Category: News
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Once again, SA is watching the world’s mining boom from the sidelines
South Africa sits atop extraordinary mineral wealth — over 80% of global PGM reserves, 70% of the world’s manganese, and a critical logistics gateway for African lithium. Yet as the energy transition supercharges demand for exactly these minerals, SA is squandering its inheritance. A hostile regulatory environment, insecure mineral rights, and crumblinginfrastructure have pushed investors…
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Why the man who built India’s most exclusive fintech is now running WhatsApp
Meta is paying $900m for a 20% stake in Bengaluru-based Cred — the credit-card rewards platform built for India’s top-scoring borrowers — and installing its founder Kunal Shah as global head of WhatsApp. The SA angle isn’t immediately obvious, but read it this way: the super-app race is the defining fintech story of the next…
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Martin Wolf: America’s 250th birthday finds it dismantling the world order it built
Martin Wolf’s sweeping essay for our partners at The Financial Times traces the arc of American hegemony — from industrial superpower to undisputed post-Cold War victor — and asks how the triumph unravelled so fast. His answer: China’s rise, the digital revolution, and right-wing populism have combined to shatter the unipolar moment within just 35…
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The South African tariff win that changes nothing
This article was first published by The Common Sense The US Supreme Court just handed South Africa a tariff cut — from 30% down to 12.5% — but economist Bheki Mahlobo says it barely moves the needle. With US-bound exports making up a fraction of total trade, and deeper issues like property rights and port failures…
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Why a 3% world rewards quality on the JSE – Merchant West
On 12 November last year, in the middle of a budget speech, South Africa changed the most important number in its economy. The Reserve Bank would no longer aim for inflation in a 3% to 6% band, the range in place since 2000. The target is now a firm 3%, give or take a point.…
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BN Daybreak: SA rare earth breakthrough; Three politicians killed; Chip stocks tumble
Listen here Three politicians – an ANC councilor and two aspirants from rival parties – were gunned down in a single evening as South Africa’s 2026 election year turns violent, and a commentator warns the worst may still be ahead. Steenkamp Kraal’s rare earth processing milestone gives the West its clearest shot yet at breaking…
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Solly Moeng: Phala Phala “protection” for CR, spate of political killings, and why I left ActionSA
Listen here Election year 2026 is turning deadly and dirty. In his latest interview with Chris Steyn, political commentator Solly Moeng slams the Speaker of Parliament for not opposing President Cyril Ramaphosa’s urgent bid to stave off his impeachment inquiry. “I for one should not be surprised if the Speaker would have been called into…
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The BizNews Edge: Economic warnings flash; corporate giants mispriced; SpaceX tumbles
Listen here We explore a toughening economic climate as South African consumer confidence drops and central bank indicators flash red. Discover why the market is blindly punishing value, dragging down Sibanye Stillwater’s debt-free gold business despite solid restructuring plans. We also highlight Attacq’s resilient property portfolio and Steenkamp Kraal’s historic rare earth processing breakthrough. Finally,…
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CemAir and Air Europa sign interline agreement to expand international connectivity
Issued by CemAir Johannesburg, South Africa – 23 June 2026 – CemAir and Air Europa proudly announce the signing of a unilateral interline agreement with Air Europa, effective 23 June 2026, marking a significant milestone in the airline ‘ s continued commitment to enhancing connectivity between Southern Africa and key international markets. The agreement will…
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World’s most valuable fintech is coming for SA’s big banks — and it’s not chasing numbers, it’s chasing disruption
Revolut, the London-based fintech valued at $115 billion with 75 million users worldwide, is targeting a South African launch by 2028 after filing a licence application with the SA Reserve Bank last September. Its local waitlist is approaching 100,000 registrations. The company plans to introduce zero-fee accounts and AI-assisted wealth management tailored for the local…
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UK gilt yields flirt with 2026 highs as bond market sends Burnham an unmistakable message before he even enters No. 10
Andy Burnham inherits a UK bond market still scarred by the Liz Truss mini-budget crisis of 2022, where real 10-year gilt yields are already flirting with 2026 highs before he sets foot in Downing Street. Bloomberg Opinion’s Jonathan Levin notes Burnham once declared Britain must get “beyond being in hock to the bond market” —…
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From 2,000 companies to 11: How ANC policy is killing South Africa’s 160-year diamond industry
South Africa’s diamond mining industry, which sparked the country’s entire industrial economy 160 years ago, is approaching final-stage collapse. The DA Shadow Mining Minister, James Lorimer, explains below how the alluvial sector has shrunk from 2,000 companies and 25,000 workers to just 11 operators employing fewer than 1,000 people since the MPRDA was enacted in…
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Vigilantes, police and politicians: The unholy alliance turning SA’s anti-immigrant violence into a growth industry
South Africa’s xenophobia crisis is not a grassroots eruption of frustration — it is a politically co-produced enterprise involving vigilante groups, local police and elected officials, according to researchers behind the Xenowatch monitoring project. Since 2022, 406 verified incidents have been recorded, with 151 in 2025 alone. Rather than prosecute perpetrators, the state has rewarded…
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Fable 5 switched off, DeepSeek switched on: The AI access crisis every South African CFO needs to understand now
A seismic shift in the global AI race has direct implications for South African businesses. On June 12th, the Trump administration banned non-Americans from using Anthropic’s frontier model Fable 5 — then Anthropic switched off access entirely. The same week, Beijing-based Zhipu released GLM 5.2, ranked the world’s most capable open-source model, at under a…
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The Kangaroo Court: Why the ANC’s ICJ extension changes nothing — and everything
The International Court of Justice has granted South Africa an 18-month extension in its genocide case against Israel — pushing any ruling past 2030. In this op-ed Ilan Preskovsky argues it no longer matters. The ANC’s real objective — branding Israel a genocidal rogue state in the court of global opinion — has already been achieved. No…
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Should your graduate child spend the next decade in SA or America? An economist does the maths — and it’s brutal
Economist Dr Chris Kotze strips the SA-versus-America emigration debate of its emotion and runs the numbers. His finding: South Africa is cheaper in nominal terms but significantly less affordable in the metric that matters — working-time cost. A representative monthly basket requires 143 hours of work from an American graduate but 185 hours from a…
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BN Daybreak – Tue 23 June 2026: Naspers earnings; Roubini turns bullish; Keir Starmer resigns; SA drug cartel warnings
Listen here Today’s BizNews Daybreak covers the US granting Iran a 60-day oil sale license following Switzerland peace talks. Tech stocks retreat as Alphabet slips 5% and Qualcomm eyes a $4 billion Modular acquisition. In the UK, Keir Starmer resigns as PM, clearing the path for Andy Burnham. Plus, the ISS warns of Mexican drug…
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The hemline index, lipstick effect and the beauty industry’s ties to the economy
By Swazi Mabuza Economics is one of the most metaphor-filled “sciences” we have. It might be economists’ hope to convert us all into experts, or it might be them admitting the subject can get a little bit confusing and getting ahead of it by always having an easy-to-digest analogy at the ready to explain different…
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Willem Els: Mkhwanazi’s Mexico warning, the R1-billion bust – but no boots on the ground
Listen here Following the recent R1-billion drug bust at Beitbridge, there is renewed focus on the warning by KZN Provincial Police Commissioner General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi that South Africa could become another Mexico or El Salvador if politically- and police-connected drug cartels were not dealt with. In this interview with Chris Steyn, Willem Els of the…
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The Daily Edge: Keir Starmer out; Gold above $4,200; three JSE heavyweights sold on strong numbers
Listen here Good numbers, wrong catalyst. That’s the Monday verdict on the JSE. Naspers flagged core earnings growth of up to 28% and still lost ground, sitting 37% off its 52-week high. Standard Bank reported resilient five-month earnings but moderated from a 12% first-quarter pace — sell-the-news into a stock already up 8% in a…