Star 2025-10-24

Crude prices spiked more than 2 percent Thursday after US President Donald Trump said he would impose heavy sanctions on two Russian oil companies. Both main oil contracts jumped more than 3 percent - having climbed more than 2 percent Wednesday - on news of the measures after Trump said Ukraine peace efforts with Russian President Vladimir Putin "don't go anywhere". The move was joined by another round of punishments by the European Union as part of attempts to pressure Moscow to end its three-and-a-half-year invasion of Ukraine. Trump decided on the sanctions after plans for a fresh summit with Putin in Budapest collapsed this week. "Every time I speak with Vladimir, I have good conversations, and then they don't go anywhere," the US president said in response to a…

Fuels-from-coal giant first quarter update boosted by strategic announcements to core businesses Sasol became the biggest mover on the JSE Thursday after a first quarter update showed it was making good progress on delivering its Capital Markets Day plans to strengthen the foundation business amid global macroeconomic instability, global tariff and geopolitical tensions. The share price was trading 11.99% higher at R107.37 in the morning, a price that has risen sharply since as low as R53.01 in April 2025, before the fuels-from-coal and chemicals group announced strategies to revive its core businesses. “Performance across all our business segments remains within market guidance, and we are making good progress towards delivering on our 2026 financial year financial targets,” Sasol’s directors said in the update. In the Southern African business, the ramp-up…

South Africa has reaffirmed its commitment to advancing the G20 Roadmap for faster, cheaper, more transparent, and more inclusive cross-border payments by 2027, as part of its G20 Presidency Finance Track priorities. Speaking at the opening of the second day of the G20 Conference on Cross-Border Payments on Thursday, South African Reserve Bank Governor, Lesetja Kganyago, highlighted the collective responsibility to modernise and integrate regional payment systems. “Cross-border payments are the lifeblood of international trade, investment, capital and remittance flows and economic integration. Despite their critical role, cross-border transactions remain far too costly, slow and opaque, especially in emerging markets and developing economies," Kganyago said. "As part of South Africa’s G20 Presidency, we have placed cross-border payments high on the Finance Track agenda. Our goal is to enrich the global…

Transport Minister Barbara Creecy has said that Transnet is fully geared up for the upcoming retail season following the arrival of four new ship-to-shore (STS) cranes at the Durban Container Terminal (DCT) — a R967 million investment expected to significantly enhance cargo-handling efficiency, capacity, and competitiveness. Speaking at an event to officially receive two of the cranes, Creecy said the equipment marks a key milestone in Transnet’s 18-month Recovery Plan and Reinvent for Growth Strategy, which are beginning to yield measurable results across the utility’s operations. "This is affirmed by the recently concluded citrus season, where Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) recorded an impressive 19% year-on-year increase in volumes handled across its terminals, with the Durban Container Terminal (DCT) Pier 2 recording a notable 28.8% increase," Creecy said on Thursday. "Volumes…

South Africa just earned a record number of International Emmy® nominations — placing us third globally, behind only the United Kingdom and Brazil. It is a moment of celebration, but it should also be a moment of reflection. Because while we’re rightly proud of the recognition, we are overlooking the R50 billion opportunity hiding in plain sight. The Emmys are not simply a mark of artistic prestige. They are proof of what many of us have argued for years: the world doesn’t only want our minerals — it wants our stories, our culture, and our creativity. The demand is global, the appetite is real, and yet our policy frameworks and investment priorities still treat the creative industries as a side show rather than a growth sector. Look at the evidence.…

South Africa’s public institutions remain caught between resilience and decay, according to a new study by the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (MISTRA), which warns that rebuilding State capability will require decisive reforms, ethical leadership, and renewed public trust. Launched this week, the book titled “The State of the South African State: Capacity, Capability and Ethics” provides a comprehensive assessment of the performance and resilience of South Africa’s public institutions three decades into democracy and just over a year after the formation of the Government of National Unity (GNU). The publication follows MISTRA’s previous flagship works — Essays on the Evolution of the Post-Apartheid State, 20 Years of South African Democracy: So Where to Now?, and the Indlulamithi South Africa Scenarios 2030 and 2035 — and forms part of a…