{"id":882678,"date":"2026-11-05T07:33:30","date_gmt":"2026-11-05T05:33:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=882678"},"modified":"2026-11-05T07:33:30","modified_gmt":"2026-11-05T05:33:30","slug":"top-pretoria-private-school-in-hot-water-and-ramaphosas-message-after-united-states-blow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/5-things\/882678\/top-pretoria-private-school-in-hot-water-and-ramaphosas-message-after-united-states-blow\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Pretoria private school in hot water, and Ramaphosa’s message after United States blow"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The rand weakened slightly ahead of municipal elections, while \u200binvestors assessed the implications of Washington’s decision to \u200csuspend the country from a key US trade programme from 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rand traded at 16.6425 against the dollar at 1304 GMT, about 0.3% down \u200bfrom its previous close<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investors are watching the local \u200bmunicipal elections for signs of shifting voter \u2060sentiment over concerns about corruption, crime, and public services<\/p>\n\n\n\n

US \u200bTrade Representative Jamieson Greer notified Congress that South Africa and Rwanda \u200bwould be suspended from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) from January 1, 2027, citing concerns over human rights, corruption and threats \u200bto US interests<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The economic impact is likely to be \u200bless severe than headlines suggest, ETM Analytics said in a note, \u200cadding \u2060that markets had largely priced in the move, limiting the rand’s reaction<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa’s trade ministry said late on Monday it would support sectors affected by the decision and continue \u200bpursuing trade, investment \u200band broader \u2060economic opportunities with the US<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Top-40 index was down about \u20600.7%, \u200bwhile the benchmark 2035 government bond \u200bwas slightly firmer, as the yield fell 1.5 basis points to 8.52%. [Reuters<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Thursday, 5 November 2026, the rand was trading at R16.33 to the dollar, R22.04 to the pound, and R18.39 to the euro. Gold is trading at $4,136.72, while oil prices are at $93.74 a barrel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5 important things happening in South Africa today<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Pretoria private school in hot water: <\/strong>Pretoria’s elite Cornwall Hill College has issued an apology to parents after World Sports Betting branding and promotional material were presented to preschool learners during a class activity. [TimesLive<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ramaphosa’s message after the United States blow:<\/strong>\u00a0While expressing regret over South Africa’s removal from AGOA, President Cyril Ramaphosa stated that the country prefers to move away from unilateral arrangements and instead negotiate a bilateral trade agreement with the United States that respects the sovereignty of both nations. [EWN<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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2026 election results:<\/strong> Early results from the 2026 local government election are coming in as the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) counts the ballots, with the ANC and DA emerging as clear leaders. [Newsday<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Gayton McKenzie\u2019s department guilty of irregular expenditure of R67 million:<\/strong> Under Minister Gayton McKenzie, the Department of Sports, Arts, and Culture faced escalating irregular expenditure found by the Auditor-General of South Africa, rising from R42 million in 2024\/25\u2014well above the department’s reported R10.43 million\u2014to R67 million in 2025\/26. [Daily Investor<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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17 Home Affairs officials face criminal prosecution:<\/strong>\u00a0Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber revealed that 17 officials at the department have faced disciplinary action in 2026 for unlawfully processing identity document applications. [MyBroadband<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here are five important things happening in and affecting South Africa on Thursday, 5 November 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":882679,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2118216498871140569","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2261458411341224","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18644569900058407","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20398],"tags":[18993,853],"class_list":["post-882678","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\/882678","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=882678"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882678\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":882680,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882678\/revisions\/882680"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/882679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=882678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=882678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=882678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}