{"id":876336,"date":"2026-09-20T08:14:55","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T06:14:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=876336"},"modified":"2026-09-20T08:14:55","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T06:14:55","slug":"good-news-for-south-africas-sugar-industry-and-warning-for-western-cape-residents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/5-things\/876336\/good-news-for-south-africas-sugar-industry-and-warning-for-western-cape-residents\/","title":{"rendered":"Good news for South Africa’s sugar industry, and warning for Western Cape residents"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The rand remained stable on Friday as investors turned their attention to next week\u2019s inflation data and monetary policy meeting, where the central bank is widely anticipated to raise interest rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The currency has been buoyed by stable commodity prices following the US Federal Reserve\u2019s interest rate increase and its indication that further monetary tightening may be on the horizon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traders are now looking ahead to August\u2019s consumer inflation data, which will be released on Wednesday, for new insights into the South African Reserve Bank\u2019s (SARB) interest rate plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In July, headline inflation dipped to 4.3% year-on-year, marking the first decline in five months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa\u2019s central bank surprised both investors and economists at its last meeting by keeping the main lending rate unchanged, stating that its current policy is sufficiently restrictive to bring inflation back to its target within two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe SARB is in a predicament as to whether to \u200bincrease rates or not. A hike would \u200battract \u2060yield investors, but would mean a curtailing of domestic activity,\u201d said Umkhulu Treasury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa\u2019s benchmark 2035 government bond showed slight firmness in early trading, with the yield decreasing by 1.5 basis points to 8.615%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Sunday, 20 September 2026, the rand was trading at R16.27 to the dollar, R21.78 to the pound, and R18.68 to the euro. Gold is trading at $4,383.45, while oil prices were at $103.9 a barrel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5 important things happening in South Africa today<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Health Minister, Aaron Motsoaledi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Good news for South Africa’s sugar industry<\/strong>: \u00a0The International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) has increased the dollar-based reference price (DBRP) for sugar from $680 to $785 per tonne after considering two conflicting applications for a tariff structure investigation. [DailyInvestor<\/a><\/strong>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mpox warning for Western Cape residents:<\/strong> The Western Cape has been identified as a hotspot for the recent Mpox outbreak. Of the 18 cases reported nationwide, 15 are in that province, with the majority located in Cape Town. [ENCA<\/a><\/strong>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Eskom CEO gets R12.2 million:\u00a0<\/strong>Economist Dawie Roodt stated that Eskom has negatively affected South Africa\u2019s economy, yet it still paid its CEO R12.2 million. He said that Eskom operates as part of the civil service under the Department of Electricity and Energy. [Newsday<\/a><\/strong>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Government backs data centre growth<\/strong>: The Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies said that South Africa has the most data centres in Africa, with plans for further investment by existing facilities. He said that the department is working with the Department of Trade to support the growth of this sector. [MyBroadband<\/a><\/strong>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Major fines for homeowners in Tshwane:<\/strong>\u00a0Homeowners in Tshwane with prepaid electricity meters could face fines of up to R75,000 if their meters are found to be bypassed or tampered with, as the metro steps up efforts to tackle electricity theft. [BusinessTech<\/a><\/strong>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here are five important things happening in and affecting South Africa on Sunday, 20 September 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":851342,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2101555968790143167","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2210820653071667","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18037095299650204","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20398],"tags":[18993,853],"class_list":["post-876336","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\/876336","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=876336"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876336\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":876338,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876336\/revisions\/876338"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/851342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=876336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=876336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=876336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}