The ANC is holding a press briefing where President Jacob Zuma is expected to announce a major cabinet reshuffle.
By 9.30pm he had delivered the news: A cabinet bloodbath was about to unfold.
As news of the reshuffle broke, the rand lost ground and by 10:30pm was trading at R13.25 to the dollar.
The reshuffle comes three days after Zuma told the ANC top five that he wanted to get rid of Gordhan and Jonas.