{"id":859022,"date":"2026-05-03T08:08:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T06:08:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=859022"},"modified":"2026-05-03T08:08:58","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T06:08:58","slug":"criminals-have-a-new-target-in-south-africa-and-good-news-for-uber-and-bolt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/5-things\/859022\/criminals-have-a-new-target-in-south-africa-and-good-news-for-uber-and-bolt\/","title":{"rendered":"Criminals have a new target in South Africa, and good news for Uber and Bolt"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The rand strengthened on Thursday as markets reviewed a series of monthly domestic data to gauge the country\u2019s economic health. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After dipping to over R16.80 following the US Federal Reserve\u2019s rate announcement earlier in the week, the rand recovered to approximately R16.70.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This strengthening can also be attributed to a decline in the dollar, following signals from Japanese officials about potential intervention to support the yen, along with ongoing pressure on oil prices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oil prices briefly surged above $126 per barrel amid fears that the US-Iran conflict could escalate and disrupt Middle Eastern oil supplies, but they eventually retreated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The price of oil has moved back to around $110 per barrel, although it remains elevated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As South Africa is a net importer of energy, the country is particularly vulnerable to fluctuations in global oil prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, South Africa\u2019s producer price inflation (PPI) increased to 2.3% year-on-year in March, according to data from Stats SA released on Thursday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other economic indicators included a trade surplus of R31.87 billion for March, while National Treasury data revealed a budget deficit of R45.61 billion for the same month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Sunday, the rand was trading at R16.67 to the dollar, R22.60 to the pound, and R19.51 to the euro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gold is trading lower at $4,615.24 an ounce, while oil prices were at $108.2 a barrel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Warning to people using solar:<\/strong> Rodney Taylor, managing director of Guardian Eye, warned that organised crime syndicates are targeting valuable solar installations in South Africa due to their accessibility. [MyBroadband<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Good news for Uber and Bolt: <\/strong>South African spending on ride-hailing services like Uber and Bolt is growing faster than fuel expenses, indicating a renewed popularity. [DailyInvestor<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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R1.7 billion recovered in NSFAS funding:<\/strong>\u00a0The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has recovered over R1.7 billion in misallocated student funding, leading to a comprehensive overhaul of NSFAS\u2019s operations. [Citizen<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Some of Johannesburg still without power:<\/strong> Parts of the Johannesburg CBD are still without power after a fire at the central substation last week. City Power has faced delays due to ongoing theft, including the loss of 180 meters of vital protection cables. [EWN<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Disputes between Postbank and Sassa: <\/strong>The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) and Postbank are currently in a dispute regarding the termination of a long-standing agreement that positioned Postbank as Sassa’s primary grant disburser. [BusinessDay<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here are five important things happening in and affecting South Africa on Sunday, 3 May 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":859027,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20398],"tags":[18993,853],"class_list":["post-859022","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\/859022","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=859022"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859022\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":859028,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859022\/revisions\/859028"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/859027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=859022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=859022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=859022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}