{"id":865498,"date":"2026-07-06T07:18:40","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T05:18:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=865498"},"modified":"2026-07-06T07:18:40","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T05:18:40","slug":"spur-is-in-hot-water-and-government-declares-war-on-one-group-of-businesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/5-things\/865498\/spur-is-in-hot-water-and-government-declares-war-on-one-group-of-businesses\/","title":{"rendered":"Spur is in hot water, and government declares war on one group of businesses"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Last week, the South African markets remained optimistic, as the rand strengthened and oil prices declined, leading to conditions that are rapidly returning to pre-war levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US dollar has weakened against a basket of currencies following a lacklustre US jobs report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nedbank economists noted, “The rand strengthened modestly this week, primarily supported by a weaker US dollar after softer-than-expected US jobs data adjusted expectations for the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hike to later in the year.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like other emerging-market currencies, the rand is influenced by global factors, including US economic data and geopolitical developments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Domestic investors are focused on the June S&P Global whole-economy PMI, which indicated that South Africa’s private sector has returned to modest growth, as easing price pressures offset a second consecutive monthly decline in output and new orders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A manufacturing PMI report released on Wednesday indicated a decline in South African factory sentiment in June. However, lower oil prices have boosted confidence regarding future business conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the end of last week, the Top-40 index on the JSE had risen by 1.1%. Additionally, South Africa’s benchmark 2035 government bond strengthened, with the yield decreasing by 4.5 basis points to 8.22%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Monday, 6 July 2026, the rand was trading at R16.25 to the dollar, R21.68 to the pound, and R18.58 to the euro. Gold is trading at $4,160.56 an ounce, while oil prices were at $71.87 a barrel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5 important things happening today<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Spur in hot water:\u00a0<\/strong>Workers at a Spur franchise in Cape Town allege exploitative practices, earning R2,000 monthly for 14-hour shifts and lacking basic rights. Spur is investigating the claims and may take action if violations are confirmed. [Times Live<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The government declares war on online gambling:<\/strong> The National Gambling Board (NGB) is targeting illegal online betting platforms, which make up 62% of a market where South Africans spend billions. They are now looking for service providers to block unlicensed sites. [Business Day<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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State-owned agency takes R1 million trip:\u00a0<\/strong>The National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) in South Africa, intended to help youth, faces mismanagement and controversy, highlighted by a recent R1 million trip to New York by its board chairperson. [Newsday<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There are now 259 bank branches that offer smart IDs:\u00a0<\/strong>South Africans can apply for smart ID cards at 259 bank branches in July 2026, as the Department of Home Affairs\u2019 partnership with banks continues to expand. [MyBroadband<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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85% of South African schools are dysfunctional:<\/strong> South Africa\u2019s public education sector has effectively collapsed over the past decade, with 85% of schools being largely dysfunctional. The other 15% are among the best in the world, with this category being dominated by private schools and former Model C public schools. [Daily Investor<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here are five important things happening in and affecting South Africa on Monday, 6 July.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":856840,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20398],"tags":[18993,853],"class_list":["post-865498","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\/865498","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\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=865498"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865498\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":865499,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865498\/revisions\/865499"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/856840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=865498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=865498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=865498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}