Alerts

The renewal of and South Africa’s continued inclusion in the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is not merely desirable – it is absolutely essential for the country’s economic survival, job creation and growth. AGOA offers preferential access to the American market, which is crucial for creating thousands of jobs and facilitating billions of rand …

South African meat prices rose at the fastest pace in nearly eight years in December as the country battles an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in cattle, adding to food-inflation pressures. Read: SA to import vaccines to tackle foot-and-mouth disease Meat prices in urban areas were 12.6% higher in December than a year earlier and were …

MyBroadband recently conducted a brief test drive of the fully electric Geely Riddara RD6 and was impressed by the vehicle’s performance, specifications, and practicality. While still little known to many South Africans, Geely is the parent company of Volvo, Lotus, Polestar, and Smart. Its Riddara sub-brand is also China’s largest new energy vehicle pickup brand. …

Malcolm Libera  ·21 Jan 2026 South Africa’s water infrastructure is being pushed to the edge, a crisis that could be worse than load shedding, as early warning signs are already here.  Speaking in an interview with Jeremy Maggs, Riskonet Africa risk expert Volker von Widdern warned that the system is now close to breaking under …

Staff Writer  ·21 Jan 2026 South African Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago say he favours ending the use of prime, the main reference rate commercial banks use to price trillions of rand of loans to clients. “We would like to have much more transparency, so that consumers know what is actually going on,” Kganyago said …

South Africa has withdrawn its official participation from the 61st Venice Biennale, just days before artists were due to confirm their involvement, triggering a backlash from cultural workers. The decision followed the intervention of Sports, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie, who overruled an independent curatorial panel’s unanimous selection of a work by artist Gabriel …

The South African National Space Agency (SANSA) space weather centre reports that a G5/Extreme geomagnetic storm hit the country at around 02:00 local time on 20 January 2026. This comes after SANSA warned yesterday afternoon that South Africa should expect geomagnetic storm conditions to increase over the following 24 hours. The storm was caused by …

Community safety organisation Safe Citizen rejects the assertions made by Guy Lamb in a recent article on gun ownership (Owning a gun in South Africa offers some safety, but risks run high for users and society), affirming that restricting licensed firearm ownership misidentifies compliant citizens as the problem while ignoring root causes: criminal intent, illicit …

The Test Flying Academy of South Africa (TFASA) is once again in the crosshairs of the United States, after the US Justice Department filed a forfeiture complaint against mission crew trainers (MCTs) that were interdicted in transit from the TFASA to China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA). In a press release on 15 January, the Justice …

Staff Writer  ·20 Jan 2026 Litigants challenging the National Health Insurance (NHI) Act say the government’s call to settle the matter out of court is “questionable”, given that it has long ignored industry concerns about the laws. Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana last week suggested that litigants work with the government to resolve legal disputes over …

There is a wide selection of multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs) available in South Africa, offering an affordable alternative to minivans and other large family vehicles. What these people carriers offer the average family is a range of conveniences, increased seating capacity, and, in some cases, an increase in ground clearance, for when it becomes necessary. In …

The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport has voiced its support for a zero-tolerance approach to drinking and driving in South Africa. However, it also wants to take the crackdown further. The committee believes drivers should face stiff sanctions if they are caught driving with alcohol in their system, such as “being banned from ever having …

Staff Writer  ·20 Jan 2026 The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has significantly raised South Africa’s 2025 growth forecast, following a surprising year of resilience for the country. The group’s January Economic Outlook projects that South Africa’s economy grew by 1.3% in 2025, with its early forecast for 2026 pointing to 1.4%. While this level of …

Uncapped fibre internet for R5/day? It’s a reality in parts of South Africa as broadband providers push affordable fibre into communities long underserved by traditional fixed-line networks. What was once the preserve of affluent suburbs is now creeping into dense urban and township footprints, powered by new pricing models, new deployment strategies and a business …

South Africa is no longer the continent’s largest vehicle producer – a position it has held for almost a century. This title now belongs to Morocco, which achieved a new annual production target of one million cars in December 2025, representing a staggering 79% year-on-year increase from the 559,645 units it manufactured across the whole …

In 2026, South Africans will get 10 days off for public holidays, instead of 12, as two of those days fall on Saturdays.  While a public holiday that falls on a weekday is automatically a holiday, the Public Holidays… Multilingual Education: Many schools in South Africa offer education in multiple languages, reflecting the country’s linguistic …

I still remember Mxo. We were village boys together – barefoot, mischievous, inseparable. He was older than me, stronger, more confident. The kind of boy you assume will be fine. School never quite held him, though. He drifted in and out, struggled to keep pace, and eventually dropped out altogether. Like many boys in our …

Staff Writer  ·20 Jan 2026 The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will meet next week for the first time in 2026 to determine the next interest rate move for the country. While economists are sure that more interest rate cuts are coming, they are split on when to expect them. Most …

Ricardo Teixeira Exercise Will for Peace was meant to show that South Africa could host a complex naval exercise, engage major powers on its own terms, and do so without being dragged into other people’s geopolitical quarrels. Instead, it exposed uncertainty, poor boundary-setting, and a growing gap between South Africa’s foreign policy rhetoric and its …

South African motorists are paying between R222 and R394 less to fill their tanks in January 2026 than they were at the height of the country’s petrol price pain in October 2023. At R20.75 for a litre of unleaded 95, retail petrol prices in South Africa in January 2026 are the lowest they have been …

Luke Fraser  ·20 Jan 2026 South Africa’s economy is starting to show signs of life, but breaking free from a decade of stagnation will require large reforms for the nation’s domestic and foreign policy—and nailing down AGOA. The last decade has been tough for South Africa, marred by state capture, the Covid-19 pandemic, the July …

Franschhoek, founded by French Huguenots in the 17th century, has evolved into one of South Africa’s most picturesque and prestigious wine destinations. Its vineyards not only sustain a multibillion-rand industry concentrated in the Western Cape, but also offer visitors a blend of history, culture, and world-class winemaking. Known for standout varietals such as Merlot, Pinot …

Following a successful training camp held over the weekend, SPAR Proteas Head Coach Jenny van Dyk has finalised her 15-player squad to face the Vitality Roses in a three-match Test series in Johannesburg in a week’s time. The team assembled in Johannesburg on Friday for a two-day training camp, where players were put through their …

South Africa is in for a massive change in its retirement architecture–once enacted, the new set of retirement regulations targeting 2026 will redefine how and when the labor is retired from the workforce as seen today. Couched through a pension age amendment, these rules are part and parcel of a pocketful of further reforms that …