{"id":866084,"date":"2026-07-13T07:19:59","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T05:19:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=866084"},"modified":"2026-07-13T07:19:59","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T05:19:59","slug":"great-news-for-anyone-with-a-drivers-licence-in-south-africa-and-anc-chasing-iconic-company-out-of-the-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/5-things\/866084\/great-news-for-anyone-with-a-drivers-licence-in-south-africa-and-anc-chasing-iconic-company-out-of-the-country\/","title":{"rendered":"Great news for anyone with a driver\u2019s licence in South Africa, and ANC chasing iconic company out of the country"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The rand weakened last week amid ongoing Middle East tensions, influenced by global market trends.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Asian emerging markets gained due to reduced expectations of US Federal Reserve interest rate hikes, which pressured the dollar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The rand&#8217;s volatility has been notable this year, with values reaching R17.25\/USD and R22.93\/GBP, compared to earlier figures of R15.64\/USD and R21.42\/GBP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The situation has worsened due to the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, with South Africa&#8217;s benchmark 2035 bond yields decreasing to 8.325%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The rising global crude prices threaten to reignite inflation, following a recent 7.8% shock in the Producer Price Index, even though the Consumer Price Index stands at 4.5%.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>SARB Governor Lesetja Kganyago\u2019s decision to raise the benchmark repo rate to 7% in May suggests a proactive approach to future trends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As the Monetary Policy Committee meets on July 23, it is closely monitoring risks, particularly the potential need for additional tightening amid prolonged tensions in the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On Monday, 13 July 2026, the rand was trading at R16.39 to the dollar, R21.93 to the pound, and R18.69 to the euro. Gold is trading at $4,053.24 an ounce, while oil prices were at $79.15 a barrel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">5 important things happening today<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/anglo-american-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-858512\" srcset=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/anglo-american-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/anglo-american-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/anglo-american-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/anglo-american-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/anglo-american.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Good news for anyone with a driver\u2019s licence:<\/strong>\u00a0South Africa\u2019s driver\u2019s licence card validity period will be increased from five to eight years, significantly cutting down on the number of renewals motorists will need to apply for. [<a href=\"https:\/\/topauto.co.za\/news\/158291\/good-news-for-everyone-with-a-drivers-licence-in-south-africa\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">TopAuto<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>ANC chasing iconic company out of the country:<\/strong>\u00a0Mining analyst at Modern Corporate Solutions, Peter Major, said that the ANC\u2019s policies are chasing South Africa\u2019s most iconic company, Anglo American, out of the country. [<a href=\"https:\/\/newsday.co.za\/business\/21847\/anc-is-chasing-south-africas-most-iconic-company-out-of-the-country\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Newsday<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Fuel shortage:<\/strong>\u00a0Private oil companies and wholesalers will be required to store 21 days&#8217; worth of backup fuel at their own expense, shifting from a voluntary to a mandatory regime. The government will maintain 60 days of net import reserves to prevent fuel shortages during global supply disruptions. The unavailability of liquid fuels could cost South Africa&#8217;s economy approximately R1 billion per day in GDP. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessday.co.za\/news\/2026-07-13-mantashe-warns-economy-will-lose-r1bn-a-day-if-sa-runs-out-of-fuel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Business Day<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Devices to scan for illegal foreign nationals:<\/strong>\u00a0The Department of Home Affairs has issued a tender to appoint a service provider to develop handheld devices with built-in biometric readers to verify the status of a foreign national. [<a href=\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/government\/657608-handheld-mobile-devices-to-scan-for-illegal-foreign-nationals-are-coming-to-south-africa.html\">MyBroadband<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Government wants to control water supply:<\/strong>\u00a0AfriForum has warned that the government\u2019s proposed National Water Amendment Bill of 2026 would significantly expand state control over water allocation and management. [<a href=\"https:\/\/dailyinvestor.com\/south-africa\/142843\/the-government-is-trying-to-control-one-of-south-africas-most-important-resources\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Daily Investor<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here are five important things happening in and affecting South Africa on Monday, 13 July.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":866086,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2076537366232150040","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20398],"tags":[18993,853],"class_list":["post-866084","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\/866084","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=866084"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866084\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":866087,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866084\/revisions\/866087"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/866086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=866084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=866084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=866084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}