ArcelorMittal’s South Africa unit said on Monday it would close its steel operations at Saldanha Works in the south of the country because it could no longer compete in export markets. The company, majority-owned by ArcelorMittal, announced in September that it could close some operations as part of a review aimed at strengthening long-term sustainability amid cheap imports, rising costs […]

Good news for foreign travellers (and for South African Tourism) as Home Affairs Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi has signed a waiver that allows foreign children to enter the country without carrying additional supporting documents such as birth certificates and consent letters. The waiver has been applicable since 8 November 2019 – after the Minister’s signature. […]

South African lender Absa said on Monday its representative office in New York should be operational by the end of the year, after it received the necessary regulatory approvals. The office is aimed at enabling Absa to better serve clients, including international corporations and institutions, that invest or work in Africa. The bank has already opened a representative office […]

Over the last seven years, I have travelled internationally for work to hundreds of cities. I expected that my exposure to other places would create the desire to leave South Africa and experience living overseas… writes Dean Gerber, CA (SA) who works for VAT IT Pty Ltd. In fact, it has had the opposite effect. […]

This week Carte Blanche tracks The Return of our Champions; investigates how much plastic we are ingesting and more! Watch on Sunday 10 Oct on DStv Now if you’re in South Africa, and stream it from Tues 12 on Showmax International in most other countries.  EMPOWERING > ENLIGHTENING The Return of the Champions First in 1995, […]

South Africa’s rand was weaker early on Friday after Eskom’s nationwide loadshedding (electricity blackouts) spooked investors and reignited worries about the economy. At 0645 GMT the rand was down 0.23% at 14.7700 per dollar, compared with the previous session’s best of 14.6630. Power firm Eskom implemented stage 2 power cuts, or load shedding, shaving off […]

Recently SAPeople asked the experts in their fields to answer South Africans’ seafarer questions about working on super yachts, to ensure you got the best answers to your queries. The South African Seafarer Experts Trilogy Luxury Training is the only internationally accredited training provider for interior crew in South Africa, but also offer help and […]

JOHANNESBURG – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa secured about R200 billion ($13.5 billion) of investment pledges, mainly from domestic companies, on Wednesday as part of his drive to boost flagging economic growth. Ramaphosa announced the investments during his opening speech at a forum aimed at drawing direct investment into the economy. “The new investments over […]

The South African rand and government bonds jumped on Monday after ratings agency Moody’s kept the country’s last investment-grade credit rating intact, but many investors expected the rally could fade soon. Moody’s decision on Friday to leave South Africa’s sovereign debt at Baa3, the lowest rung of investment grade, was a relief to beleaguered President […]

Thousands gathered in Zwide stadium in the Port Elizabeth township, South Africa, to watch the Springboks win the World Cup. Sue Hagemann from Mount Croix said that at first, she was hesitant to come to Zwide township in Port Elizabeth to watch the Springboks play England in the Rugby World Cup final. “A workmate of […]

Moody’s left South Africa on the brink of “junk” status on Friday after it revised the outlook on the country’s last investment-grade credit rating to “negative,” piling pressure on President Cyril Ramaphosa to quicken the pace of reform. Moody’s said the outlook revision on its ‘Baa3’ rating, the lowest rung of investment grade, was motivated […]

South Africa‘s first black rugby captain Siya Kolisi may have made an even more positive impact on unity in the country than the iconic gesture of Nelson Mandela donning a Springboks jersey for the 1995 World Cup final, former flyhalf Joel Stransky says. Stransky put over the decisive drop-goal as South Africa beat New Zealand to win the Webb […]

Taste Holdings, owner of Starbucks and Domino’s Pizza franchises in South Africa, said on Friday it was abandoning the food business, and had already sold its 13 stores of the coffee chain to a consortium for R7 million ($464,000). The company said it was also in discussions around the sale of Domino’s and its two other food […]

South Africa‘s rand firmed on Friday as an unexpected bounce in Chinese factory activity helped offset concerns over prospects of a U.S.-China trade pact and skittishness ahead of a long-awaited decision on South Africa‘s credit rating. The rand traded at 15.0600 versus the greenback by 0505 GMT, 0.31% stronger compared with the previous day’s close. […]

A record 45 million people across southern Africa face severe food shortages in the next six months, with around a quarter of them currently enduring drought-induced “crisis” food insecurity, three United Nations agencies warned on Thursday. The 16-member Southern African Development Community is in the grips of a severe drought, as climate change wreaks havoc […]

Over 11,000 learners from more than 60 schools in Nelson Mandela Bay have been introduced to coding in an amazing initiative that coincided with the annual Africa Code Week… and which “left the learners’ eyes glowing, minds running, voices echoing with excitement”. The tools that were used by the 27 facilitators are Scratch and locally […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s rand suffered its steepest fall in more than a year on Wednesday after Finance Minister Tito Mboweni forecast wider budget deficits and a sharp increase in debt during his medium-term budget policy statement. The rand was down more than 2.4% at 14.9810 against the U.S. dollar by 1533 GMT, partially recovering […]

CAPE TOWN – Photos of the rare minister flying economy class in South Africa are about to become the norm, as announced by Finance Minister Tito Mboweni today. The Treasury said South Africa’s budget deficit is going to rise to a nearly two-decade high and its gross debt is set to soar – as a […]

South Africa aims to complete the legal separation of loss-making state power utility Eskom into three units – generation, transmission and distribution – by around 2022, a government plan showed on Tuesday. President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a state of the nation address in February that the government planned to split up Eskom, but there has been little […]

Please find below the latest FAQ from SAPeople followers about SA Expat Tax which is due to be implemented in March 2020. All answers are kindly provided by the expert tax team at Tax Consulting South Africa. (You can submit your questions here) There are two generic items which are critical for good order for […]

JOHANNESBURG – Hackers have shut down the cyber network of Johannesburg City Council, targeting computers of local government employees in South Africa’s economic hub, city officials said on Friday. The hackers allegedly demanded ransom in the form of bitcoins in exchange for reactivating internet and email links to the city’s billing systems, local media reported. […]

With all the uncertainty around the change in the foreign employment exemption taking effect from 1 March 2020, more and more people are realising that they need to take care of their taxes more diligently. One of the biggest issues which has surfaced is that many seafarers are not even registered for tax in South […]

Jeffreys Bay in the Eastern Cape has become the first town in Africa to get an eco-friendly road that uses recycled plastic in its construction that would have otherwise landed up in the ocean or landfill. The Jeffreys Bay road, the first phase of the project, is a 300-metre stretch that contains plastic particles guaranteed […]

SABRIC, the South African Banking Risk Information Centre, confirmed today that as of Wednesday, 23 October 2019, the banking industry has been hit by a wave of ransom-driven Distributed Denial of Service attacks, targeting various public-facing services across multiple banks. These attacks started with a ransom note which was delivered via email to both unattended as […]

South Africa’s state-run airports management company said on Thursday it had suspended Zimbabwe’s debt-strapped national airline from using the country’s airports over unpaid landing and parking fees. Air Zimbabwe owes foreign and domestic creditors more than $300 million. The Zimabwe government put the airline under administration last year and later invited bids from potential investors […]