{"id":877743,"date":"2026-10-01T07:36:39","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T05:36:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=877743"},"modified":"2026-10-01T07:36:39","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T05:36:39","slug":"bee-almost-derailed-sale-of-burger-king-and-good-news-for-homeowners-who-want-solar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/5-things\/877743\/bee-almost-derailed-sale-of-burger-king-and-good-news-for-homeowners-who-want-solar\/","title":{"rendered":"BEE almost derailed sale of Burger King, and good news for homeowners who want solar"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p> The rand strengthened on Wednesday as investors reviewed month-end domestic economic data that provided insights into the country&#8217;s economic health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The rand was trading at 16.3250 against the US dollar, approximately 0.5% stronger than its previous close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Data from the South African Reserve Bank showed that private sector credit growth rose to 7.47%, compared to 7.41% previously, surpassing the 6.90% forecast in a Reuters poll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Traders also analysed the August budget balance, producer inflation, and trade balance figures released by the National Treasury, Statistics South Africa, and the South African Revenue Service, respectively.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to a Reuters poll, growth in producer prices slowed in August, while the trade surplus widened more than analysts had anticipated.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Top-40 index was up about 0.2%. South Africa&#8217;s benchmark 2035 government bond also showed strength, with the yield falling by 10.5 basis points to 8.73%. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/africa\/south-african-rand-edges-up-ahead-month-end-economic-data-2026-09-30\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Reuters<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On Thursday, 1 October 2026, the rand was trading at R16.44 to the dollar, R21.79 to the pound, and R18.61 to the euro. Gold is trading at $4,180.61, while oil prices were at $96.93 a barrel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">5 important things happening in South Africa today<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a  data-lightbox=\"post-image\" href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/solar.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/solar-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-849100\" srcset=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/solar-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/solar-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/solar-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/solar.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>BEE almost derailed the sale of Burger King:\u00a0<\/strong>The sale of Burger King South Africa faced B-BBEE concerns from the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition. Their commitments of R500 million investment and 1,250 jobs were deemed inadequate, leading to the merger&#8217;s prohibition despite no competition issues. The merging parties then appealed to the Competition Tribunal and proposed revised conditions focused on ownership and participation. Burger King agreed to enhance its B-BBEE scorecard by implementing the Enterprise and Supplier Development element. [<a href=\"https:\/\/dailyinvestor.com\/business\/157787\/bee-nearly-stopped-the-sale-of-burger-king-south-africa\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Daily Investor<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Good news for homeowners who want solar:<\/strong>\u00a0Eskom has extended its waiver of registration fees for its direct customers with rooftop solar power systems rated up to 50kVA. The power utility announced the extension on the evening of 30 September 2026, the same day the waiver was set to end. [<a href=\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/energy\/670086-eskom-extends-free-rooftop-solar-registration.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">MyBroadband<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Blow for Trump&#8217;s tariffs:<\/strong>\u00a0A panel of three judges at the US Court of International Trade in Manhattan is hearing arguments from small businesses and Democratic-led states challenging Trump\u2019s \u201cSection 301\u201d tariffs as unlawful. This marks the third court intervention regarding the president&#8217;s sweeping tariffs on most U.S. imports in under two years. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbcafrica.com\/2026\/trumps-latest-global-tariffs-face-trade-court-challenge\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CNBC Africa<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Big changes for the Gautrain:<\/strong>\u00a0Gauteng\u2019s Provincial Government has completed the appointment process for a new Gautrain operator for the next 15 years, with several changes planned. [<a href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/877647\/big-changes-for-the-gautrain-in-south-africa\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">BusinessTech<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Eskom wants to add over R100 to your monthly bill:<\/strong>\u00a0Eskom has approached NERSA to implement an average 8.8% electricity tariff increase for the 2027\/28 financial year starting April 2027. The Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group (PMBEJD) said this will add at least R112 to monthly electricity bills. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.enca.com\/business-top-stories-videos\/eskoms-potential-tariff-increase-hard-stomach-consumers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">eNCA<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here are five important things happening in and affecting South Africa on Thursday, 1 October 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":856717,"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":"2105532428865429674","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2222557988564600","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20398],"tags":[18993,853],"class_list":["post-877743","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\/877743","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=877743"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/877743\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":877755,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/877743\/revisions\/877755"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/856717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=877743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=877743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=877743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}