{"id":855705,"date":"2026-04-02T08:04:33","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T06:04:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=855705"},"modified":"2026-04-02T08:44:43","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T06:44:43","slug":"sars-rakes-in-record-amount-from-taxpayers-and-important-south-african-company-loses-r3-trillion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/5-things\/855705\/sars-rakes-in-record-amount-from-taxpayers-and-important-south-african-company-loses-r3-trillion\/","title":{"rendered":"SARS rakes in record amount from taxpayers, and important South African company loses R3 trillion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The rand was slightly stronger on Wednesday, as global markets rallied on hopes of a de-escalation \u200bin the Iran conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rand traded at 16.77 against the dollar, up about 0.7% from its previous close. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Global investor confidence was lifted by comments from President Donald Trump, indicating that the US could conclude its military campaign against Iran within two to three weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the onset of the conflict in late February, following military actions by the US and Israel and Iran’s subsequent retaliation, the rand has been influenced significantly by global market sentiment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Analysts note that the rand performed strongly in 2025 and began 2026 on a positive note, making it susceptible to a market correction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In March, South African manufacturing sentiment remained weak, as reflected in a purchasing managers’ index survey where respondents expressed concerns about the impact of the ongoing conflict. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, business activity has not yet been severely affected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Preliminary figures released on Wednesday showed that the South African Revenue Service collected a net of 2.01 trillion rand ($119.65 billion) in taxes for the fiscal year ending March 31, an increase of 8.4% compared to the previous year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, figures from South Africa’s auto association, NAAMSA, revealed that new vehicle sales rose by 17.3% year-on-year in March, surpassing the 10.7% growth predicted by Nedbank economists and exceeding the 11.4% increase recorded in February. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

NAAMSA attributed this growth to continued resilience in domestic demand, favourable inflation dynamics earlier in the quarter, and the delayed benefits of cumulative interest rate reductions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“However, the external \u200benvironment has \u2060shifted materially over recent weeks, introducing new risks that will likely shape demand conditions in the months ahead,” added the auto association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Top-40 index increased by 2.5%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of Thursday, 2 April, the rand is trading at R17.02 to the dollar, R22.51 to the pound, and R19.66 to the euro. Gold is currently valued at $4,608.56 per ounce, while oil prices have risen to $107.1 per barrel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5 important things happening in South Africa today<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

SARS collects over R2 trillion:<\/strong> The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has surpassed R2 trillion in net revenue collection for the 2025\/26 financial year, reaching R2.010 trillion. This amount is R24.7 billion higher than last year\u2019s estimate, according to the Budget 2025 announcement by the Minister. [EWN<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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JSE loses R3 trillion: <\/strong>In March, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) experienced a significant decline, losing over R3 trillion in value. This decline was primarily driven by the ongoing war in the Middle East, which negatively impacted investor sentiment. This is the worst monthly loss for the exchange since the global financial crisis in 2008. [BusinessDay<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Vodacom takes on banks in South Africa:<\/strong> Vodacom has established VodaPay as a super app that combines traditional lending services with a financial and lifestyle hub for users. VodaPay offers no monthly fees and low-cost cash withdrawals and money transfers. [MyBroadband<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bad news for sugar industry:<\/strong> Tongaat Hulett’s potential liquidation threatens to collapse South Africa’s sugar industry, jeopardising economic growth and supporting tens of thousands of jobs. Despite a 2019 accounting scandal, the company’s challenges stem from deeper, structural issues, as it has the capacity to mill two million tonnes of sugar. <\/strong>[DailyInvestor<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Nearly R50 million owed to road accident victims:<\/strong> The Klerksdorp Regional Court has ordered the Road Accident Fund (RAF) to comply with all valid court orders in favour of 209 road accident victims. The RAF is required to pay a total of over R47.3 million to these victims within 30 days. [Moneyweb<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Here are five important things happening in South Africa on Thursday, 2 April 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":855720,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20398],"tags":[18993,853],"class_list":["post-855705","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\/855705","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=855705"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855705\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":855734,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855705\/revisions\/855734"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/855720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=855705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=855705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=855705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}