Media

[Opinion] The fly in the MTBPS ointment

South Africa’s economy is not growing fast enough. This is the key take-away from the 2025 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) delivered last Wednesday by the finance minister, Enoch Godongwana – and it is easily lost among the flood of information, mostly positive, about the public finances.

Why criticism of SA’s G20 presidency misses the real problem

South Africa is not responsible for the G20’s sprawl. It is hosting when years of accumulated commitments reach their final stop in the rotation. The criticism may be fair, but it is misdirected, writes Ofentse Donald Davhie.

[Opinion] ‘Back to basics’ future puts G20 at risk

As of next year, the G20 will transform into an entirely different platform from what it has been for at least the past decade; away from development-oriented agendas and back to its original objective of global financial stability. Although the boycott by the US speaks to the diminishing relevance of the multilateral platform, the true effect will not be from the US’s exclusion in 2025, but from the priorities and values it spotlights in 2026. For SA and other developing economies, the US shift risks diminishing their influence on global governance, debt restructuring, climate financing and trade policy. As the G7 and G20 declarations carry no legal obligations, the Trump administration can disregard Johannesburg outcomes without challenge from other members.

[News] South Africa G20 Pragmatism vs Politics at the Summit

THE 2025 G20 Summit is set to take place on 22 and 23 November in Johannesburg. The Summit represents the culmination of South Africa’s year-long G20 presidency and, if used well, should produce some level of common, shared communique or document that advances South Africa’s priorities and values.

[Opinion] When will SA own its mistakes and stop blaming everything else?

The cause of SA’s 0.8% GDP average from 2012 to 2023 can seemingly never be the government’s chosen ideology and policies

[Letter] Organised crime has its teeth in SA

Criminal actors are filling governance vacuums, especially in local municipalities

[Rapport] Selfs SA se pêlle in Washington raak nou keelvol

Suid-Afrika is besig om ’n gulde geleentheid te verspeel, waarsku Chris Hattingh ná ’n besoek aan Amerika, waar hy met meer as ’n dosyn regeringsamptenare en meningsvormers gesels het.

[Opinion] SA’s emerging demographic crisis: dependency on the rise

The pressure on those who work to support the jobless keeps rising in South Africa.