{"id":870187,"date":"2026-08-14T07:20:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T05:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=870187"},"modified":"2026-08-14T07:20:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T05:20:11","slug":"south-africa-takes-r8-1-billion-loan-to-fix-its-cities-and-another-death-on-infamous-cape-town-road","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/5-things\/870187\/south-africa-takes-r8-1-billion-loan-to-fix-its-cities-and-another-death-on-infamous-cape-town-road\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa takes R8.1 billion loan to fix its cities, and another death on infamous Cape Town road"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The rand was close to its strongest level in five months on Thursday, as investors assessed weaker-than-expected mining production data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rand was trading at 16.14 against the dollar, almost unchanged from its previous close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The currency was being supported by global factors, such as U.S. inflation rates, reducing the risk of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rand is strongly affected by these global factors, as well as domestic affairs, like many other risk-sensitive currencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa’s mining output fell 4.0% year-on-year in June, with a revised 5.1% drop in May, according to new data from Statistics SA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Analysts polled by Reuters had been expecting a less alarming drop of approximately 3.4% in June’s mining output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa’s benchmark 2035 government bond weakened, with the yield rising by 11 basis points to 8.415%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Friday, 14 August, 2026, the rand was trading at R16.20 to the dollar, R21.86 to the pound, and R18.69 to the euro. Gold is trading at $4,324.99 an ounce, while oil prices were at $87.13 a barrel. [Reuters<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5 important things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

R8.1 billion from China to fix electricity problems in South Africa\u2019s largest cities:<\/strong> Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has signed an R8.1 billion loan agreement with South Africa to improve the operational performance of the country\u2019s largest cities. [MyBroadband<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Cape Town\u2019s hell run claims another life:<\/strong> Calls for action are being made after another death on an infamous stretch of the N2 in Cape Town, nicknamed the “hell run.” [Newsday<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

South Africa\u2019s rand waiting for the tide to turn:<\/strong> South Africa\u2019s rand and other emerging market currencies are expected to be far less volatile in 2027 and 2028. [DailyInvestor<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Big changes for one of Cape Town\u2019s iconic stadiums:<\/strong> Stellenbosch University and the Maties Rugby Club have entered into a strategic sponsorship agreement with the financial firm Salt EB, with plans for a name change to its stadium. [BusinessTech<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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CPUT dismisses rumours that its academic programme has been suspended:<\/strong> CPUT has confirmed that its academic programme is still going, following days of student protests. [EWN<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here are 5 important things happening in and affecting South Africa on Friday, 14 August 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":858284,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2088133792535835117","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2175643823256017","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18111986716786707","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20398],"tags":[16632,26165,423,26166],"class_list":["post-870187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-5-things","tag-5-things","tag-aiib","tag-china","tag-hell-run"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870187","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\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=870187"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870187\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":870192,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870187\/revisions\/870192"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/858284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=870187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=870187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=870187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}