South Africa Archives - Economy Watch

Pros and Cons of Businesspersons as Politicians

South Africa’s economic capital, Johannesburg, has a new mayor, Herman Mashaba. His election marks two watershed moments: he is a member of the Democratic Alliance, which has never run the city before; and he’s a successful businessman who has never been a public servant. Does a business background matter in public service, particularly in the South African context? The Conversation Africa’s business and economy editor Sibonelo Radebe chatted to Lumkile Mondi from the University of the Witwatersrand.

Sometimes National Pride Eclipses What Makes Financial Sense

South African Airways is undoubtedly in crisis. EPA/Udo Weitz

The Case for a National Minimum Wage in South Africa

A national minimum wage, set at an appropriate level, can achieve the central objectives of reducing working poverty and inequality in South Africa. It can also lead to increased economic growth without significant negative economic consequences.

Solutions to South Africa’s Lack of Growth are Out There

South Africa’s Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago has forecast zero percent growth for 2016, 1.5% in 2017 and 1.7% in 2018. This spells disaster for the country, particularly the unemployed.

Can South Africa Avoid ‘Junk Debt’ Status?

In early June, the international debt-rating agency Standard & Poor’s granted a stay of execution by not downgrading the South African government’s IOU certificate to a “junk debt” status. This preserved the country’s credit worthiness as investment grade. South Africa should therefore be able to keep on sourcing external finance at a relatively affordable cost.

South Africa Needs the UK Market

The UK has voted to leave the European Union (EU). South Africa has historical and very close trade ties with the UK. Most of these relations were inherited by the EU when South Africa signed a free-trade agreement with the bloc that came into effect in 2000. That agreement made both the UK and the EU jointly important trading partners.

That Whooshing Sound is Corporate Profits Leaving South Africa

The South African Reserve Bank’s latest Quarterly Bulletin confirms that foreign corporations are milking South Africa. They are drawing away profits far faster than they are reinvesting or than local firms bring home offsetting profits from abroad. Can anything be done to stop the hemorrhaging?

South Africa’s Grindrod Bank in Hot Water with the Social Security Agency

Almost 17 million South Africans rely on social grants. That’s about 30% of the country’s population.

Ready to Invest in South Africa…Not!

South Africa has narrowly survived a downgrade of the rating of its government bonds. The reprieve, however, is temporary because government has been warned by the Big Three rating agencies – Fitch, Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s – to pull up its socks.

South Africa’s Land Reform Program is Failing

What is going wrong in South Africa’s land reform programme, and how can its failings be addressed?

In 22 years, land reform has barely altered the agrarian structure of South Africa, and has had only minor effects on rural livelihoods.