trade surplus with South Africa rose to R162 billion in the first 10 months of this year. While SA’s exports of vehicles, wine, and agricultural products to the US are declining, strong precious metal prices and robust European demand have helped. In October, SA exported R16 billion in vehicles to Europe, a 36% year-on-year increase, with over half going to Germany, which is SA’s second-largest export and fourth-largest import destination. [News24]
Massive paydays, little service: The Amatola and Magalies Water Boards have collectively paid their members nearly R4 million in excess of the approved maximum amounts, despite communities experiencing flawed service delivery in the areas they serve. [Newsday]
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