{"id":844074,"date":"2025-11-21T07:39:34","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T05:39:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=844074"},"modified":"2025-11-21T07:39:34","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T05:39:34","slug":"ramaphosa-fires-back-at-the-us-and-international-retailer-launches-plan-to-take-on-checkers-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/5-things\/844074\/ramaphosa-fires-back-at-the-us-and-international-retailer-launches-plan-to-take-on-checkers-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Ramaphosa fires back at the US, and international retailer launches plan to take on Checkers in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The rand remained steady on Thursday after the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) cut its main lending rate during its first meeting following the adjustment of its inflation target.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rand was trading at 17.1750 against the dollar, just slightly off Wednesday’s closing value. In a unanimous decision, the SARB lowered the rate by 25 basis points to 6.75%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Economists polled by Reuters had differing opinions on what the policy decision would be. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Economists from Nedbank, who had anticipated the cut, noted in a research report that the bank’s quarterly projection model indicates potential interest rate cuts of 50 to 75 basis points over the next two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Headline inflation in South Africa, the continent’s most industrialised economy, increased to 3.6% year-on-year in October, up from 3.4% in September, remaining within the central bank’s newly announced target of 3%, which has a tolerance band of 1 percentage point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Previously, the target range was set between 3% and 6%. On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Top 40 index was up 0.3% at the last update.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Friday, 21 November, the rand was trading at R17.25 to the dollar, R22.57 to the pound and R19.90 to the euro. Oil was trading slightly lower at $62.49 a barrel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5 important things happening in South Africa today<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Ramaphosa fires back at the US:<\/strong>\u00a0President Cyril Ramaphosa declined a request from the US embassy to hand over the G20 presidency to acting US ambassador Marc Dillard at the Johannesburg summit. Ramaphosa\u2019s message was that it would be insulting for him to formally hand over the presidency of the G20 to a junior official. [Daily Maverick<\/a><\/strong>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Walmart’s plan to take on Checkers in South Africa:\u00a0<\/strong>Walmart has made a significant move in South Africa\u2019s competitive grocery market by launching a 60-minute delivery service. This places Walmart in direct competition with the country\u2019s leading player in on-demand retail, Checkers Sixty60. [Business Day<\/a><\/strong>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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US Revokes former minister’s visa:<\/strong>\u00a0Former Minister Naledi Pandor returned from the US to find an email from the Cape Town consulate stating her 2024 visitor\u2019s visa had been retracted, and she would need to reapply. She reported not being given any reasons for the decision. [EWN<\/a><\/strong>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Taxpayers fork out R4 million for suspended UIF boss:<\/strong>\u00a0South African taxpayers have spent nearly R4 million on suspended UIF Commissioner Teboho Maruping during his two suspension periods. Democratic Alliance MP Michael Bagraim revealed that Maruping’s latest suspension has lasted 14 months, costing taxpayers over R2 million. [Newsday<\/a><\/strong>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Relief for cash-strapped South Africans:<\/strong>\u00a0Interest rate cuts bring relief to cash-strapped South Africans, with prime lending rates now lowered to 10.25%. \u201cThis sixth cut since September 2024 has reduced borrowing costs by 1.5% over 14 months,\u201d said Gavin Lomberg, CEO of ooba Home Loans. He added that it fosters consumer optimism and boosts the property market outlook for 2026. [Moneyweb<\/a><\/strong>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here are 5 important things happening in South Africa today, Friday, 21 November 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":817703,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20398],"tags":[18993,853],"class_list":["post-844074","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\/844074","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=844074"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844074\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":844082,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844074\/revisions\/844082"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/817703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=844074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=844074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=844074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}