News in South Africa 7th March: 1. New minister of electricity: President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced changes to his executive – including two new ministries. During a twice-delayed address to the nation on Monday (6 March), the president revealed that Kgosientsho Ramokgopa would be appointed as the country’s new minister of electricity. He also revealed […]
News in South Africa 14th February: 1. Rand crashes through R18/$: The rand is trading on the wrong side of R18/$ for the first time in more than three months, as expectations grow that US interest rates may still climb much higher. On Monday morning, the local currency declined to R18.06/$, after trading around R17.50 […]
News in South Africa 6th January: 1. Rand weakens over red flags: The South African rand has weakened alongside other emerging market currencies as the dollar rebounded this week. On Thursday (5 January), the rand weakened in early trade as investors awaited the monthly purchasing managers’ index (PMI) survey by S&P Global to find clues […]
News in South Africa 22nd December: 1. Load shedding filled holidays: South Africans are set for a bleak, load-shedding-interrupted ‘festive’ season as Eskom’s generating output plummets to completely new lows. At Tuesday evening’s peak, it wasn’t even able to output 23 000MW in total. This forced unprecedented overnight Stage 6 load shedding so that it […]
News in South Africa 20th September: 1. Rand nears 2020 lows: The rand dipped early on Tuesday, trading near its weakest against the dollar since 2020, as financial markets braced for this week’s US Federal Reserve meeting where an aggressive interest rate hike is expected. At 0555 GMT, the rand traded at R17.69 against the […]
News in South Africa 14th September: 1. Truck looting spikes on roads: The looting and violent attacks on road freight logistics vehicles and the destruction of trucks and goods have begun to undo both the status of South Africa as a safe haven for investment and as an efficient logistics hub, for foreign traders, says […]
News in South Africa 13th September: 1. Tough future for Rand: The rand is expected to be beaten around by global markets in the coming months, as inflationary and interest rate pressure from central banks in the US and the European Union continue to dominate global market movements. The European Central Bank (ECB) hiked interest […]
News in South Africa 8th September: 1. Global economy worsening: The global economic outlook is getting cloudier, not clearer. While market volatility is expected, investment strategies should ideally reflect one’s personal circumstances – not current market conditions. The last week or so saw a broad sell-off across global bonds, credit, equities, and property. Commodity prices […]
News in South Africa 12th July: 1. Standard Bank drops mandatory vaccines: Standard Bank has withdrawn its Covid-19 vaccination policy with immediate effect, with approximately 95% of its employees already vaccinated. In an emailed statement, the bank said it took a range of factors into account in reviewing its policy, including recent regulatory developments, the […]
News in South Africa 11th July: 1. Riot risks rising: Top business and government officials have warned that South Africa is set to face a repeat of the July 2021 riots as very little has been done to address the issues facing the country over the last year. Business Unity South Africa chief executive Cas […]
