Google on Friday announced a new subsea cable dubbed “Equiano” that will connect Africa with Europe – starting with South Africa and Portugal, as it boosts its cloud computing infrastructure. Equiano, fully funded by Alphabet Inc’s Google, is the company’s third private international cable. The search engine giant, which has invested $47 billion in improving […]

Throughout the world, people who follow politics are fixating on leaders. South Africa follows the trend and so President Cyril Ramaphosa has become an obsession. Ramaphosa, of course, replaced Jacob Zuma, who was associated with patronage politics and “state capture”, handing over public power to (wealthy) private people. Ramaphosa’s presidency was greeted with brief enthusiasm […]

Increased foreign investment in South Africa will be high on the agenda when President Cyril Ramaphosa joins other international leaders for the annual G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, tomorrow and on Saturday. It is the G20’s twentieth anniversary. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Presidency said South Africa would try secure financial and other […]

Twenty-six police officers in South Africa have been killed since the beginning of 2019, and the government has pledged to take action to find the guilty parties and bring them to justice. Nine people have already been given life sentences for these crimes. Addressing a post-Cabinet media briefing in Pretoria on Thursday, Minister in the […]

Daniel Mminele will retire as deputy governor of the South African Reserve Bank at the end of the month after 10 years in the job, the Reserve Bank said on Thursday, making him the third member of its policy committee to quit the regulator recently. Mminele’s retirement follows the departure of fellow deputy governor Francois […]

The delivery of life saving blood has been taken to new heights by the South African National Blood Service (SANBS) with the launch a new drone blood delivery service. Launched in May, the Tron Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) drone, features a wing design suited for maximum efficiency and allows for long travel time with minimal […]

Wine is a massively confusing and intimidating subject for many who drink it even on a fairly regular basis. Can you imagine what it’s like for the millions of South Africans whose culture doesn’t include wine – or didn’t, for decades – and for whom the very concept of fermented grape juice is unheard of? […]

SABRIC, the South African Banking Risk Information Centre, on behalf of the banking industry has released its annual crime stats for 2018. “We are concerned about some of the increases, which clearly reflect that criminals will take every opportunity to get their hands on bank customers’ money,” says SABRIC CEO, Kalyani Pillay. Combined gross card […]

Contrary to popular belief, more South Africans are returning home than public perception. When SAPeople published a blog recently from an expat who was moving with her young family back to SA after several years in the UK, there was an outcry. How could she do such a thing? But it turns out – according […]

Competition is stiff between the men who push trolleys for vendors in the Cape Town city centre. Just before 7am Malk Gabriel is wading through peak-hour traffic in the Cape Town city centre, pushing a heavily-laden trolley to an informal stall. While making his way from a storeroom in Caledon Street to the Grand Parade, […]

African countries running up debt they won’t be able to pay back – including to China – should not expect to be bailed out by western-sponsored debt relief, the United States’ top Africa diplomat warned. The International Monetary Fund and World Bank began the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative in 1996 to help the […]

In an April 2019 episode of the Money Show on talk radio 702, host Bruce Whitfield explored why South Africa’s economy was “in trouble”. “Brain drain” – the long-term departure of skilled people from a country – was part of the discussion. “For every one professional immigrating to South Africa, eight professionals are leaving our shores,” said Johannes Wessels, a guest […]

South Africa’s Reserve Bank will probably cut interest rates next month or in September to boost the country’s economy, a Reuters poll found on Friday. A median forecast from 24 economists, polled this week, suggests the economy will grow 0.6% this year, slower than last year’s 0.8% and weaker than the 1.1% predicted in a […]

Thanks to popular demand, here are more ‘Expat Tax’ questions submitted by SAPeople members, with answers kindly provided by the expert tax team at Tax Consulting South Africa. Dear SAPeople Members, Thank you for your questions on South African tax and exchange control. We will give each answer a specific response, answering the question posed. […]

Five African commercial banks – including Standard Bank and Absa – have partnered in a $375 million financing deal to build a new diamond mining vessel for a subsidiary of Anglo American’s diamond unit De Beers. Nedbank Namibia, RMB Namibia, Standard Bank, ABSA and Bank Windhoek agreed to provide 80% of the funding for the […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa‘s rand rallied in late trade on Tuesday after the government signalled it will give additional support to power firm Eskom, and as emerging currencies were lifted by expectations the Federal Reserve could signal U.S. rate cuts. At 1400 GMT the rand was 1.76% percent firmer at 14.5475 per dollar, after early […]

Table Mountain Cableway will be hiring up to 150 seasonal staff for the peak tourist season, 1 November 2019 to 30 January 2020. Its annual online recruitment drive opened yesterday (Monday 17 June). With opportunities in Food & Beverage, Operations, Security, Cleaning and Retail as well as at the Table Mountain Café and Ticket Office, […]

The Australian Rhino Project has today announced the achievement of a major milestone in the organisation’s mission to build an insurance population of rhinos outside of Africa.  The Australian Rhino Project has signed an agreement with Thaba Manzi Wildlife Sanctuary in South Africa to manage the selection and quarantining of rhinos for the project, it […]

JOHANNESBURG – A panel of experts appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa to advise South Africa’s government on how to resolve the issue of land reform, restitution and redistribution handed in its final report on Tuesday, the presidency said. “This report is an important step forward in our quest to right the original sin by developing […]

JOHANNESBURG – A row within South Africa‘s African National Congress (ANC) about the role of the country’s central bank – the Reserve Bank – has unnerved investors and exposed deep divisions in the governing party. One ANC faction loyal to President Cyril Ramaphosa is opposing calls from a rival group for the central bank’s monetary […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s government has failed to tackle high air pollution levels in an area which is home to coal-fired power stations and refineries, a lawsuit filed by environmental and community groups says. The case – filed in the Pretoria High Court on Friday – claims the government has violated the constitutional right to […]

Ratings agency Moody’s said on Monday that it had lowered its forecast for South Africa‘s 2019 economic growth to 1.0% from 1.3% after it said a first-quarter contraction had dented the government’s revenue and policy options. Moody’s is the last of the big three international credit firms to rate South Africa at investment grade. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s efforts to revive […]

In a Carte Blanche exclusive this week, the show meets the investigating officer who cracked the case of the notorious Krugersdorp Killers and speaks to family members of the victims – available to watch this  Sunday 9 June in South Africa; and to stream from Tues 11 June for South Africans abroad in many countries. […]

JOHANNESBURG – South African Airways (SAA) appointed its head of operations as acting chief executive on Friday and said it needs R4 billion ($265 million) from the government to survive the current financial year and allow it to renegotiate loan terms with banks. Zukisa Ramasia becomes interim CEO after Vuyani Jarana unexpectedly resigned on Sunday, […]

South Africa’s rand fell again early on Friday, reaching a new 2019 low as assurances by the African National Congress (ANC) about the independence of the Reserve Bank did little to ease nerves about economic policy. At 0640 GMT, the rand was 0.63% weaker at 15.0900 per dollar, bringing losses since Monday to nearly 5% […]