At 1555 GMT, the rand traded at 14.4100 against the dollar, 1.05% firmer than its previous close.

The continent's most industrialised economy has been hit by some of the worst violence in decades, after the jailing of former President Jacob Zuma.

The government has deployed more soldiers in two provinces where security forces were struggling to quell looting, arson and violence.

A South African cabinet minister said on Friday that protests and looting in the country were now over and that the situation had "fully stabilised".

From next week, investors will turn their focus to the upcoming Monetary Policy Committee meeting next Thursday, where the central bank is expected to keep the repo rate on hold at 3.50%.

"Economic growth concerns are likely to dominate, as the enforcement of restrictions in response to the country's third wave of (coronavirus) infections as well as the disruption stemming from the protest action have together dimmed the recovery prospects," Investec economist Kamilla Kaplan said in a note.

In fixed income, the yield on the benchmark 2030 government bond dipped 2 basis points to 8.935%, reflecting firmer prices.

In the equities market, stocks closed weaker, with the Johannesburg All-Share index down 1.49%, while the Top-40 index fell 1.63%.

Mining firms were the biggest drag to the bourse, with the index falling 3.18% as gold, silver, platinum and palladium prices fell on a stronger dollar and rebounding yields. [GOL/]

Bucking the trend was scandal-hit South African retailer Steinhoff International, which jumped 12.66% after it said it was increasing the amount of its proposed lawsuit settlement offer by an additional 243 million euros ($287 million), taking the total to 1.2 billion euros.

(Reporting by Tanisha Heiberg and Nqobile Dludla; Editing by Timothy Heritage and Toby Chopra)