{"id":833600,"date":"2025-07-31T07:42:07","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T05:42:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=833600"},"modified":"2025-07-31T07:42:07","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T05:42:07","slug":"d-day-finally-here-for-please-call-me-idea-man-and-south-africas-plan-b-if-us-tariffs-hit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/5-things\/833600\/d-day-finally-here-for-please-call-me-idea-man-and-south-africas-plan-b-if-us-tariffs-hit\/","title":{"rendered":"D-day finally here for Please Call Me idea-man, and South Africa’s plan B if US tariffs hit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The rand remained stable<\/a> in early trading on Wednesday, as pressure mounts for the country to finalise a trade agreement with the United States before the August 1 deadline.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rand was trading at 17.86 against the dollar, showing little change from its previous close. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Tuesday, South Africa’s trade minister reaffirmed the country’s commitment to negotiating a trade deal, just days before a 30% levy on its exports to the US is set to take effect on Friday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa is still awaiting a response to its proposal, which includes purchasing US liquefied natural gas, simplifying regulations for US poultry imports, and investing $3.3 billion in US industries, including mining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Thursday, 30 July, the rand was trading at R17.97 to the dollar, R23.84 to the pound and R20.54 to the euro. Oil was trading slightly lower at $73 a barrel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are five other important things happening in and affecting South Africa today:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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D-day for Please Call Me idea-man:<\/strong>\u00a0After 20 years, Nkosana Makate, the inventor of \u2018Please Call Me,\u2019 will find out how much he will be compensated in his long battle with Vodacom. He was hit by a court defeat in July 2002, where the Johannesburg High Court denied his bid for recognition and appeal. On Thursday morning, the court will deliver its ruling. [TimesLive<\/a><\/strong>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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US tariff plan B:<\/strong>\u00a0The government is considering alternative markets and possible Treasury-backed tax incentives for the motor vehicle and agricultural sectors. This two-pronged contingency plan aims to maintain production lines if the US implements a 30% tariff on South African exports on Friday, 1 August.[Business Day<\/a><\/strong>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Interest Rate cut expected:<\/strong>\u00a0Economists believe the South African Reserve Bank (SARB)\u2019s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will make another 25-basis-point repo rate cut when the central bank decides on its benchmark rate on Thursday. [EWN<\/a><\/strong>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Important city under threat:<\/strong>\u00a0East London faces serious challenges as Mercedes-Benz is reportedly concerned about the future of its production plant in the city due to the impending US tariffs. The Mercedes-Benz plant contributes significantly to the city\u2019s jobs and broader economy, and a potential shutdown or exit could spell disaster for the region. [BusinessTech<\/a><\/strong>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Problem with the e-toll speed cameras idea:<\/strong>\u00a0A road law expert believes that Gauteng\u2019s e-toll gantries cannot be repurposed for speed limit enforcement due to technical limitations.<\/span> Government officials assert that the system is not just an expensive white elephant and can still be used for CCTV and average speed monitoring. [MyBroadband<\/a><\/strong>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here are five important things happening in South Africa on Thursday, 31 July.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":833607,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20398],"tags":[18993,853],"class_list":["post-833600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-5-things","tag-5-important-things-happening-in-south-africa-today","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/833600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=833600"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/833600\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":833611,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/833600\/revisions\/833611"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/833607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=833600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=833600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=833600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}