{"id":870401,"date":"2026-08-17T07:20:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T05:20:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=870401"},"modified":"2026-08-17T07:20:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T05:20:13","slug":"julius-malema-under-siege-and-the-real-reason-load-shedding-disappeared","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/5-things\/870401\/julius-malema-under-siege-and-the-real-reason-load-shedding-disappeared\/","title":{"rendered":"Julius Malema under siege, and the real reason load shedding disappeared"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There was little change for the rand on Friday, as easing U.S. inflation boosted speculation of a rate hold from the Federal Reserve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rand traded at 16.18 against the dollar, with very little changing from its previous close of R16.19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Risk sentiment remained fragile with the threat of increased economic pressure on Iran, signalling a possible prolonged Middle East conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rand normally benefits from increased risk sentiment, but the threat of reduced oil supplies might make investors cautious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TreasuryONE currency strategist Andre Cilliers said, “The rand is consolidating within a R16.05\/R16.25 range with good two-way flows in the market. From a technical perspective, the local currency is looking slightly overbought, and a correction is possible in the short term.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa’s benchmark 2035 government bond was slightly weaker early on Friday, with the yield rising by two basis points to 8.435%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Monday, 17 August, 2026, the rand was trading at R16.18 to the dollar, R21.92 to the pound, and R18.74 to the euro. Gold is trading at $4,392.39 an ounce, while oil prices were at $88.61 a barrel. [Reuters<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5 important things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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AfriForum hits Julius Malema with R500,000 fine and 18 months prison sentence contempt of court application:<\/strong> AfriForum has filed a contempt of court application against EFF leader Julius Malema and his party over continued incitement to land occupation. [Newsday<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Real reasons load-shedding disappeared:<\/strong> Local electricity demand destruction and rapid uptake of self-generation are the two main reasons that load-shedding has disappeared in South Africa. [MyBroadband<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The two JSE-listed giants completely changing themselves for all to see:<\/strong> AB InBev and British American Tobacco must completely change their product offerings to better align with modern consumer needs. [DailyInvestor<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Why wealthy buyers are shifting to Gauteng\u2019s luxury estates:<\/strong> Wealthy South Africans are increasingly moving towards Gauteng’s estates for their safety and reliable infrastructure. [BusinessDay<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Another problem for medical aid members in South Africa:<\/strong> South Africa\u2019s prescribed minimum benefits system remains largely unchanged despite significant changes in healthcare costs, treatment and disease patterns. [BusinessTech<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here are 5 important things happening in and affecting South Africa on Monday, 17 August 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":863575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"failed","_sma_x_autopost_error":"Instagram publishing failed: Instagram returned HTTP 400: Media ID is not available","_sma_x_post_id":"2089220948889157742","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2178550219632044","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20398],"tags":[16632,10995,1164,6370],"class_list":["post-870401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-5-things","tag-5-things","tag-ab-inbev","tag-eskom","tag-julius-malema"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870401","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=870401"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870401\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":870407,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870401\/revisions\/870407"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/863575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=870401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=870401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=870401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}