The longer SA focuses on short-term ‘fixes’ its trade potential will be hobbled
No or limited government funding is available to implement control measures.
As the World Economic Forum begins at Davos this morning, Team South Africa has a lot on its plate, trying to sell the country to investors.
Through all of this, the crucial lesson for SA to realise and implement is getting its ports back to an adequate level of operation, such that the country can place itself in a position to take advantage of times when global trade patterns shift due to unforeseen events and conflicts.
Preferential procurement policies tend to skew towards benefiting those with the necessary political connections and influence.
Shipping firms have decided to redirect their ships as attacks by Houthi rebels along the trade route through the Red Sea continue.
Several dozen container vessels are expected to travel via the Suez Canal and the Red Sea in the coming days and weeks.Some global shipping firms have announced a return to the route.
With South Africa having been greylisted by the Financial Action Task Force in February for insufficient measures to combat anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing, such meetings send the wrong kind of signal.
The fiscal, skills, and management challenges facing the central government – along with various departments and state-owned enterprises (SOEs) – have come to the fore throughout 2023.
Chris Hattingh, Executive Director at the Centre for Risk Analysis, says container handling output is sitting at 19 percent down compared to what it was the same period last year.
Congestion at South African ports is crippling the country’s economy, further increasing costs. CHRIS HATTINGH says it is vital that the country ups its logistics game.
Sanral wants private sector funding, but it should first provide guarantees of improved financial management.
Party policies and cadre deployment are behind utility's demise.
South Africa, a nation of stark contrasts and immense potential, has long struggled with issues of housing and access to essential services.
The cliché American conspiracy-theory trope, “they’re watching”, is an overused storyline common to the American screen, from “conspiracy nut” comedies to dark action-packed spy blockbusters. But this trope could become a South African reality if the new General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill (GILAB) comes into play.
The government might have to cut back on spending for social services due to budget constraints, which could lead to social unrest and increased frustration with the status quo. This is according to economist and head of policy analysis at the Centre For Risk Analysis Chris Hattingh.
National Treasury is reportedly preparing a raft of cost-cutting measures as it's coffers run dry. These include getting departments and other sectors of government to reduce their spending. Economist Chris Hattingh, spoke to eNCA.
Whether a piece of commentary rubs you up the wrong or the right way is not what is relevant; what’s important is that an opinion rubbed you up at all.
Instead of adopting a ruthless growth focus, the government is doubling down on job-destroying policies like expropriation without compensation (EWC) and enhanced BEE, while bribing SA’s poorest to look the other way with miserly social grants and by providing them with decrepit state services in water, electricity, education, health, transport, and safety, among other areas. Yet it does not have to be this way. A small number of critical reforms, resolutely enacted, can achieve a dramatic turnaround in South Africa’s prospects.
Perhaps, after years of resisting the types of reform necessary to improve the performance of the ports, the government has finally reached the inflection point.
On Wednesday, Zimbabwe is scheduled to hold a general election. This poll has already garnered significant attention due to its potential to either direct the nation toward true democratic reform or plunge the Southern African country deeper into the depths of autocracy.
We should not be tempted by the state for it to step in to aid the renewables equipment sector.
At least 22 countries, including Saudi Arabia and Iran, have formally asked to join the BRICS bloc. A further group of 22 have expressed interest in gaining membership. The core group of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will discuss this next week in Johannesburg.
In this week's newsletter from the Centre For Risk Analysis, we look at infrastructure decay in South Africa as well as the emerging logistics crisis.
The greater the extent to which business and government become mixed, the greater the incentive for – and likelihood of – regulations and policies being set up in such a way as to benefit those with the necessary resources and level of political influence.
It appears that our government officials have locked themselves up in an ivory tower full of new policy proposals, big ideas and slow reforms, far removed from the SA citizen on the ground.
As Eskom struggles to keep the lights on, companies continue to lose revenue.
South Africa has witnessed a transformative shift in communication preferences over the past few years, with cellular phones becoming the preferred choice for the majority of households.
The current state-centric model has failed, but what will replace it? In 2024, South Africans will vote in what will be the most highly contested elections in the post-apartheid era. Opposition parties could find themselves in governmental power, but will an opposition coalition turn the country’s fortunes around? What alternative policies should they be exploring now?
Centre For Risk Analysis' Makone Maja dissects the torching of haulage trucks as the police try to crack the cases of 16 trucks set alight in the past three days in KZN, Mpumalanga and Limpopo.