{"id":880249,"date":"2026-10-17T08:06:38","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T06:06:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=880249"},"modified":"2026-10-17T08:06:38","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T06:06:38","slug":"r10-billion-fuel-relief-on-the-cards-and-dstv-kisses-another-channel-goodbye-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/5-things\/880249\/r10-billion-fuel-relief-on-the-cards-and-dstv-kisses-another-channel-goodbye-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"R10 billion fuel relief on the cards, and DStv kisses another channel goodbye in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The South African rand strengthened in early trading on Friday as the dollar weakened. Investors are focused on next week’s medium-term budget for insights into the country’s fiscal outlook and credit-rating prospects. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rand was trading at 16.4450 against the dollar, approximately 0.3% stronger than its previous close. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major currencies, was down about 0.2%, setting the dollar on track for its first weekly decline in five weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investors will be paying close attention to Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s medium-term budget policy statement next week for indications of South Africa’s fiscal trajectory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are expectations of an improving budget balance and a more favourable ratings outlook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Top-40 index was up about 0.2% in early trading. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa’s benchmark 2035 government bond was slightly firmer, with the yield falling 1.5 basis points to 8.69%. [Reuters<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Saturday, 17 October 2026, the rand was trading at R16.48 to the dollar, R21.96 to the pound, and R18.52 to the euro. Gold is trading at $4,165.58, while oil prices were at $109.9 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

Fuel relief on the cards for South Africa:\u00a0<\/strong>The government is developing a plan to provide R10 billion towards relief from rising fuel prices. Unlike the measures from April to June, this plan will not include tax cuts or revenue losses. [DailyInvestor<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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DStv kisses another channel goodbye:<\/strong> MultiChoice has announced that DStv subscribers will lose access to the international preschool TV channel JimJam on November 11, 2026. This change marks the end of a 13-year partnership between the broadcaster and the channel.[MyBroadband<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sanlam to launch new banking app:\u00a0<\/strong>Sanlam aims to attract up to 4 million banking customers by 2030 through its partnership with Patrice Motsepe-backed GoTyme and its R10 billion loan book. It will launch a new GoTyme banking app in November, featuring credit, savings, and rewards functionalities.
\u00a0[TimesLive<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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FMD found at<\/strong> Addo Elephant National Park:<\/strong> SANParks has confirmed the presence of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in kudu at the Addo Elephant National Park near Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape. [NewsDay<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Another global award for South Africa:<\/strong>\u00a0South Africa\u2019s tourism sector, estimated to have contributed R659.8 billion to the economy in 2025, recently received international acclaim from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), taking home the Global Champion Award. [BusinessTech<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here are five important things happening in and affecting South Africa on Saturday, 17 October 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":857312,"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":"2111338187083620815","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2239864216833977","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20398],"tags":[18993,853],"class_list":["post-880249","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\/880249","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=880249"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880249\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":880252,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880249\/revisions\/880252"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/857312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=880249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=880249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=880249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}