South Africa braced itself for the worst, with the Rand weakening against the dollar this morning in anticipation of Standard and Poor’s (S&P’s) rating… BUT junk status has been averted! The global ratings service has instead maintained an investment grade sovereign credit rating, with a negative outlook, for South Africa. The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomed the […]

Standard and Poor’s (S&P) is expected to announce its rating decision with regards to South Africa’s economy today. In the meantime, the Rand has weakened at the prospect of the country being downgraded to ‘junk’ status for the first time since 2000. S&P currently rates South Africa one notch above junk status. The rating agency’s […]

Nine copper thieves were arrested in one week as part of Eskom’s fight against electricity theft. In a statement on Wednesday, the power utility said the fight against electricity theft, particularly cable or copper theft, continues to show progress. The arrests took place in the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and in Mpumalanga. The equipment that was […]

PRETORIA – Moody’s Investors Service (Moody’s) announced that is has left South Africa’s government bond long and short term ratings of ‘Baa2/P-2’ unchanged with a negative outlook, two notches above sub-investment grade. There had been concern that Moody’s would downgrade South Africa to junk status which would increase borrowing costs and put foreign investors off. The South […]

Fitch ratings agency has affirmed South Africa’s credit rating at BBB- (a notch above sub-investment), but dropped the outlook from Stable to Negative. The government welcomed the news of the investment status being maintained, saying it “demonstrates the resilience of the country and its people” who had worked hard together to avert a downgrade to […]

JOHANNESBURG – The Gupta Family has released a statement, through APO, regarding radio presenter and journalist Stephen Grootes’ allegation that “Ajay Gupta Lied”. In an article on EWN yesterday, Grootes described how he had been invited in February to conduct an interview at Saxonwold with the head of the Gupta Family, Ajay… which he was then not […]

Johannesburg is set to be the most popular destination city in Africa for the fourth year, according to the 2016 Mastercard Global Destinations Cities Index. The city is expected to welcome 3.6 million international overnight visitors in 2016, a 6.2% increase on last year’s 3.39 million visitors. Cairo in Egypt is the second most visited […]

South Africa was named the winner of the annual Outsourcing Destination of the Year title at the annual Global Sourcing Association (GSA) awards ceremony in the UK last night. South Africa’s Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies hailed the win of the prestigious Global Sourcing Association (GSA) award, saying: “This award cements South Africa’s investment position and further presents a […]

South Africans have taken to social media to support former Public Protector (PP) Thuli Madonsela after the President lashed out at her for a speech given in Stellenbosch yesterday, labelling it “unbecoming” and accusing her of “leaking” audio recordings of her discussions with President Jacob Zuma. The Presidency said on Friday that it was concerned by “continuing […]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Africa’s biggest pension fund, Public Investment Corporation, has sought approval from South Africa’s central bank to raise its stake in Barclays Africa <BGAJ.J>, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. Barclays Africa’s parent, Barclays Plc <BARC.L>, wants to reduce its holding to below 20 percent, which would make it an […]

As the roof of Jacob Zuma’s presidency begins to cave in, there is the suggestion that, to save South Africa and the continuing damage that his incumbency is doing to the economy, he should be given amnesty. It would seem this is meant to give Zuma a cast iron assurance that the charges pertaining to […]

The march/marches tomorrow, 2 November, in Tshwane will go ahead despite charges against Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan being dropped. The DA, EFF and Save South Africa have all confirmed their commitment. All three marches begin at different venues with EFF in red, DA in blue and Save SA in colours of the national flag. Economic […]

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain on Tuesday gave Heathrow Airport the green light to build a new $22 billion (18 billion pounds) runway, ending 25 years of indecision with the most ambitious option available to boost global trade links following the vote to leave the EU. Heathrow, Europe’s busiest airport, had been battling with its smaller […]

BERLIN/HONG KONG (Reuters) – As Europe’s fashion giants brace for what could be the toughest leg of their expansion in China, a South African retail tycoon has launched a bold assault on the world’s most populous nation. Christo Wiese is promising to open 500 of his New Look stores in just three years, catapulting the […]

Cape Town’s skyline is set to transform over the next few years with proposed luxury hotels and a skyscraper that’ll boast breathtaking 360 degree views over South Africa’s – and one of the world’s – favourite holiday destinations. According to Pam Golding Properties, there is an unprecedented surge in property investments in Cape Town’s CBD (central business district), with projects valued […]

Ooh la la, the French love our wine! So says CNN. In fact the Chinese are also developing a taste for South African wine, and British billionaire Richard Branson is investing in our vineyards. So too is an Indian businessman and an American company. We’ll drink to that! In an article entitled Why the French want in […]

PRETORIA – South Africa has received an award in Washington for being named the best country for debt management and sovereign bond issuance in sub-Saharan Africa. “Emerging Markets Newspaper, an affiliate of the IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings, named South Africa the best country for debt management/sovereign bond Issuance in sub-Saharan Africa. This comes just after the World […]

LONDON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) – SABMiller <SAB.L> shareholders overwhelmingly backed the brewer’s $100 billion-plus takeover by Anheuser-Busch InBev <ABI.BR> on Wednesday, clearing the last big hurdle for one of the largest corporate mergers in history. The combined group will sell more than a quarter of all beers sold worldwide and be the fifth largest consumer goods company. […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has warned that South African President Jacob Zuma’s nuclear deal will be disastrous for the country. It will literally bankrupt us, diverting billions of rands from poverty reduction projects, while producing a nuclear white elephant in two decades’ time, claim the DA. But it will make a lot of money for […]

South African English native speakers are being sought for a localisation project in Barcelona, Spain. UPDATE 22 September 2016: Thank you to everyone who applied. All the vacancies have been filled so we have removed the advertised positions from this page.

SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Tesla Motors Co Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Sunday the automaker was updating its semi-autonomous driving system Autopilot with new limits on hands-off driving and other improvements that likely would have prevented a fatality in May. The South African entrepreneur said the update, which will be available within a week or […]

CAPE TOWN – Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) Deputy Director-General Joe de Beer says the country’s headline figure, the real gross domestic product (GDP), grew by 3.3% in the second quarter of 2016. This is after the real GDP production decreased by 1.2% in the first quarter. “The main contributors to the GDP growth rate were […]

South African businesses continue to buy up overseas companies, with the latest being an announcement today that SA’s fast food group Famous Brands has signed a “mouth-watering” agreement to buy Gourmet Burger Kitchen (GBK), a well-known gourmet bourger restaurant chain in the United Kingdom (UK). Famous Brands – which bought Wimpy SA in 2003 – already owns […]

When an elite crime-fighting unit investigates a member of Cabinet, what does the rule of law require? In South Africa the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks) have been circling finance minister Pravin Gordhan. Two main narratives are emerging to explain the ongoing saga. The first is that the minister may have committed some […]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s Steinhoff <SNHG.DE> warned on Wednesday the slump in the pound after Britain’s vote to leave the European Union would hurt its UK business as the furniture conglomerate fell a touch short of estimates with a one-third rise in annual sales. Steinhoff, which is in the middle of buying British discount […]