At 0946 CAT, the Rand traded at 17.965 against the Dollar, not far from its previous close on Wednesday and near a five-month high.

SA Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana tabled the 2025 budget for the third time on Wednesday after scrapping plans to raise value-added tax, the most contentious element in his two previous attempts.

The market focus quickly shifted to Ramaphosa's meeting with Trump, however, which the SA leader had hoped would help reset strained ties between the two nations after Trump suspended aid to SA earlier this year, citing its land reform policy and its genocide case against Israel.

However, Trump confronted Ramaphosa in the White House with false allegations of mass killings of white people and land seizure, which the SA leader pushed back against.

--Reuters--