{"id":852230,"date":"2026-02-26T08:04:54","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T06:04:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=852230"},"modified":"2026-02-26T08:06:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T06:06:00","slug":"government-cutting-thousands-of-jobs-and-major-blow-for-online-gambling-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/5-things\/852230\/government-cutting-thousands-of-jobs-and-major-blow-for-online-gambling-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Government cutting thousands of jobs, and major blow for online gambling in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The rand gained strength on Wednesday following the release of the 2026 national budget by the Minister of Finance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The currency was trading at 15.8550 against the dollar, up about 0.8% for the day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa’s Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana presented a budget that analysts believe demonstrates the government’s ongoing dedication to restoring the country’s fiscal sustainability. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its annual budget, the government announced that it would introduce a “principles-led” fiscal anchor later this year, rather than a numerical target, as part of its efforts to improve public finances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Treasury remained committed to its fiscal consolidation goals of reaching a peak in the debt-GDP ratio in this fiscal year before declining,” researchers noted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Analysts indicated that the budget statement has corroborated what has been occurring with South African assets over the past year: reform efforts are beginning to take effect, macro-fiscal prudence is being maintained, and institutional credibility is strengthening. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Domestically-focused traders will shift their attention to producer price inflation data on Thursday, followed by money supply, private sector credit, trade balance, and budget balance data on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Top-40 index was last reported to be up 1.7%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of Thursday, 26 February, the rand is trading at R15.84 to the dollar, R21.47 to the pound, and R18.72 to the euro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gold is currently valued at $5,192.62 per ounce, while oil prices have risen to $71.09 per barrel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5 important things happening in South Africa today<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Bad news for online gamblers:\u00a0<\/strong>The Free Market Foundation has cautioned that the National Treasury\u2019s plan to add a 20% tax on online gambling operators could further strain an industry that is already heavily taxed. In an interview with 702, policy officer Ayanda Zulu explained that offshore casinos make up 62% of all online gambling. He emphasised that these should be regulated before any new taxes are introduced. [MyBroadband<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cutting government jobs:<\/strong>\u00a0The National Treasury has begun implementing its Early Retirement Programme in earnest to rejuvenate the public sector and cut costs. Since the programme commenced in October 2025, 7,687 applications for early retirement have been approved, with R3.7 billion of funding used. Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana also gave the programme a subtle boost in his Budget Speech, giving it an additional R340 million top-up. This programme is intended to create a younger public sector workforce that is less costly for the state to employ and more efficient. [Daily Investor<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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R1.116 billion for 2026 local government elections<\/strong>: The 2026 budget allocates R1.116 billion for this year\u2019s local government elections via a dedicated fund to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). This funding is specifically ring-fenced for election-related activities and cannot be redirected to other uses. [BusinessDay<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Joburg elects first deputy mayor:<\/strong> The Johannesburg city council is scheduled to meet on Thursday to elect the metro\u2019s inaugural deputy mayor. Recently, the council approved a motion to establish a new position intended to act as the second-in-command of the municipality. According to council documents, the creation of a deputy mayor role aims to guarantee ongoing executive leadership within the city administration. [ENCA<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Treasury recommends 15 municipalities allow Eskom to take over: <\/strong>The National Treasury has recommended 15 struggling municipalities to designate Eskom as their agent for electricity distribution. Under the Distribution Agency Agreements (DAAs), Eskom would oversee the electricity infrastructure, billing, and collections, with consumer payments deposited directly into Eskom\u2019s bank account.[Moneyweb<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here are five important things happening in and affecting South Africa on Thursday, 26 February 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":812963,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20398],"tags":[24824,20799,1913],"class_list":["post-852230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-5-things","tag-budget-2026","tag-godongwana","tag-online-gambling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852230","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\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=852230"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852230\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":852235,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852230\/revisions\/852235"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/812963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=852230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=852230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=852230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}