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The plan appears in the Operation Vulindlela Quarter 2 progress report. Operation Vulindlela is a government reform initiative under the Presidency. The Department of Transport drives the unbundling with it, and National Treasury provides oversight.

TRIM became a separate entity from Transnet Freight Rail in October 2024. In September, TRIM released the fourth version of its Network Statement, which includes public input. The Operation Vulindlela report said this version addresses key issues that industry raised to make rail investments bankable.

Jan Havenga, Professor of Logistics at Stellenbosch University, said this is the best news he has heard about Transnet in some time. He said Transnet carries heavy debt that current management inherited. He said an operator with its own balance sheet and problems clouds talk about the future of the rail lines, and he argued that Transnet could not drive this change itself.Share

Ramaphosa spoke on the sidelines after he voted at Hyde Park High School in the local government elections. He said diversifying trade has become the priority. He said South Africa started to diversify when the process of the Liberation Day tariff increase began.

The president called the exclusion from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) a negative for the country. He said Agoa is a unilateral arrangement that the US decides on. He said South Africa prefers a bilateral agreement that both sides negotiate with Washington.

Reports said Agoa exports were worth $1.7bn (R29bn) in 2025 and $4bn in 2024. Agoa exports make up about 1% of South Africa's total global exports.Share

Cape Town's population grew by almost 80% to nearly 5 million since the turn of the millennium. Average property prices have risen by about 190% since 2010. Lightstone data shows a home worth more than R6 million takes an average of 49 days to sell in the city, against 67 days nationally.

Foreign buyers drive the top of the market. About 75% of properties bought by individuals for more than R20 million in the first half of 2026 went to people who are not South African. The share is 35% when companies, trusts and South African individuals are included.

Broker Lance Cohen said some houses now sell at prices that are uncomfortably high for him. Ross Levin of Seeff Property Group said annual unit sales on the Atlantic Seaboard and in the City Bowl will fall for the first time in five years, while the super-luxury segment performs at levels not seen before.

Savills forecasts prime residential capital value growth of 4% to 5.9% in Cape Town in the second half of the year. City officials want to apply commercial tariffs to properties used mainly for short-term rentals. About 27,500 housing units are listed on Airbnb in the city.Share

Ramaphosa said South Africa's suspension from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) from January is a negative. The announcement of the suspension came on Monday. He said the country was sad to be removed, but trade relations with the US continue.

He said the focus should now be on negotiating a bilateral trade agreement with the US.

Reports of US President Donald Trump's statements say he has targeted South Africa largely over what he calls the persecution of white people. South Africa says this claim is a false narrative spread by fringe groups.Share

The company is state-owned and is based in Qatar. Its push for new sources follows the conflict in the Middle East, which limits what Qatar can export.

The reports give no figures for the planned purchases.Share

Novo Nordisk now expects 2026 adjusted sales and adjusted operating profit to move between a 2% rise and a 2% fall at constant exchange rates. Its earlier forecast was a fall of 0% to 6%. The company said higher expectations for GLP-1 sales in the US and international markets drove the change.

US sales of the pill were 4.18-billion Danish crowns, and international sales were 1.22-billion. About 3.6-million prescriptions were filled in the US in the quarter, and more than 8-million since launch. Adjusted sales were 79.20-billion crowns, against 73.22-billion expected. Adjusted operating profit was 31.72-billion crowns, against 28.39-billion projected by analysts.

Sales of injectable Wegovy in the US fell 13% at constant exchange rates, but combined US Wegovy sales rose 21%. Chief executive Mike Doustdar said growth was led by the obesity portfolio. Analysts said the pill is the company's main route back to growth.Share

The dollar index fell 0.6% to 101.27, its lowest level in a month. The euro rose 0.6% to $1.1258, and sterling gained 0.3% to $1.3458. The 10-year US Treasury yield dropped by nearly 5 basis points to 4.915%.

Gold rose 2.2% to $4,017 per ounce in early trading. Platinum rose 2.9% to $1,460. Oil edged down to $102.9 a barrel. Reports said Democrats had flipped six Republican Senate seats so far.

Moh Siong Sim, a currency strategist at OCBC, said the price moves fit concerns about closer scrutiny of AI under a Democratic sweep. He added that passing federal laws would still be hard under President Donald Trump.

Carol Kong, a currency strategist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said strong US data should support more rate hikes and the dollar. She said oil could jump if Trump escalates the conflict in the Middle East. Markets expect the Bank of England to raise rates for the first time since August 2023.Share

The US government announced the removal on Monday. Deputy Trade Minister John Steenhuisen said South Africa will move to most-favoured-nation status, which adds roughly 3.5 percentage points to existing tariffs. He said the US has not closed its market to South African goods.

Steenhuisen said citrus and automotive exporters will feel the effect most. He urged a bilateral trade deal with the US and more export markets. Agricultural economist Wandile Sihlobo also said exporters keep access, but at higher tariffs. He said the higher tariffs do not necessarily mean disaster.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) said the government should use the 60 days before the exit to negotiate. Its parliamentary coordinator, Matthew Parks, said farmers in the Western Cape, Limpopo and Northern Cape are of most concern. He said jobs were already lost over the past year and a half because of changing US tariffs.

Saul Levin of Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies said the impact looks fairly limited. He said sectors hit by earlier tariffs, such as autos and fruit canning, will feel more pain from those.Share

A US official said American forces carried out defensive strikes on Iran's Oeshm island overnight. The official said the strikes hit surface-to-air missiles used against US assets. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they downed one US MQ-9 drone and two Lucas drones near the Strait of Hormuz.

Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said the US response to Iran's demands was not convincing. He wrote on X that the Strait of Hormuz would reopen only if Iran's seven conditions were met. The senior official said Tehran would not accept excessive US demands, and that nuclear talks could start only after Iran's conditions were met. Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said Iran will not submit.

Majed al-Ansari, spokesperson for Qatar's foreign ministry, said intensive joint regional efforts were under way to avoid escalation. He said that as a mediator, Qatar cannot lose hope. A draft deal was discussed over eight days, and feedback from Washington and Tehran on the mediators' proposals was expected within 36 hours.

US President Donald Trump told Fox News Channel on Tuesday that he did not want to kill many people, but would if he had to. Kayhan newspaper said US facilities in Britain, Italy, Greece, Romania, Albania and Cyprus could be targeted if war resumed.Share

The Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Freedom Front Plus, both partners in the Government of National Unity, blamed the ANC for the decision. DA MP Ryan Smith said the exclusion was avoidable and unnecessary. He blamed International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola and called him diplomatically inept.

Freedom Front Plus leader Corne Mulder said the US demands on South Africa were not unreasonable. He said Lamola refused to meet US requirements for normalising relations. The DA and the Freedom Front Plus predicted thousands of job losses and industry closures.

The government said South Africa will suffer losses because it must now pay tariffs on exports that were exempt from duties. The two parties urged voters to turn against the ANC in the ballot on Wednesday.

Former US diplomat Brooks Spector said the US midterm elections are unlikely to change the decision. He said the US president and his administration hold the power to decide which countries are eligible. He added that South Africa can still make its case to be included again.Share

Fiddler AI makes software that lets companies observe how AI agents behave. Dreadnode helps companies automate the testing of their AI security.

CrowdStrike said the price of nearly $500 million covers both startups together.Share

The JSE All Share index closed at 109,275 points on Tuesday, down 0.2%. The Top 40 index fell to 101,192, down 0.2%.

The rand ended at R16.60 to the US dollar, stronger than R16.69 the day before. Gold was at $3,945 an ounce, down 0.6%. Brent crude was at $103.22 a barrel, down 1.5%.Share

The test train left Komatipoort on 1 November as an empty leg. It came back on 2 November with 2,991 metric tons. Grindrod holds two allocated slots on the North-East Corridor.

Grindrod is the first private Train Operating Company to run on the national freight network under the open-access framework. In its first year, it plans to move mainly coal from Mpumalanga to its Matola Terminal in Mozambique. Twelve Train Operating Companies have signed Rail Access Agreements.

Moshe Motlohi, Chief Executive of the Transnet Rail Infrastructure Manager, called the test a landmark for rail reform. He said open access is now an operational reality and not only a policy idea. Grindrod Group Chief Executive Officer Kwazi Mabaso said the milestone matters for the company and for the transformation of freight logistics.Share

The outage began at about 8.35pm on Monday. Ekurhuleni spokesperson Zweli Dlamini said an electricity failure at City of Ekurhuleni infrastructure cut power to the pumping station and halted pumping. Six municipalities were at risk of disruption: Ekurhuleni, Tshwane, Lesedi, Govan Mbeki, Victor Khanye and Thembisile Hani.

Another report gave a different cause. It said lightning damaged the Mapleton Substation on Monday night, and that water supply to Ekurhuleni and parts of Gauteng was cut for most of Tuesday. Areas named included Langaville, Tsakane, Duduza, Etwatwa, Tarlton, Brakpan and Vlakfontein.

Power at the substation is at 100% capacity and has been back for about 5 hours. Rand Water pumping operations have recovered by more than 73%. Officials said reservoirs should fill overnight and supply should improve in the early hours of Wednesday.Share

Mokonyane heads the ANC's international relations desk. She said Agoa makes up 1% of the whole trade relationship between South Africa and the US. She also said the White House decision was an act of desperation meant to sway South African voters and push a regime-change agenda.

She said the US administration wants to appeal to right-wing and conservative groups through its stance on South Africa. She added that the US is a critical role player, but the world is not the US. She blamed those who oppose the country's transformation policies, especially on land reform and property rights, for its economic challenges.

VF Plus leader Corne Mulder wrote on X that the end of Agoa membership is a total disaster. He blamed incompetence among those in charge of international relations. Mokonyane criticised his comments.

Trade, industry and competition minister Parks Tau said the decision does not define the wider relationship between the two countries. He said a solution would depend on both sides being willing to talk. The government said the loss of Agoa could harm South African investments in the US and disrupt supply chains in the car and boat-building industries.Share

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's coalition put forward the plan. The tax would apply to paper profits, which are gains on assets that the owner has not sold.

Wealth advisers said the plan risks driving away rich expatriates.Share

Merafe's attributable ferrochrome production fell 46% to 61 000 tonnes in the nine months to September. In the same period of 2025 it was 112 000 tonnes. Glencore reported its own attributable ferrochrome production of 235 000 tonnes last week.

Eskom concluded the new pricing agreements with the venture in June, under a three-year electricity pricing framework. The National Energy Regulator of South Africa approved a temporary tariff of 87.74c/kWh in January for the Glencore-Merafe and Samancor smelters. At the end of May it approved a tariff of 62c/kWh, which allowed the retrenchment consultation to be withdrawn.

Eskom said the deal restores demand from the smelters and gives it predictable electricity sales. It said this improves its liquidity without higher tariffs for other customers or more government support. Whether targeted relief will reverse the industry's decline against China is not yet clear.Share

A litre of 95-octane petrol will cost R30.24 in Gauteng and R29.37 at the coast. The slate levy rises by about 48c per litre because the Slate Fund balance was almost -R16 billion at the end of September. Reports give the new slate levy as 135.64c and 135.84c per litre.

Illuminating paraffin rises by R3.66 per litre at retail. The maximum retail price of LPG rises by R1.83 per kilogram inland and R2.08 per kilogram in the Western Cape.

The Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources blamed Middle East uncertainty, including recent attacks on Saudi Arabia infrastructure, and high freight and insurance costs. It also cited tight global diesel supply, higher seasonal demand before the Northern Hemisphere winter, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The average Brent crude price rose from $101 to $108 per barrel over the review period. The rand weakened from an average of R16.21 to R16.55 against the dollar. Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced the temporary fuel levy cuts in the medium-term budget policy statement.Share

Anthropic revealed the commitment on 2 November. The spending covers AI infrastructure over the coming years. One report described the move as a bid to keep up the company's fast growth.

In a related item, OpenAI hired Dan Driscoll, the former US Army secretary. OpenAI is the maker of ChatGPT. The same report said the military seeks to expand its use of AI.Share

Marvell is the buyer and Lumentum is the company being acquired. The deal was announced on 2 November.Share

ISS also recommends that shareholders reject the implementation report. It says a special modifier let a short-term incentive metric pay out in full, although performance was below threshold. ISS said Shoprite had not given a sufficiently compelling rationale for adding another substantial incentive.

Funds under the New York City Comptroller, KLP and other investors say they will vote against the pay proposals. Together the institutions oppose the plan while overseeing almost $2 trillion in assets. Shoprite's largest shareholder is the Public Investment Corporation.

Engelbrecht earned R117.8 million in the latest financial year, up 35%. The plan for CFO Anton de Bruyn is worth R14.2 million. Last year the implementation report won 95.61% support, but the 2024 report won 74.3%, below the 75% engagement trigger.

Board member Christo Wiese defended the award. He said: "This isn’t something that was just decided in two seconds". ISS says Wiese controls about 41% of the voting rights. Shoprite declined to comment beyond its remuneration report and AGM notice.Share

The Money & Me survey says 65% of respondents find every month financially difficult, up from 61% last year. It found 43% need to borrow money before month-end. Also, 83% could not pay an unexpected R10,000 expense from savings.

The survey says 51% of respondents spend more than 40% of take-home pay on debt repayments, compared with 38% in 2025. About 37% do not know the interest rate on their biggest loan. Also, 69% shopped based on special offers.

Nicholson is head of customer experience at JustMoney. She said spending R1,000 on an item you would not otherwise buy does not save you R1,000. She said store accounts, credit facilities and buy-now-pay-later offers can make purchases look affordable while adding to monthly commitments.

Nicholson said countdown clocks and messages that only a few items remain create urgency and push shoppers into quick decisions. Her advice: "If a deal doesn’t match your budget, walk away." Under the Consumer Protection Act, consumers can generally return defective or unsafe goods within six months of delivery.Share

Locally made devices accounted for 29% of public-sector procurement and 25% of private-sector purchases, the study found. The Localisation Support Fund (LSF) says the findings give an evidence base for strengthening the local industry and reducing reliance on imports.

LSF chief executive Irshaad Kathrada said price is not the main obstacle to local products. He said government is not strategic enough in public-sector buying, and that individual hospitals buy on their own.

Kathrada said piloting across spheres of government could help, including hospitals, provincial health departments and national buying programmes. He said this has worked in the Western Cape. The LSF also says more predictable procurement, better coordination of public demand and targeted support for existing manufacturers could expand local production.Share

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told state media that indirect talks with Washington were taking place through mediators. He said consultations were very intensive. US Vice President JD Vance said the US had made some progress and would see if it could make more.

A senior Iranian official said Tehran was ready to open the strait within two days if Washington agreed to its list of demands. Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that Iran wanted a settlement as soon as possible.

Hours later, a Wall Street Journal report said the US had carried out a string of limited, secret strikes on Iran in recent weeks. Iranian state media reported five explosions on Qeshm island. The report weakened the diplomatic overtures.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei warned that any act of aggression would meet a response that was powerful, immediate and comprehensive. Trump said he might still have to give Iran "the hammer" at some point. He said he also had to deal with one or two targets, including Pickaxe mountain, a suspected nuclear site that Tehran denies is one.Share

Greer said the US is concerned by barriers to US trade and investment, corruption, and threats to US national security and foreign policy interests in South Africa. The office of the US trade representative also accused South Africa of high tariffs on US poultry, wine and spirits, and of unjustified animal health limits on US pork.

Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau said Agoa remains important but is not the whole economic relationship with the US. He said government will speed up the diversification of export markets to protect jobs. Tau also said the US is raising new issues that were not part of talks that began in 2025.

Cosatu said thousands of agricultural and manufacturing jobs are at risk. The Citrus Growers' Association of Southern Africa called the exclusion a blow to the industry. Its chief executive, Boitshoko Ntshabele, said the US consumer will lose too.

Reports put Agoa goods at about 10% of South Africa's exports to the US in 2025. Tau said 89% of South African exports entered the US under ordinary World Trade Organisation terms that year.Share

The JSE All Share index closed at 109,528 points on Monday, up 1.8%. The Top 40 index rose to 101,439, up 2.0%.

The rand ended at R16.69 to the US dollar, weaker than R16.61 the day before. Gold was at $3,959 an ounce, up 1.5%. Brent crude was at $104.73 a barrel, down 11.0%.Share