Media
Growth outlook darkens for 2026
17 April, 2026
Commodity gains offer only temporary relief to fiscal pressures
Tables turn on South Africa
16 April, 2026
South Africa’s economic fortunes have reversed since the beginning of 2026, when it was widely believed the country’s future was the brightest it has been since 2010.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
15 April, 2026
The International Trade Administration Commission (Itac) has proposed raising import duties on solar panels, wind turbine components and lithium-ion batteries to World Trade Organisation bound-rate ceilings; in some cases, from zero to 30%. The stated rationale is industrial localisation.
Response to Gulf crisis puts South Africans at risk
06 March, 2026
Country’s tolerance for uncertainty in citizen protection abroad is dangerously undefined
Public sector growth masks private firms’ struggles
24 February, 2026
Youth unemployment is staggeringly high at 68.3%
SA’s reliance on external tailwinds is risky
23 February, 2026
There is a danger that politicians will leave growth barriers unaddressed
US political risk for South Africa persists despite Congress gridlock
22 February, 2026
US extraterritorial reach is emerging as a major political risk for South Africa in 2026 and beyond, with potential to influence government policy and commercial operations through sanctions, trade restrictions or bilateral reviews. South African stakeholders should remain vigilant.
Silencing the Guns? SA’s leadership amid persistent fire
21 February, 2026
While the 39th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) Assembly met in Addis Ababa on 14-15 February 2026 under the banner of “Assuring Sustainable Water Availability and Safe Sanitation Systems to Achieve the Goals of Agenda 2063,” President Cyril Ramaphosa faced a bitter irony at home amid Johannesburg’s acute water shortages, and days earlier in his State of the Nation Address, the announcement that the South African National Defence Force would deploy alongside police against gang violence and illegal mining in the Western Cape and Gauteng.
Agoa uncertainty harms wine sector
18 February, 2026
America’s imposition of tariffs on wine exports highlights the mounting pressure facing the industry (“US tariffs squeeze South African wine exports as costs surge”, February 17). More importantly, it raises the broader issue of the absence of a durable trade framework between South Africa and the US.
Can SA take advantage of shifting global tides?
10 February, 2026
The latest World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, produced a stark, necessary contrast between two emerging philosophies of foreign policy and of geoeconomic strategy.
Trump without a mandate, but not without power
30 January, 2026
United States President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025 after one of the narrowest victories in US history, the sixth-closest presidential contest.
