{"id":856513,"date":"2026-04-10T07:55:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T05:55:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=856513"},"modified":"2026-04-10T07:55:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T05:55:08","slug":"major-south-african-city-looted-and-south-africa-falls-in-critical-world-ranking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/5-things\/856513\/major-south-african-city-looted-and-south-africa-falls-in-critical-world-ranking\/","title":{"rendered":"Major South African city looted, and South Africa falls in critical world ranking"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The rand weakened on Thursday due to doubts surrounding a fragile two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traders were also analysing domestic economic data for insights into the health of Africa’s largest economy.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concerns about the ceasefire’s viability intensified as Israel continued its attacks in Lebanon. As a result, the rand traded at 16.45 against the dollar, reflecting a 0.4% decrease from its previous close. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investors remained cautious, as energy-dependent economies are vulnerable to oil price fluctuations, which could increase inflation and hinder economic growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, following the news of the ceasefire, South African assets rallied, with the local currency gaining nearly 3% on Wednesday and recovering some of the losses incurred since the onset of the Iran conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Following the \u200binitial appreciation, the rand appears to have settled into a range \u200bas investors await clarity on the ceasefire agreement, which remains fraught with challenges \u200cand \u2060distrust,” said analysts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This weekend’s events will be a critical test of whether the ceasefire holds, as officials meet in Pakistan to begin negotiations,” said the firm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It added that the rand \u200bis expected to \u200bremain range-bound into \u2060next week, due to “light positioning and lower volatility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa’s net foreign reserves decreased to $73.19 billion at the end of March, down from $75.84 billion in February, according to data released by the central bank on Thursday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The country’s manufacturing output fell by 2.8% year-on-year in February, following a revised 0.1% decline in January.\u00a0On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Top-40 index dropped by 0.8%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of Friday, 10 April, the rand is trading at R16.43 to the dollar, R22.04 to the pound, and R19.20 to the euro. Gold is currently valued at $4,760.61 per ounce, while oil prices have dropped to $96.70 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

Tshwane looted of more than R2 billion:<\/strong> Senior officials told the Madlanga commission that more than R2 billion was looted through security tenders meant to protect metro police properties and personnel. [Mail&Guardian<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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South Africa falls in critical world ranking: <\/strong>South Africa has dropped in rankings among emerging economies in terms of attractiveness to investors, partly due to a decline in mining output late last year, according to a global index published on Thursday. [BusinessDay<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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New cinema launching in South Africa:<\/strong>\u00a0Ster-Kinekor is set to launch its first IMAX with Laser cinema in Gauteng at The Zone @ Rosebank on Friday, April 10, 2026. The cinema chain stated that the new theatre aims to allow movie fans to fully experience the scale and emotion of a film director’s vision. [MyBroadband<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Jail time proposed for exposing whistleblowers:<\/strong> A new bill proposes a prison sentence of up to 15 years for anyone who reveals the identity of a whistleblower or retaliates against them. [ENCA<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Major waterway remains closed:<\/strong> The Strait of Hormuz remains closed to ship traffic despite the US and Iran agreeing to a two-week ceasefire, said the CEO of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) on Thursday. [CNBC<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here are the five important things happening in South Africa on Friday, 10 April.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":856517,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20398],"tags":[18993,853],"class_list":["post-856513","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\/856513","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=856513"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856513\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":856519,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856513\/revisions\/856519"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/856517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=856513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=856513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=856513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}