Rand Slumps With South African Riots Adding to COVID-19 Woes

SOUTH Africa’s rand slumped to its weakest level against the dollar in more than two months as rioting that started with last week’s arrest of former President Jacob Zuma spread, weighing on the outlook for an economy already strained by a resurgence of the coronavirus.

The violent protests shuttered businesses and disrupted transport networks in the nation’s two richest provinces, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.

Zuma was sentenced to 15 months in jail for defying a court order to testify at a graft inquiry.

The riots added to the disruption from a lockdown, extended by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday night for a further two weeks in an effort to curb the pandemic.

“It is difficult to tell which is the greater emergency in South Africa right now: the riots, which have resulted in significant property damage, looting and affected the movements of goods along an important trade corridor, or the continued