Ongoing

  1. ElectionsHot
  2. US mid-termsHeating up
  3. AICooling
NewsbriefSouth Africa, briefly.
JoburgJHB29°16°CTCT30°17°PretoriaPTA31°17°DurbanDBN27°64%

All data

Rand exchange rates

On 3 November 2026, the European Central Bank's reference rate was R16.64 to the US dollar and R18.60 to the euro.

Latest market close (a weaker rand shows as a higher number)
PairCloseDayMonthClose of
Rand per US dollarR16.60−0.09−0.10
Rand per euroR18.58−0.04−0.20
Rand per British poundR22.26−0.07+0.22
Rand per Australian dollarR11.62−0.11+0.05
ECB reference rates, rand per unit, last 30 working days
DateUSDEURGBPAUD
16.637918.599522.313011.6196
16.638618.661922.328011.6608
16.689518.645522.362011.7238
16.641318.521822.161011.6916
16.647718.533922.121011.7081
16.648718.563322.190011.7074
16.629118.604622.196011.6812
16.597618.577722.188011.6555
16.515718.505822.091011.5806
16.372618.393021.942011.5165
16.475218.476921.989011.5078
16.433818.446921.907011.4805
16.433818.493021.915011.4359
16.556818.556921.932011.4422
16.470018.438221.850011.5448
16.496318.456121.852011.5113
16.541018.494521.893011.5360
16.533118.527021.857011.5419
16.650518.625221.990011.5613
16.689518.653922.038011.6014
16.490318.582921.893011.5136
16.624718.626321.986011.5713
16.734018.783922.090011.6122
16.545818.693421.896011.5001
16.391318.612321.778011.4207
16.370518.588721.686011.4667
16.392218.651021.742011.5137
16.293818.579821.593011.4549
16.436718.683621.729011.5495
16.347118.653721.703011.5531

Download the full history (CSV)

Reference rates: the European Central Bank, crossed to rand. They are set once a working day, around 16:00 in Frankfurt. The market close comes from a third-party data provider and is shown here only. See Market data notes.

Elections Hot

What you need to know

Voting in the 2026 Local Government Elections is under way at 23,696 stations, and the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) reported a smooth start on 4 November. Stations opened at 7am and close at 9pm, and by 10am preliminary figures showed 3,523,691 voters had cast ballots.

There were problems: unused ballot papers were stolen from Mnyameni Secondary School near Durban, police opened a case, and the IEC relieved the station staff of duty. Some voters in Tshwane said they were turned away for wearing party shirts, but the IEC denied this and said only mayoral candidates' entourages were barred.

ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe told members not to query the results or discredit the IEC, while the IEC said false online claims show routine procedures as fraud.

  1. IEC dismisses MK Party worry about dead people on voters' roll
  2. IEC says local election voting went largely smoothly
  3. IEC says about 12 million had voted by 5pm

See every update

US mid-terms Heating up

What you need to know

Democrats won back both the US House and Senate in the midterm elections held on 3 November, according to media projections. Exit polls showed voters were angry about high prices and the direction of the country, and rebuked President Donald Trump.

Before the vote, US forces struck targets on Qeshm Island in Iran, while Republicans struggled to defend the war against Iran on the campaign trail. Iranian officials said US voters rejected the war, and Tehran stayed on high alert for possible new US strikes.

Markets reacted, with the dollar hitting a one-month low and the rand firming to around R16.55, as analysts pointed to fears of gridlock in Washington.

  1. Iran welcomes Democratic wins in US midterm elections
  2. Democrats win US Congress in midterm vote, projections show
  3. Ramaphosa wants US trade deal after AGOA suspension

See every update

AI Cooling

What you need to know

Nvidia has told its cloud computing clients to sell at least 51% of their services to non-Chinese companies, according to five people with knowledge of the matter. Anthropic said it has committed to spend close to $900bn on AI infrastructure, and that its computing costs are rising faster than its revenues.

Elsewhere, reports from unnamed sources say OpenAI's latest funding round is falling short of expectations, and a judge let the NAACP pollution case against xAI proceed. In South Africa, the VAST AI investment scheme went offline on 30 October after withdrawals marked approved did not arrive, according to a news investigation.

  1. Accenture faces accusations over AI report with false citations
  2. CrowdStrike to buy two AI security startups
  3. Google lets schools turn off AI tools but limits Search

See every update