News in South Africa 31st May: 1. Reserve Bank preps for grid collapse: South Africa’s central bank is working on a contingency plan to ensure the country’s payments system remains in operation in the event the nation’s electricity grid collapses. The South African Reserve Bank and other financial markets regulators including the operator of the […]
News in South Africa 30th May: 1. Sanction warning: The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has warned of dire consequences should the country face censure due to its stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. At worst, secondary or indirect sanctions could be imposed on the country and lead to a sudden halt to capital inflows […]
News in South Africa 29th May: 1. Scam warning: While online and contactless payments have become the norm in South Africa, major banks are reminding consumers to be aware of common scams, as the number of victims of banking scams has seen an uptick in 2023. According to the South African Banking Risk Information Centre […]
News in South Africa 26th May: 1. Rand plunged to new record low: The rand crashed to a new record low overnight, reaching R19.8279/$ on Thursday night. The currency has now lost almost 26% of its value over the past year. In the past two weeks alone, since the US accusation that Russia received arms […]
News in South Africa 24th May: 1. Grocery costs spike: South Africans are cutting down on groceries amidst challenging economic conditions. Stats SA will publish the latest Consumer Price Inflation numbers on Wednesday (24 May), with economists anticipating a slight drop to 6.9% from 7.1% in March. Inflation has remained sticky at elevated levels, sitting […]
News in South Africa 23rd May: 1. Critical nursing shortage: South Africa is facing a critical shortage of nurses as private hospitals are restricted from training more of caregivers, according to the country’s largest private healthcare network. Although most South African hospitals have their own nursing colleges, only designated universities can issue professional nursing qualifications. […]
News in South Africa 22nd May: 1. Stage 8 all but certain: Business interest group BLSA says that stage 8 load shedding is all but certain in the coming months, warning that companies relying on diesel to keep their operations going during outages will be hit even harder as the lights go out for as […]
News in South Africa 19th May: 1. Price of water has tripled in the past decade: While most of the attention has been on the skyrocketing cost of electricity, especially as load shedding has become a near-permanent feature of daily life, the price households are paying for water has increased by significantly more in the […]
News in South Africa 17th May: 1. Unemployment rises: South Africa’s unemployment rate rose for the first time in more than a year and may continue climbing as power cuts intensify, discouraging investment and sapping economic growth. The official jobless rate jumped to 32.9% in the three months through March from 32.7% in the prior […]
News in South Africa 16th May: 1. SA beats climate targets… due to load-shedding: South Africa is ahead of its target for cutting emissions of greenhouse gases due to ongoing breakdowns at its coal-fired power stations. The output of the climate-warming gases from the world’s 14th-biggest emitter is already falling even though its Nationally Determined […]
