We’ve got good news about the Rand: It’s performing well against the US Dollar, and looks to be on a course to recovery. But what’s put a spring in ZAR’s step?

We’re starting to think a horse and cart would be less hassle: Petrol prices are set for an increase in May, and a winter of discontent waits for SA’s motorists.

Travelling on a budget does not have to mean a trip to a neighbouring city for a hotdog and some bird-watching.

If land reform flouts due process and ends up hurting the country, the Rand could plummet to R24 a Dollar.

Wondering why the rand value has gone haywire? It’s not just Trump tariffs and trade wars – there’s much more to it than that.

The Reserve Bank has had its say on the latest 24-hour rand drop. While it certainly looked scary, the bank wants South Africans to remember it was merely a blip caused by the Turkey situation.

Here’s some reasoning behind the rand’s big slip.

The rand showed a bit of confidence against the dollar this morning. A sign of good things to come, maybe or are we too quick to celebrate?

With JZ so close to the exit, there is still optimism for the rand

The last week saw some dramatic volatility in the markets in both South African and abroad. The GBP has been on the charge, while the Rand has taken a bit of a beating in the last week or so. Meanwhile, the Dollar has been weaker due to the recent spate of natural disasters as well as ongoing geopolitical tensions.

South Africa’s Rand has been in full retreat since the beginning of the month. Investors anticipated further weakness as the currency broke through successive technical levels in an economy in recession with possible ratings downgrades on the horizon. The local currency has made up some of this lost ground on Monday.

The Rand’s resilience has surprised many South African economists and CEO’s, with most having predicted currency depreciation in 2017.

The South African Rand ended last week on a back foot after the first-round French election results favoured nominee Emmanuel Macron and his party. Macron emerged as a favourite after securing 24.01% of the vote versus Marine Le Pen’s 21.30%.

As the nation officially goes down in the world’s estimation (anyone surprised?), the Twitterati were all fired up and fuming.

Not even yesterday’s antics could shake the strengthening Rand.

South Africa dropped two places in its ranking on The Economist’s latest democracy index.

The rand is continuing its strong showing after breaking through a significant level of R13.30/$ on Wednesday on the back of a bigger risk appetite for emerging market currencies and a strengthening of the euro.

The rand is unlikely to weaken to historic lows despite charges being brought against Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan, says economist Dawie Roodt.

With the strong rally in the Rand over the past few weeks – we look at the reasons for the gains, and whether we expect this trend to continue.

Although in the short-term, the Rand appears to be increasing in value, long-term, this is not the case.

While ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe’s address regarding Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s battle with the Hawks pushed the rand down 10 cents on Tuesday, it was the US rate hike threat that caused further concern over the currency.

An almost 25% gain in the oil price this week has put a dent in the rand’s rally, with local currency trading at 0.21% down at R13.41/$ on Friday at 08:30.

Exchange rate fluctuations are the biggest restriction to business expansion, according to the Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR) for the second quarter of 2016.

The recent abrupt and frequent changes in the Ministry of Finance as well as weak economic data destabilised the currency over the past twelve months. Whereas the falling South African Rand boosted exporting industries, South African expats, especially those receiving pensions in Rand, were hurt by this development.

In these volatile and difficult times, investors often turn to property investment. Questions loom like where should you invest and will you be able to service your mortgage in the face of rising interest rates and currency volatility? Andrew Rissik investigates.