Discovery CEO shares good news about South Africa, and state-owned company in trouble
The rand opened on Monday in a strong position, close to its strongest position since the start of the Iran war.
A subdued U.S. dollar and higher gold prices have recently boosted emerging-market currencies, including the rand.
The rand traded at R15.99 to the dollar on Monday, up approximately 0.2% and close to its strongest level since the war in Iran started.
South Africa’s key export, gold, hit its highest level in three months, aided by a subdued dollar, while U.S. investors await new inflation data and a speech from the Federal Reserve chair later this week.
The dollar was reaching multi-month lows as investors await details of new sanctions against Iran.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is set to hold a press conference after threatening the “toughest sanctions in history” on Iran.
Wichard Cilliers, head of market risk at TreasuryONE, said the rand’s rally was being driven by broad dollar weakness, strong emerging-market sentiment and higher gold prices.
Like other risk-sensitive currencies, the rand has been at the mercy of global market sentiment, particularly since the start of the U.S.-Iran war on February 28.
South Africa’s benchmark 2035 government bond was slightly firmer on early Monday, with the yield falling by 1.5 basis points to 8.565%.
On Tuesday, 25 August, 2026, the rand was trading at R16.03 to the dollar, R21.84 to the pound, and R18.68 to the euro. Gold is trading at $4,630.74 an ounce, while oil prices were at $92.14 a barrel. [Reuters]
5 important things
Discovery CEO Adrian Gore shares good news about South Africa: Adrian Gore believes South Africa is making meaningful progress in addressing what he calls a societal crisis. [DailyInvestor]
South Africa’s state-owned broadband company in deep trouble: Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies has raised concerns over the continued poor performance of Broadband Infraco, which has failed to turn a profit in six years. [MyBroadband]
Italtile says Australia exit was planned before fraud came to light: After publishing the group’s interim financial results, Italtile’s CEO said the decision to exit the Australian market was made before accounting manipulation was discovered. [BusinessDay]
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