{"id":853242,"date":"2026-03-07T07:01:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T05:01:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=853242"},"modified":"2026-03-07T07:03:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T05:03:20","slug":"big-plans-for-uber-in-south-africa-and-two-new-police-units-for-gauteng","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/5-things\/853242\/big-plans-for-uber-in-south-africa-and-two-new-police-units-for-gauteng\/","title":{"rendered":"Big plans for Uber in South Africa, and two new police units for Gauteng"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South Africa’s central bank plans to update its risk scenarios ahead of the upcoming rate decision amid rising oil prices, the central bank governor said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Reserve Bank is set to determine interest rates on March 26, after maintaining its main lending rate at 6.75% in January, citing a need to see further declines in inflation expectations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Governor Lesetja Kganyago explained that during the January meeting, the bank considered a baseline, an optimistic, and an adverse scenario. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The adverse scenario assumed an average oil price of $75 per barrel and the rand weakening to 18.50 per dollar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, he stated that this adverse scenario no longer applies and that the bank will now develop a new one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The recent Middle East crisis, sparked by Israel and Washington’s bombing of Iran, caused Brent crude futures to rise above $94 per barrel, with the rand weakening to 16.82 per dollar. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kganyago noted that a 10% change in the exchange rate would have a more significant effect on inflation than a similar increase in oil prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said that this will be factored into the new adverse scenario, adding that policymakers would only become concerned once they saw the impact of the exchange rate filter through to prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kganyago said that the knock-on effects of global tensions that have kept markets on edge in recent months, and the most recent crisis, would dominate discussions at the next meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of Saturday, 7 March, the rand is trading at R16.55 to the dollar, R22.21 to the pound, and R19.25 to the euro. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gold is currently valued at $5,171.92 per ounce, while oil prices have surged to $92.69 per barrel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5 important things happening in South Africa today<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Big plans for Uber:\u00a0<\/strong>Uber South Africa recently recognised its drivers as independent entrepreneurs, highlighting initiatives to cut costs, boost earnings, and promote sustainable growth. At the Heart of the City event, the company revealed plans to reduce fuel, maintenance, insurance, and cash expenses to help drivers increase income and build sustainable businesses. New partnerships include SMARTOps for vehicle financing, ROHM Media for taxi-top advertising, Kilomita and Dunlop for fuel and tyre savings, Telesure for insurance, Shoprite for financial services, and October Health for mental wellbeing and professional development. [BusinessDay<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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New Police units formed in Gauteng:\u00a0<\/strong>The South African Police Service (SAPS) has formed two new specialised units to enhance the fight against organised crime in Gauteng.<\/span> These units are designed to address specific high-priority crime threats. The first is a political killings task team, which will focus on investigating politically motivated assassinations, particularly those targeting government officials. The second unit will concentrate on crimes such as kidnapping, extortion, and offences related to infrastructure projects.\u00a0[ENCA<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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CEO of African Bank resigns:\u00a0<\/strong>African Bank CEO Kennedy Bungane has resigned with immediate effect, and the board has appointed Zwelibanzi Nelson Manyathi as interim CEO. This was announced on the JSE\u2019s stock exchange news service late on Friday, 6 March. While the bank is not listed on the JSE itself, it has debt instruments traded on the exchange, which requires it to notify noteholders of any changes to its board of directors. [Daily Investor<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Eskom threatens to cut power near Johannesburg’s airport:\u00a0Eskom issued a public notice on 6 March, warning residents of Ekurhuleni, a key industrial centre and the site of OR Tambo International Airport, that it might shut off electricity on 14 April due to R3.4 billion in unpaid debts. The utility is seeking public input, which, according to Eskom Gauteng distribution spokesperson Amanda Qithi, will help identify essential services that could be exempted from disconnection. [Moneyweb<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Vodacom gives R2 million to special needs school:<\/strong> The Vodacom Foundation has allocated R2 million to support the School of Excellence model at Usizolwethu Special Needs School in Daveyton. In collaboration with the Gauteng Department of Education, the foundation aims to equip learners with intellectual disabilities with technology and digital skills. Vodacom stated that this landmark initiative highlights their commitment to inclusive, quality education. The partnership also exemplifies how public-private collaborations can address systemic issues in South Africa\u2019s education system. [MyBroadband<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here are five important things happening in South Africa on Saturday, 7 March 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":814983,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20398],"tags":[18993,16632],"class_list":["post-853242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-5-things","tag-5-important-things-happening-in-south-africa-today","tag-5-things"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853242","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=853242"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":853247,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853242\/revisions\/853247"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/814983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=853242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=853242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=853242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}