South African rand weakens ahead of president's address

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -South Africa's rand weakened on Wednesday as local investors turned their attention to President Cyril Ramaphosa's address to the nation.

At 1512 GMT, the rand traded at 18.9150 versus the dollar, 0.4% weaker than its previous close.

The dollar was last down 0.08% against a basket of other major currencies.

Ramaphosa makes his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Thursday and investors will be looking to see what solutions are proposed to fix South Africa's power crisis and rail and port problems, which have strangled growth in Africa's most industrialised economy.

On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the blue-chip Top-40 index closed 0.42% lower.

South Africa's benchmark 2030 government bond slipped, with the yield up 8 basis points to 9.885%.

(Reporting by Anait Miridzhanian and Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Michael Perry, Kirsten Donovan)