At 1600 GMT the rand was 0.07pc firmer at 14.3450 per dollar compared to a session-low of 14.4450.

On Thursday evening, in his first state of the nation address since leading his party to victory in a May 8 election, Ramaphosa pledged to grow the economy, create jobs and reaffirmed a commitment to land redistribution.

Ramaphosa also pledged to speed up 230 billion rand ($16 billion) of support for struggling power utility Eskom.

"The State of the Nation (SONA) address is not usually a forum for detailed policy announcements. Overall, an encouraging message, but now we need action and implementation as the country," by Johann Els, chief economist at Old Mutual Investment Group.

Bonds weakened, with the yield on the benchmark government bond due in 2026 up 7 basis points to 8.12pc.

On the bourse, stocks fell, dragged lower by the Ramaphosa disappointment and after the U.S military threatened a strike against Iran, chilling investors already worried by trade tensions between Washington and Beijing.

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange's benchmark Top-40 Index  slipped 0.11pc to 52,902.88 while the broader All-Share Index closed 0.05pc lower at 58,941.47.

Retailer Shoprite and pharmaceuticals specialist Clicks were the biggest losers on the blue-chip index, with Shoprite down 6.36pc to 164.74 rand while Clicks fell 2.39pc to 214.32 rand.

Embattled telecommunications company Vodacom Group fell 0.71pc to 125.37 rand after announcing that it had entered into agreements to sell some of its Business Africa operations, which offer business-managed services to enterprises.

Newly-listed pay-for-TV service Multichoice said on Friday it had notified workers of plans to lay off 1,790 employees.

The company's profit margins have nosedived in the face of competition from digital services like Netflix looking to gain traction in the African market.