Star 2025-09-19

Since September 2024 the Reserve Bank has cut rates by 125 basis points The South African Reserve Bank’s (Sarb) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has kept the repo rate unchanged at 7%, Governor Lesetja Kganyago announced on Thursday, citing rising inflation pressures. The decision that saw four members of the MPC preferring to keep rates on hold while two favoured a cut of 25 basis points, drew mixed reactions from economists, business leaders and labour unions. Kganyago said global conditions remain broadly supportive of emerging markets, with easing monetary policy in the US and UK, a weaker dollar and firmer commodity prices offset by ongoing geopolitical tensions. Domestically, headline inflation has picked up in recent months, mainly due to higher food and fuel costs. “The pressure is coming mainly from meat…

Transport Minister Barbara Creecy has moved to open South Africa’s bulk liquid terminal sector to black empowerment players, while at the same time shoring up the country’s fuel security. Creecy on Thursday instructed Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) to renew the leases of existing operators at Durban’s Island View precinct, a critical hub through which about 70% of South Africa’s fuel imports pass. Using her powers under Section 79 of the National Ports Authority Act, Creecy bypassed the normal leasing process, citing national interest. As part of the directive, Creecy ordered that the Central Energy Fund (CEF) — which acquired the Sapref refinery from BP and Shell in 2024 — be allocated 15% of Island View’s capacity, with the option to expand to 30%. The CEF will serve as a…

South Africa will roll out a new Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system ahead of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in November, a move government says will remove long-standing visa bottlenecks that have constrained the country’s tourism growth. The announcement comes as BDO South Africa’s Tourism Trends Report this week flagged that South Africa’s recovery continues to lag behind global and regional peers, despite a 14% rise in international tourist arrivals between January and July 2025, totalling 5.85 million visitors. Unveiling the system at the Tourism Business Council of South Africa’s Leadership Conference on Thursday, Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber said the ETA formed part of government’s “Home Affairs @ Home” digital transformation agenda. The platform replaces paper-based visas with an online process that allows applicants to capture biometrics and receive approvals…

Recent returns on the JSE have mainly been driven by a handful of precious metal miners, sending the JSE All Share Index to all-time high levels and, to a large degree, masking the general economic lethargy that domestic-focused companies and consumers face. Given growth constraints and challenges faced by domestic-oriented JSE-listed companies, the ability to deliver meaningful and peer-leading growth has become more critical than ever. Despite these headwinds, several local champions are demonstrating that companies with multiple (and sustainable) growth levers can not only survive but thrive, consistently outperforming market expectations and being appropriately recognised by the market in the form of premium valuations and generous shareholder returns. While external factors can have a material impact on company fundamentals (and share price performances), in our view, the most attractive…

When South Africans talk about Formula 1, the conversation usually centres on whether Kyalami will host a Grand Prix again, how much it would cost, and whether government can justify the spend. Yet while we debate tarmac and tax breaks, a parallel Formula 1 is unfolding — one that doesn’t require billions in infrastructure or international approvals. It lives in games, esports, digital twins and creator platforms. And it could be worth more to our economy than the physical race. The official lap counts often quoted — such as the 847 million laps run in F1’s video game last year — should be a wake-up call. F1’s digital platforms attract millions of players worldwide, and esports competitions regularly draw hundreds of thousands of live viewers. The grid of the future…

South African policymakers are grappling with how to respond to the growing number of countries adopting Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanisms (CBAMs), with the European Union’s version set to take effect in January 2026 and similar measures under consideration in the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, and Japan. At a Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) webinar on Thursday, Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic) director Mahendra Shunmoogam said the government had formally opposed the EU’s CBAM in its recent submissions, describing it as a unilateral measure that undermines global trade rules and the sovereignty of developing countries. "Our position is that we fundamentally oppose CBAM because it violates potentially the WTO Agreement and also the Paris Agreement, which says that countries should not take any actions that impact on the…