Media
Why SA cannot subsidise its way out of becoming a failing state
16 July, 2026
South Africa is once again arguing about the Automotive Production and Development Programme (APDP). The key question is not whether this one programme pays for itself, but whether South Africa can keep subsidising firms and sectors while the basic services those firms depend on keep failing.
Lessons from Cuba: when communists outgrow their own ideology
25 June, 2026
Cuba’s Communist Party has approved the country’s most sweeping economic reforms since the 1959 revolution.
South Africa cannot subsidise its way to prosperity
02 June, 2026
Last week trade, industry, and competition minister Parks Tau told Parliament that South Africa “cannot compete in the world of the future using the tools of the past.” While he was correct on that score, he neglected to mention that his department is reaching for those exact same tools.
How Joburg’s budget destroys the SARB’s balancing act
01 June, 2026
The MPC’s use of higher interest rates to manage inflation expectations is a blunt instrument to cost pressures that are mainly government-determined, and immune to rate pressure anyway.
CR's troubles - South Africa's investment case is about to be rewritten
27 May, 2026
ConCourt ruling revives impeachment risk, testing GNU stability and reform outlook
One private security officer per 91 citizens: what that number tells you
27 May, 2026
Every year, South Africans absorb another batch of crime statistics, shake their heads, and move on.
The R1.8 trillion question
23 May, 2026
In his 18 May 2026 newsletter President Cyril Ramaphosa included the following statistic: South Africa’s non-financial companies are sitting on R1.8 trillion in cash reserves. The President’s appeal to the private sector is this: deploy that capital, invest locally, and help close the yawning gap between conference pledges and real economic activity.
Coalition problem is numbers still buy everything
12 May, 2026
Rebone Tau argues (“Germany’s coalition model offers lessons for SA stability”, May 8) that South Africa’s coalitions collapse because the agreements behind them are thin, vague and negotiated behind closed doors.
SA’s xenophobia problem has become a trade problem
12 May, 2026
Violence prompts Nigeria, Ghana and Mozambique to lodge diplomatic protests
Setting tripwires to prepare for political risks
11 May, 2026
How chokepoints like Hormuz expose gaps in corporate risk readiness
South Africa’s fiscal tightrope: who is really paying the bill?
09 May, 2026
Every year, South Africa’s national budget arrives with fanfare and political theatre. But once the speeches fade, what the numbers actually reveal is a story that deserves far more sustained public attention than it typically receives.
