The rand strengthened in early trade on Tuesday, recovering some of the ground it lost a day earlier, with the future of the country's multi-party government the main focus.

At 0706 GMT, the rand traded at 19.44 against the dollar, 1% firmer on the day after falling about 2.7% on Monday.

The two biggest political parties in the ruling coalition, the African National Congress (ANC) and Democratic Alliance (DA), held meetings of their senior officials on Monday to discuss the way forward after disagreements over the budget.

Despite weeks of negotiations the two parties could not agree a common strategy on the budget, leading to the pro-business DA voting against the fiscal framework in parliament and some ANC figures pushing for the DA to leave the government.

At 0900 GMT, the ANC will brief reporters on the outcome of its discussions on Monday.

A DA spokesperson confirmed the party's Federal Executive met on Monday, but said it had not yet taken a decision on its position in the coalition, referred to locally as the Government of National Unity.

Local news website Eyewitness News reported that the ANC had resolved to continue negotiations with coalition partners, including the DA, and had reached out for talks.

The benchmark 2030 government bond was slightly stronger in early deals, as the yield fell 5 basis points to 9.325%.