Business
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The Department of Public Enterprises has welcomed a High Court judgment dismissing an attempt to stop it from proceeding with the sale of South African Airways (SAA). The Western Cape High Court on Monday also dismissed a bid by Toto Investments for all documents related to the…
Business Reporter. The Department of Energy has published the latest fuel price update for October 2022, showing another cut to petrol – but a small price jump for diesel prices. The changes will be implemented on Wednesday, 5 October. Ninety-five octane will decrease by R1.02 while 93 octane will be…
By Prinesha Naidoo. Business activity in South Africa's manufacturing industry fell to a 14-month low in September as electricity-supply constraints in the continent’s most industrialised economy disrupted operations. A gauge tracking business activity declined to 38.5 from 50.6 in August, Absa Group said on Monday. That's the lowest monthly reading…
Business Reporter. Load shedding is setting South Africa up for a double blow in data releases for the current quarter, as both jobs and GDP data for the third quarter are looking worse for wear. Eskom is currently engaged in its longest streak of load shedding, with rolling blackouts expected…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. MTN has responded to a statement from Telkom relating to an offer from data network provider Rain that Telkom purchase the group. Telkom said in a statement on SENS that it had received the offer from Rain in mid-September. "Shareholders are advised that Telkom received a non-binding…
Business Reporter. South African Airways (SAA), has moved to assure customers that it will continue to service the routes it currently offers. This after reports suggested that the International Air Services Licencing Council revoked 20 of the airline's domestic and international route rights. "SAA continues to operate its current network…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Digitalisation has evolved rapidly from a future-focused ambition to a strategic imperative. Businesses that continue to lag the adoption curve will fall increasingly further behind as a massive wave of digital-led transformation sweeps across every vertical market. The mining, manufacturing and metals industries find themselves in the…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The global management consultancy Bain & Company has been barred from tendering for South African government contracts for 10 years after its "grave professional misconduct" in state corruption. "The effective date of restriction is 5 September 2022 until 4 September 2032 for engaging in corrupt and fraudulent…
Business Reporter. Capitec Bank has published its financial results for the half-year period ended August 2022, showing a 17% growth in group headline earnings to R4.7 billion from R4 billion for the comparative period. Active clients are up 13% to 19 million. "Over the past five financial years, our compound…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Capitec has launched Capitec Connect - a prepaid solution for voice, data and SMS. It joins rivals Standard Bank and FNB, which have mobile offerings of their own in the country in various formats. Capitec Connect is a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) service on the Cell…
By Loni Prinsloo and Paul Burkhardt. South African billionaire Johann Rupert’s investment vehicle, Remgro Ltd., is planning to sell its stake in the local unit of energy giant TotalEnergies SE, according to people familiar with the matter. Remgro's 25% holding in the arm of the Paris-based company, which owns refining…
Business Reporter. The South African Reserve Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has hiked the repurchase rate (repo rate) by 75 basis points. The increase means that the repo rate will now be 6.25% per year from 23 September 2022, with prime now at 9.75%. The MPC made the decision during…
Business Reporter. Despite the government's best efforts to fast-track reforms and make urgent changes to the country's financial regulations, the sheer scale of its deficiencies when it comes to the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF's) metrics means a greylisting is highly likely. This is the view of experts at financial…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) raised interest rates for a sixth meeting running as it moved to protect the weakened rand and stabilise inflation. At the end of its three-day meeting on Thursday, the monetary policy committee (MPC) lifted the repo rate by 75 basis points…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. @GalloImages. Domestic airline Lift, has added a second route to its operations for the first time, offering trips between Johannesburg and Durban. Prior to the announcement, Lift only serviced flights between Johannesburg and Cape Town. "This is our first step in connecting the popular 'Golden Triangle' between…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. South Africa's headline consumer inflation fell to 7.6% year on year in August, data showed on Wednesday, suggesting inflation may have peaked in annual terms at 7.8% the previous month. Consensus among economists polled by Bloomberg was for a rate of 7.5%, while more optimistic analysis from…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. President Cyril Ramaphosa has acknowledged that priority has to be given to solving the electricity crisis if the country aims to attract the investment required to raise growth and tackle high levels of unemployment. Solving the electricity crisis is necessary if we are to realise the potential…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Eskom has launched three programmes to procure more than 1 000 MW for the national grid, which will initially focus on generators capable of supplying more than 1 MW to the grid. The aim is to sign the first power supply agreement during the course of the…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The newly South African Airways is under the scrutiny of the Air Services Licensing Council (ASLC), which says that the embattled airline's relaunch project may be in breach of the Air Services Licencing Act. SAA confirmed receipt of a letter from the ASLC in August 2022, seeking…
Business Reporter. The Energy Council of South Africa, alongside other big business figureheads, have put forward recommendations for the country's carbon tax under the proposed Taxation Laws Amendment Bill. As a multi-representative body, including Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA), Business Unity South Africa (BUSA), the South African Petroleum Industry Association…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Eskom announced on Friday that it will soon launch a crowdsourcing digital platform to supplement its existing skills base to help address its operational challenges. The platform will act as a skills database for Eskom to acquire additional expertise and to resolve its urgent business needs, it…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. State-owned Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) reported a loss of R1-billion for the 2021/22 financial year, which is an improvement on the R2.6-billion loss reported in the previous financial year. Speaking during ACSA's year-end financial results presentation on September 15, ACSA CEO Mpumi Mpofu said the year's…
By Adelaide Changole. FirstRand, South Africa's biggest banking group by market value, will pay a record dividend to shareholders as the bank benefits from a post-pandemic resurgence. The company, which owns First National Bank, Rand Merchant Bank and Wesbank among others, said combined dividends will result in a total payout…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Estate planning has emerged as a priority for South African households since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for parents who want to ensure their children are looked after should the worst happen. In 2021, the Master's Office, which oversees the administration of estates of deceased…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Niky Terzakis, CEO Air Belgium. Air Belgium has launched its new air service between Brussels, Johannesburg and Cape Town, the airline offers travellers direct access to the heart of Europe. It has been almost twenty years since there was a direct flight from Belgium to South Africa.…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises heard that a potential investor has been identified by Mango’s Business Rescue Practitioner. The Department of Public Enterprises told the portfolio committee on Wednesday it was still waiting for a deal to be put on the table. Addressing the portfolio committee…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. South African Express Airways, also known as SA Express (SAX) has been liquidated following several failed attempts to finalize a sale. An order was granted in the South Gauteng High Court for its final liquidation and the order was handed down without any opposition. SAX went into…
Business Reporter. Financial services group Momentum Metropolitan on Wednesday reported strong earnings growth for the year ended June 2022, lifting its dividend by 2.5 times over the previous year. The group reported normalised headline earnings of R4.38 billion during the financial year, with operating profit up to R3.36 billion from…
By Renee Bonorchis. Canal+, a unit of France's $9.7 billion Vivendi SE, has been speeding up its acquisition of shares in South African television and entertainment company MultiChoice Group, with its stake having risen to 26.26% from 15.37% a year ago. Canal+ bought 6.5% of MultiChoice in October of 2020…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. @Heineken. The Competition Commission has approved Heineken's purchase of wine and cider company Distell Group with conditions. Distell Group owns brands such as Hunters Dry, Savanna, Klip Drift, JC Le Roux and Amarula – amongst others. According to the commission, the move by Heineken could lead to…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Stage 3 load shedding will be implemented from 14:00 on Friday until 05:00 on Monday morning, Eskom said in a statement on Friday afternoon. Thereafter, stage 2 load shedding will be implemented continuously for the rest of the week. The escalation is due to the loss of…
By Kamlesh Bhuckory. South Africa's Reserve Bank governor said it's too early to call the peak of inflation that's running at its fastest pace in 13 years. "Until the public can see that now inflation is definitely on a downward trajectory, it is too early to call the peak," Lesetja…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Sanlam Group on Thursday published interim Results for the six months ended June 2022, showing a decline in headline earnings under a difficult trading environment, from adverse weather, including the KwaZulu-Natal floods, rising claims from Eskom load shedding effects, steeply rising claims costs brought about by a…
By Jeanny Yu and John Cheng. Tencent Holdings shares worth $7.6 billion ((R132-billion) appearing in Hong Kong's clearing and settlement system has fueled speculation that a large stakeholder may be selling its holdings. About 192 million of additional shares, representing about 2% stake in the Chinese tech giant, were registered…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Financial services giant Discovery on Wednesday (7 September) pointed to a positive operating performance from its established businesses in a report of its full-year results for the period ended June 2022. Discovery Bank was singled out in the report for achieving the milestone of one million accounts.…
Business Reporter. Oil fell to the lowest since January on concern a global slowdown will cut demand in Europe and the US, just as China’s Covid Zero strategy hurts consumption in the world’s biggest crude importer. West Texas Intermediate sank toward $85 a barrel, after erasing a gain driven by…
Business Reporter. Shoprite Holdings on Tuesday delivered another robust full-year performance, with double-digit growth in headline earnings and dividends for the year ended 3 July 2022. Shoprite's more affluent customers, who have largely shrugged off the impact of inflation, also boosted profit and sales at its upmarket Checkers supermarket chain,…
Business Reporter. African Bank says it has launched a new loyalty programme, Audacious Rewards, with the aim to improve the financial well-being of its customers. The bank claims that the loyalty programme will create incentives for positive financial behaviour, including helping customers to improve their credit score. The custom-built programme…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The Department of Energy has published the latest fuel price update for September, showing a sizeable cut to both petrol and diesel prices in South Africa. While prices were projected to come down by around R2.30 per litre, an adjustment to the slate levy has eaten 30…
Business Reporter. Old Mutual Insure on Monday (5 September), announced a 100% acquisition of Genric Insurance Company, a licensed non-life and specialist insurer focused on bringing innovative and niche insurance solutions to market. Garth Napier, Old Mutual Insure MD, said that the transaction will satisfy a number of strategic objectives…
By Stefania Spezatti. Barclays Plc raised nearly R10.7 billion ($620 million) from the sale of its remaining stake in South African lender Absa Group, exiting an investment it made in 2005 and marking its second retreat from the region. The London-based bank offered about 63 million ordinary shares, which is…
Business Reporter. The Johannesburg Stock Exchange's (JSE’s) clearinghouse, JSE Clear, has been granted a licence to act as an independent intermediary between buyers and sellers of stocks. The JSE said that Clear will remain a wholly owned subsidiary but will operate as an Independent Clearing House and Central Counterparty (CCP).…
Business Reporter. South African banks are becoming more digitised, opening the door to full online banking; however, many argue that there is still a need for in-person branches. Recent data from Boston Consulting Group (BCG), in collaboration with financial services firm Discovery, found that the majority of consumers (86%) are…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. South Africans can expect to see big changes to the country's coins next year. In a statement released on Wednesday, the cabinet announced it had approved changes to the coins, which will see the official languages rotated annually over the next 10 years. The exact look and…
By Darren Parker. Absa's seasonally adjusted Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 52.1 points in August from 47.6 in July. Following a tough start to the third quarter, an easing in the intensity of load-shedding meant that conditions in the manufacturing sector improved in August relative to July, the bank…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. South Africa has seen significant improvements recently that could boost economic growth expectations beyond the more conservative forecasts in recent months, says Johann Els, the chief economist at Old Mutual Investment Group. Els said that apart from the shift to a democratic society, the recent energy reform…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. JSE-listed technology company Altron has announced the appointment of Werner Kapp as Group Chief Executive with effect from 1 October 2022. Altron Executive Chairman Stewart van Graan said: "After a rigorous search and recruitment process by the Board, we are very pleased to appoint a well-recognised leader…
By Felix Njini. Department of Minerals and Energy minister Gwede Mantashe dismissed the notion that renewable electricity can bring an end to years of rolling blackouts, pointing to Europe's pivot back to the use of fossil fuels as evidence of the constraints of using green energy. Solar and wind plants…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Old Mutual, largest and the most advanced insurer in Africa, on Tuesday (30 August) reported 62% increase in half year profits, against the backdrop of a challenging operating environment. It said that results from operations increased 87% to R4.1 billion, while gross written premiums were up by…
By Julia Fanzeres. Oil climbed to the highest since late July as fears of production outages in Libya that would exacerbate a global energy crunch. West Texas Intermediate futures rose 4.2% to settle above $97 a barrel on Monday. Although Libyan output has so far withstood clashes between militias in…
Business Reporter. Consumers are in for a reprieve in the coming months in South Africa as economic indicators point to food price inflation stabilising, while end-month data from the Central Energy Fund shows a likely petrol price cut for September. Stats SA published the latest consumer price inflation figures for…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Massmart's chief operating officer Jonathan Molapo has been promoted to CEO, succeeding Mitchell Slape who will step down on 31 December 2022. Molapo has strong executive and international leadership experience, having joined Massmart from Astron Energy, where he was CEO from June 2018 to December 2021. Prior…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. African Bank on Friday announced its plans to acquire a majority stake in Ubank – a basic financial services provider with a presence in mining and rural communities – for R80 million. The deal comes just three months after African Bank agreed to buy Grindrod Bank for…
By Prinesha Naidoo. The South African central bank's proactive efforts to contain price growth mean the country has a good chance of getting through the worst global inflation shock in a generation "without particularly high inflation or high interest rates," deputy governor Fundi Tshazibana said. Policymakers began a pre-emptive hiking…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The Competition Commission has started raiding the offices of eight major insurance firms on Thursday afternoon over alleged collusion and price fixing. In a statement released on Thursday it said it is conducting search and seizure operations at BrightRock Life; Discovery; FMI, a division of Bidvest Life;…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Annual consumer price inflation (CPI) reached 7.8% in July 2022, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) said on Wednesday. This was a 1.5% increase from the 7.4% recorded in June 2022. It remains at a level last seen during the global financial crisis and is now the fastest…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, due to be delivered in October, should – enable the government to work effectively and deliver appropriate fiscal policy, the chief executive officer of Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) says. Mavuso said that business believes the more stressed an economy is, the…
By Paul Burkhardt. Image Supplied. Sasol Ltd, South Africa's biggest fuel producer, paid its first dividend in three years as strong demand and a rise in oil and chemical prices helped the company more than quadruple full-year earnings and pay down debt. "Fuel differentials, refining margins and export coal prices…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. South Africa is at great risk of being subject to increased monitoring (greylisted) by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) due to weaknesses in the country's ability to enforce anti-money laundering and terrorism-funding regulations. Wim de Bruyn, Capitec's chief information officer, says that the bank is actively…
By Yongchang Chin. Oil fell at the start of the week with investors weighing the prospect for more Iranian supply as the outlook for economic growth weakens. Brent futures lost around 1% to trade below $96 a barrel after rising over the previous three sessions. President Joe Biden spoke Sunday…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana says the public and private sectors need to significantly increase capital investment to bolster SA's economic growth and reduce unemployment and poverty. Delivering a keynote address at the Consulting Engineers South Africa Infrastructure Indaba, at the Indaba Hotel Spa And Conference Centre, in…
By Paul Burkhardt. South Africa expects TotalEnergies SE to submit a production plan within weeks to utilize a prolific offshore gas discovery that will form a key part of increasing investment in the sector. Petroleum Agency South Africa is "very confident" that the French major will finish talks with state-owned…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Standard Bank Group, has delivered record earnings in the first half of 2022. The bank published its half-year financial statements on Friday, reporting a 33% jump in its headline earnings to R15.3 billion in the six months to 30 June. The group said it made good progress…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. FlySafair has added new features to its WhatsApp business account, allowing passengers to search for their booking and check-in for their flight directly within the messaging app. "The new WhatsApp features are just some of the many ways we are constantly looking to create a frictionless travel…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Telkom has become the latest telecommunications operator to muscle into the banks' traditional area of expertise, this time offering loans to small businesses. Telkom Lend offers an end-to-end digital process with zero paperwork, promising an answer to applicants in a fraction of the time it takes banks…
Business Reporter. The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) warns that above-inflation wage negotiations could lead to price-spiral and a tighter monetary policy in the country. Speaking on Wednesday (17 August) at a standing committee on finance, the SARB’s deputy governor Kuben Naidoo said that the bank is starting to see…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. SA Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago says South Africa can avoid possible greylisting if it were to implement recommendations contained in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) mutual evaluation report. The FATF commenced its assessment in 2019 and published its final report on 7 October last year.…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Food and beverage manufacturer Tiger Brands is moving to procure 2 MW of solar across four manufacturing sites as part of a broader initiative to introduce renewable energy across 35 sites. The Johannesburg-based company is looking to source 65% of power at plants in the country from…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Photo Credit: Thulani Mbele. Labour federation will hold a national strike on 24 August against the rising cost of living, fuel costs, and load shedding, adding to labour formations planning demonstrations on that day. The planned work stoppage will also represent "a response by the workers to…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Absa financial services group on Monday published interim financial results for the period ended June 2022 showing its profit rose 29.8%, around the mid range of its estimate. South Africa's economic performance post-Covid-19 has been volatile, but generally stronger than expected, Absa said. The group's RoE improved…
By Colleen Goko. Barloworld, the South African car dealer and supplier of equipment to the mining industry, is marketing the nation's first sale of debt linked to gender-diversity targets. The Johannesburg-based company is planning to raise as much as R1 billion ($61 million) in three-year and five-year bonds, with the…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has imposed R35 million in fines on Nedbank for failures that included not reporting cash transactions of large amounts and shortcomings in record-keeping. In a statement, the central bank said the administrative sanctions were imposed because of Nedbank's failure to comply…
By Loni Prinsloo. Government has received an unsolicited bid for its 40.5% stake in Telkom, following an announcement that MTN Group is planning to acquire part of the carrier. Investment firm Toto Consortium made an offer valued at $433 million (R7 billion) for the stake in the nation's third-largest mobile-phone…
Business Reporter. Oil headed for the biggest weekly gain in four months on interruptions to supply and speculation fuel switching will buoy demand. West Texas Intermediate edged below $94 a barrel in Asia, but is still up more than 5% this week. Six oil and gas fields in the Gulf…
By Loni Prinsloo. Telkom SA SOC Ltd has received no offer or proposal from South Africa’s Rain to merge, the partly state-owned telecom company said in response to a statement from its smaller rival. Internet provider Rain said earlier Thursday it had asked to pitch a tie-up to rival Telkom…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Data-only network provider Rain has been instructed to retract a statement that it wants to merge with Telkom. In a strongly worded statement late on Thursday, the Takeover Regulation Panel (TRP) excoriated Rain for its press announcement about its plans to talk to Telkom's board about a…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. MTN Group said it balanced an accelerated investment into its networks with the delivery of solid interim financial results for the six-month period ended June 2022. "Notwithstanding the tough macro conditions, MTN remained focused on investing in our markets to increase broadband coverage and to reduce the…
By Peter Vercoe. Elon Musk offloaded $6.9 billion of stock in Tesla Inc, the billionaire's biggest sale on record, saying he wanted to avoid a last-minute selloff of the electric-car maker’s shares in the event he is forced to go ahead with his aborted deal to buy Twitter Inc. Tesla's…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Nedbank Group on Wednesday (10 August) declared an interim dividend of 783 cents per share for the half-year ended 30 June 2022 on Wednesday, up 81% on the comparative 2021 half-year and back above the 2019 pre-Covid interim dividend level. Nedbank reported a 26% increase in headline…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. For generations, women have been held down in their households’ most essential role – that of money manager, even when they weren’t the breadwinners of the family. Today, that role is more cemented than ever, as nearly 38% of households are headed by women. In addition, women…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Eskom has submitted its proposed 2023 Tariff Restructuring Plan to energy regulator Nersa, showing how the group wants to make sweeping changes to its price structures. According to Eskom, its current tariff structure is heavily outdated and does not reflect the true cost of generating power. "Existing…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The Bureau for Economic Research (BER) says households could be in for some respite in the coming months as petrol and food prices are set to cool off. The economists at the BER noted a downward trend in global oil prices, which – if the trend persists…
Business Reporter. Investec's remuneration committee has proposed covering the personal security costs of its top executives in South Africa amid a rising crime rate. The committee has agreed to make available an additional benefit to the executive directors entitling them to enhanced personal security services. Investec saw overwhelming support for…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Capitec says it is still working on returning its banking services online after an outage that has lasted more than 24 hours. Captec's digital banking services have been offline with no explanation from the bank as to what is causing the problem. Its clients have only been…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Mobile operator MTN has sent out a Section 189 retrenchment notice to employees as it embarks on a new restructuring process in its business. According to the notice, the company is repositioning itself in the market and shifting strategies to be a digital service provider – not…
By Monique Vanek. US investors with more than $1 trillion of assets under management are in South Africa to look for investment opportunities. The visit is facilitated by USAID and Prosper Africa, the US government's initiative to increase trade and investment between African nations and America, started Tuesday and will…
By John Bowker. Photo Credit: Richard Grassie. Mediclinic International agreed to the latest in a series of offers from a consortium led by billionaire Johann Rupert, valuing the South African hospital operator at 3.7 billion pounds ($4.5 billion). Rupert's investment group Remgro, already Mediclinic’s biggest shareholder, is partnering with MSC…
By Janice Kew. Massmart Holdings fell the most in more than two months in Johannesburg after the Walmart-owned South African retailer said its first-half loss widened. Walmart expects to report a headline loss per share, which strips out certain one-time items, of as much as 450.3 South African cents for…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Telkom said in trading update for the quarter ended June 2022 that group revenue declined 3.2% to R10.28 billion despite continued growth in its mobile division and strong fibre numbers. Group revenue was impacted by accelerated migration from legacy, tough operating environment and intensely competitive landscape. "We…
By Alexander Winning. South African manufacturing activity contracted for the first time in a year in July, when the country experienced major power cuts that dented output, a survey showed on Monday. The seasonally-adjusted Absa Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to 47.6 points in July from 52.2 in June, falling…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Eskom has announced it held a meeting with the CEOs and business leaders of South Africa's top companies to find a solution to the country's energy crisis. The session, hosted by the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA). During the session Eskom CEO…
By Adelaide Changole. Nedbank Group wants to almost double its lending to green energy projects in South Africa over the next two years as it seeks to cement its position as a market leader in funding renewable power projects. The bank's lending toward the government’s Renewable Independent Power Producer Program…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Mobile operator MTN is expecting to report a jump of between 40% and 50% in headline earnings per share (HEPS) for the six months to end June 2022. The group said it expects an increase in earnings per share (EPS) of between 195% and 205% (or 289…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. National Treasury has published draft reforms aimed at encouraging citizens to have easily accessible savings, while also ringfencing funds meant for retirement. The so-called two-pot system will allow individuals to contribute one-third of savings into an account that can be accessible at any time, while two-thirds must…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The National Treasury and the South African Revenue Service (SARS) have published a range of draft tax bills for public comment. These include the 2022 draft Rates and Monetary Amounts and Amendment of Revenue Laws Bill (2022 draft Rates Bill), the 2022 draft Revenue Laws Amendment Bill,…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has published the official fuel adjustments for August 2022, with motorists finally getting some relief from hikes. Following months of massive fuel price hikes, both petrol and diesel drivers will see a sizeable cut to prices. The price cuts come…
By Adelaide Changole. South Africa's plan to take over part of Eskom’s R396 billion debt is in the "right direction," because the power utility is "too big to fail," Nedbank chief executive officer Mike Brown said. Treasury is finalising a plan to take over a portion of the utility’s debt…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. JSE-listed Vukile Property Fund has expanded its significant investment in South African township, rural and commuter shopping centres with its agreement to acquire the landmark Pan Africa Shopping Centre, in Alexandra, Gauteng, which is due for a second phase extension. The 16,000sqm Pan Africa Shopping Centre is…
By Paul Burkhardt. Treasury is finalising a plan to take over a portion of Eskom’s R396 billion ($24 billion) debt as part of a process to place the struggling electricity company on a sustainable footing, a top official said. The "broad brush strokes" of the debt transfer will be announced…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has reiterated its commitment to resolving the ongoing industrial action with organised labour and tabled a new 1.5% wage increase. Labour and the government have been locked in talks for weeks after unions rejected the government’s offer of a 2% pay…