South Africa's rand weakens on power supply shortage

Yields on government bonds fell, with the 2026 benchmark down 7.5 basis points to 7.275 percent. Power utility Eskom has been forced to implement controlled outages for four consecutive days to avoid triggering a total collapse of the national grid as it struggles to meet demand. On Thursday data showed that business confidence in South Africa registered its slowest start for the year in nearly two decades as the economy grapples with global and local headwinds, including the power cuts.