While walking from one briefing to the next in Washington, DC, last week, I received a notification from South Africa’s favourite app. EskomSePush told me loadshedding stage 2 had been implemented.

Chris Hattingh is Executive Director at the Centre For Risk Analysis (CRA). With a special focus on trade, investment, and economic matters, as well as foreign policy, Chris serves on the Executive Board of the Global Trade and Innovation Policy Alliance, sits on the advisory council of the Initiative for African Trade and Prosperity and holds the position of Senior Fellow at African Liberty. Chris holds an MPhil (Business Ethics) degree from Stellenbosch University. In his role at the CRA, Chris leads strategic engagements and briefings to clients across South Africa, as well as globally.
The repeated injections of geopolitical, trade, and investment uncertainty delivered by the second Trump administration have hit various governments, not least of which US allies, hard.
The National Treasury estimates that 235,542 taxpayers contribute 33.1% of total individual income tax. Of 7,888,615 individual taxpayers, 569,351 contribute 49.1% of all personal income tax (2023/24 financial year).
In a 13 February executive order (EO), ‘Reciprocal Trade and Tariffs’,US president Donald Trump puts forth a wide-ranging review and proposed change to how the US administers tariffs – and how the US administration views global trade as well as bodies such as the World Trade Organisation.
SOUTH AFRICA’s G20 Presidency provides the host country with numerous diplomatic, economic, and cultural opportunities. With a main summit (22-23 November in Johannesburg) preceded by numerous side conferences and engagements focused on a range of areas and sectors, South Africa’s G20 Presidency offers multiple chances to make a positive impact on international diplomatic and business counterparts.
Another proposed bailout for Transnet is unlikely to fix its fundamental operational and management problems, and will undermine hard-won government fiscal credibility.
Dilution of property rights amounts to a spectacular own goal
In addition to the new trade review instructions implemented by Trump, the bipartisan US-SA Bilateral Review Act could be revived