{"id":880257,"date":"2026-10-19T07:25:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T05:25:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=880257"},"modified":"2026-10-19T07:25:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T05:25:13","slug":"new-r3-2-billion-afrikaans-university-taking-shape-and-bad-news-for-dstv-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/5-things\/880257\/new-r3-2-billion-afrikaans-university-taking-shape-and-bad-news-for-dstv-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"New R3.2 billion Afrikaans ‘university’ taking shape, and bad news for DStv in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The rand strengthened against the dollar after the dollar\/rand exchange rate fell below R16.50. This change was driven by declining US Treasury yields and a weaker dollar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week, the dollar\/rand exchange rate lost momentum after climbing above R16.75, as buyers were unable to overcome resistance amid a weakening US dollar and falling Treasury yields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pair subsequently reversed towards R16.50, indicating that sellers remain active despite ongoing inflation concerns in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This reversal indicates that R17 is a significant hurdle for dollar bulls. Unless the pair can sustain a break above this psychological level, the broader bearish trend may persist, especially if precious metals strengthen and oil prices decline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the rand, the immediate outlook will depend on international market conditions and domestic economic developments, with the medium-term budget policy statement from South Africa’s Finance Minister, Enoch Godongwana, becoming a critical focus for investors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They are looking for signs of improved public finances and a potentially more favourable outlook for the country’s sovereign credit rating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, manufacturing output fell by 4.3% year-over-year in August, reversing July\u2019s 1.1% increase and missing expectations for 0.6% growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

High input costs, electricity constraints, rising fuel prices, US tariffs, and supply shortages continue to negatively impact industrial activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The South African Reserve Bank’s recent 25-basis-point rate increase to 7.25% reflects concerns about inflation risks linked to the Iran conflict and higher energy costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While elevated domestic interest rates can bolster the rand, they also raise borrowing costs for households and businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Monday, 19 October 2026, the rand was trading at R16.45 to the dollar, R21.93 to the pound, and R18.53 to the euro. Gold is trading at $4,182.98, while oil prices were at $107.8 a barrel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5 important things happening in South Africa today<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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New R3.2 billion Afrikaans ‘university’ taking shape:<\/strong>\u00a0Construction is progressing quickly on Akademia\u2019s R3.2 billion campus in Pretoria East, set to open for the 2028 academic year. Located on a 220-hectare site near Boschkop Road, the campus will serve as a permanent home for Akademia\u2019s expanding student population. [Daily Investor<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bad news for DStv in South Africa:<\/strong>\u00a0Communications Minister Solly Malatsi said that increasing sports viewership is vital for growth and to challenge DStv\u2019s monopoly. At the Sport Business Forum, he called for broader access to live matches for all South Africans, emphasising the need for better digital infrastructure and affordable connectivity, as many events currently remain exclusive to DStv\u2019s costly Premium package. [MyBroadband<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Government’s ‘no whites’ rule:\u00a0<\/strong>The Department of Land Reform and Rural Development states that leasing state land is not open to white citizens of South Africa. [Newsday<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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R26 billion a year down the drain:\u00a0<\/strong>South Africa is facing a severe municipal water crisis where 47.3% of treated drinking water is lost or unbilled as Non-Revenue Water (NRW). This is according to the 2026 No Drop Progress Report, which revealed that total national water losses amount to 1.81 billion cubic metres per year, which amounts to approximately R26 billion annually. [BusinessTech<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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All eyes on Godongwana this week:<\/strong>\u00a0The Middle East conflict has impacted Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana\u2019s budget outlook, leading to a more pessimistic medium-term budget policy statement. Rising petrol and diesel prices, along with interest rate hikes from the South African Reserve Bank to combat inflation, are significant challenges that investors will want Godongwana to address on Wednesday. [BusinessDay<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here are five important things happening in and affecting South Africa on Monday, 19 October 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":880261,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2112052640209096877","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2241904653296600","_sma_instagram_post_id":"17968976865194579","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20398],"tags":[18993,853],"class_list":["post-880257","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\/880257","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=880257"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880257\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":880268,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880257\/revisions\/880268"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/880261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=880257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=880257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=880257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}