{"id":879680,"date":"2026-10-14T07:33:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T05:33:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=879680"},"modified":"2026-10-14T07:33:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T05:33:15","slug":"game-stores-being-shut-down-in-south-africa-and-another-storm-warning-for-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/5-things\/879680\/game-stores-being-shut-down-in-south-africa-and-another-storm-warning-for-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Game stores being shut down in South Africa, and another storm warning for South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The rand maintained its early gains on Tuesday, helped by a weaker dollar and lower oil prices, despite disappointing domestic mining data. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rand was trading at 16.5050 against the dollar, approximately 0.2% stronger than its previous close and relatively unchanged from earlier in the day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to data from Statistics South Africa released on Tuesday, the country’s mining output fell by 12.7% year-on-year in August, a larger decline than the revised 7.0% decrease observed in July. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The decline in the dollar index helped support the rand, while oil prices dropped as traders assessed supply risks following attacks on Saudi Arabia and considered the potential for increased diesel supplies from Russia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investors are also focused on the US Consumer Price Index report scheduled for release on Wednesday, which is one of the last major data points before the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting in late October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like other risk-sensitive currencies, the rand often responds to global factors, particularly US monetary policy, as well as domestic economic data. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Top-40 index was last reported up by 0.9%. South Africa’s benchmark 2035 government bond strengthened, with the yield decreasing by 6 basis points to 8.755%. [Reuters<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Wednesday, 14 October 2026, the rand was trading at R16.46 to the dollar, R21.85 to the pound, and R18.45 to the euro. Gold is trading at $4,163.77, while oil prices were at $106.30 a barrel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5 important things happening in South Africa today<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Game stores being shut down:\u00a0<\/strong>Massmart\u2019s network of Game stores in South Africa has declined to just 96 from around 150 branches nationwide in 2019. Massmart confirmed it was considering closing 20 more Game locations in February after MyBroadband learnt of the plan from a KwaZulu-Natal business owner. [MyBroadband<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Another storm warning for South Africa<\/strong>:\u00a0<\/strong>The South African Weather Service has issued warnings for severe thunderstorms in KwaZulu-Natal and damaging winds in parts of the Northern and Western Cape. Yellow Level 2 warnings are for thunderstorms in KwaZulu-Natal, while Yellow Level 1 warnings are for damaging winds affecting high-sided vehicles and structures in parts of the Northern and Western Cape.
[SAWS<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

BEE is not working:\u00a0<\/strong>A study shows black-owned businesses face a $45 billion funding gap, worse now than 20 years ago. They struggle to grow beyond small enterprises, especially in South Africa. [Business Day<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Patrice Motsepe\u2019s business in hot water:<\/strong>\u00a0African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) is in a legal dispute with Assore over their jointly owned mining company, Assmang, in which ARM holds a 50% share. The conflict concerns ARM’s right to appoint executives and manage operations. Assore initiated the legal proceedings, naming both ARM and Assmang as defendants. ARM plans to defend itself in court and countersue Assore, asserting that Assore\u2019s claims lack substantive merit. [BusinessTech<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

More pain at the pump coming:<\/strong>\u00a0South African petrol prices may rise again due to global oil price increases. They have already gone up by R9 per litre since the start of the year, with more hikes possible, according to Investec\u2019s chief economist. [Daily Investor<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here are five important things happening in and affecting South Africa on Wednesday, 14 October 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":877080,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2110242718546825662","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2236568610496871","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18096651416394444","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20398],"tags":[18993,853],"class_list":["post-879680","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\/879680","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=879680"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879680\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":879682,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879680\/revisions\/879682"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/877080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=879680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=879680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=879680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}