{"id":882284,"date":"2026-11-02T07:41:24","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T05:41:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=882284"},"modified":"2026-11-02T08:12:15","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T06:12:15","slug":"taxpayers-spend-r3-6-million-per-home-for-low-income-families-and-dstv-cut-16-channels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/5-things\/882284\/taxpayers-spend-r3-6-million-per-home-for-low-income-families-and-dstv-cut-16-channels\/","title":{"rendered":"Taxpayers spend R3.6 million per home for low-income families, and DStv cuts 16 channels"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The rand weakened to below R16.60\/$ from R16.36 last week, reversing recent gains. This decline was driven by a robust US dollar, high oil prices, weaker precious metals, and broader pressure across emerging-market currencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the rand remained more resilient than its peers. The Brazilian real fell over 7% across the week due to fiscal concerns following President Lula da Silva\u2019s election victory, while the Mexican peso, Korean won, and Indian rupee also softened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US dollar stayed strong on expectations of prolonged high interest rates and safe-haven demand, despite trimming some gains after the Federal Reserve held rates steady.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Markets are pricing in an 80% chance of a December hike. Major US equity indices (S&P 500, Nasdaq, Dow) and the Nikkei retreated, whereas European markets finished mixed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Going against global trends, South Africa\u2019s JSE All Share Index climbed 1.9%, lifted by financial and basic material shares.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The South African 10-year government bond yield dropped from 8.64% to 8.56%, helped by National Treasury commitments in the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement to curb public debt growth, which offset higher producer inflation and currency weakness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Monday, 2 November 2026, the rand was trading at R16.71 to the dollar, R22.37 to the pound, and R18.67 to the euro. Gold is trading at $3,900.93, while oil prices are at $110 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

R3.6 million per home: <\/strong>A R1.2 billion Free State housing development programme saw the cost per completed unit reach R3.6 million, up from an original target of R233,000. The Free State housing development programme provides government-subsidised homes and land primarily to low-income South African citizens, vulnerable groups, and individuals from informal settlements who meet specific qualifying criteria. [Newsday<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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DStv cut channels:<\/strong>\u00a0MultiChoice\u2019s DStv has cut 16 channels in South Africa since the beginning of 2026 as it streamlined its packages to reduce costs amid declining revenue. [MyBroadband<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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New coins for South Africa:<\/strong> The South African Reserve Bank introduced four new coins in 2026 to commemorate historical milestones in the country. These new coins are part of the Milestones of Freedom campaign. [Daily Investor<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Teachers are quitting:<\/strong> Teachers in South Africa are leaving the profession and retiring early due to burnout, excessive workloads, understaffing, and growing disrespect towards teachers. [BusinessTech<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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D-Day for South Africa:<\/strong>\u00a0The United States government will announce on Monday, 2 November, the outcome of its annual review of South Africa’s eligibility for benefits associated with the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) in 2027. [Business Day<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here are five things happening in and affecting South Africa on Monday, 2 November 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":882285,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2117131347957359014","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2257910061696059","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18153503674527430","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20398],"tags":[18993,853],"class_list":["post-882284","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\/882284","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=882284"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882284\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":882294,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882284\/revisions\/882294"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/882285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=882284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=882284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=882284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}