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Newly appointed TymeBank chief executive Tauriq Keraan. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

New banks circle small businesses

TymeBank, Bank Zero and Capitec are all looking for ways to woo businesses – including SMMEs – on to their books

Crowds at the Mall of Africa. File photo by  Gianluigi Geurcia/AFP

Debt Act not a relief for everyone

The financial sector has been accused of being hysterical about amendments to the law. But there are some genuine concerns

Unresolved: A number of committee members agreed that until the department was able to overcome its current structural and systematic problems, it would not be ready to implement the authority. (Oupa Nkosi/M&G)

State champs at its border Bill bit

The border management authority threatens “to be an auxiliary police service”, creating “oversecuritised zones”

Question marks: The 2019 version of the NHI Bill proposes more centralisation, which creates potential for corruption, and there is still much confusion about the role of private medical schemes. (Oupa Nkosi)

NHI: the good, the bad, the ugly

Some analysts say the proposed fund is creating policy uncertainty but others think it could help to fix a broken system

The PwC report, which tracked executive director remuneration trends in 285 companies, found that there were only 81 women executives among the 725 people whose pay was analysed. (Oupa Nkosi)

Why the gender pay gap persists

Social norms and the economic value we attach to work are among the reasons the disparity still exists

Balancing the books: Finance Minister Tito Mboweni has his work out for him. (Sumaya Hisham/Reuters)

Bond auction underwhelms

Local and global factors — including the Eskom bailout and US-China trade tensions — are weighing on the appetite for government debt

(John McCann/M&G)

Eskom needs ‘fire and thunder’

The appointment of a chief restructuring officer is a positive step, but it is not a silver bullet for the power utility’s debt burden

KwaZulu-Natal residents who are unemployed, financially struggling and hungry have lambasted Eskom’s proposed 36.1% tariff hike. (Dean Hutton/Bloomberg/Getty Images)

Eskom gets a chief restructuring office amid devastating finance results

SAICA CEO Freeman Nomvalo will head up team to help Eksom reorganise its operational and funding structures

Newly appointed acting CEO of Eskom, Jabu Mabuza. (Gallo)

Gordhan appoints Eskom chair, Jabu Mabuza, acting chief executive

The decision comes a day ahead of Eskom’s financial results announcement, which is expected to reveal record-breaking losses

Pedal to the metal:  Kumba Iron Ore’s Sishen mine produces lumpy ore, which fetches a premium. (Madelene Cronjé/M&G)

Mines print money as metals boom

Kumba and Anglo Platinum are sitting in a sweet spot but it remains to be seen how long it will last

Finance Minister Tito Mboweni mphasised the need to restructure Eskom company and revealed that the appointment of a new chief restructuring officer was imminent. (David Harrison/M&G)

Mboweni: Additional Eskom aid will hurt the fiscus and taxpayers

The additional R59-billion over two years for Eskom comes on top of slowing tax revenues and will require government to revise its funding plans

Eskom’s worst case scenario forecasts almost daily load-shedding during the summer. (Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg/Getty Images)

Eskom set to get a fast-tracked R59-billion in the coming two years

The additional fiscal support comes as Eskom is weighed down by debt and is expected to report losses of R20-billion in upcoming financial results

The company made a loss of R260-million in 2017-18, but according to the national estimates of expenditure, released with this year’s main budget in February, Sanral could be headed for losses of R7.6-billion for 2018-19. (John McCann/M&G)

Sanral is still facing e-toll hole

Political divisions have resurrected debate over whether it is fair to pay for Gauteng’s e-tolls through the fuel levy

Big bucks: JP Morgan Chase & Co is among 23 global banks accused of manipulating the rand. (Bloomberg/Getty Images)

Another hurdle in competition commission’s forex case

Banks argue the Competition Tribunal has no power to call out foreign firms on cartel conduct

Driving change: Adriaan Turgel with one of the cars he is importing from China. He is a big electrical vehicle enthusiast, but is frustrated by local policymakers’ failure to promote this technology. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

Greener cars have truly electrifying potential

But South Africa will have to adopt proactive policies to increase demand and manufacturing

Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said the SAA bailout would be financed by reducing the funds allocated to national departments and their entities as well as slashing provincial and local government conditional grants. (David Harrison/M&G)

Kganyago, Mboweni back the SARB’s independence and monetary policy stance

Thursday’s joint statement supporting the SARB comes after new deputy finance minister David Masondo is quoted questioning current monetary policy

Economists widely expect the South African Reserve Bank’s monetary policy committee to once again hold the interest rate at 8.25% when it concludes its meeting on Thursday.

Reserve Bank could sell its stake in African Bank in two years

The Reserve Bank owns 50% of African Bank, the Public Investment Corporation owns 25% and a consortium of private banks own the remaining 25%

Keep on trucking: This mobile filtration plant at Astral’s Goldi factory processes 3.5 megalitres of water a day. (Supplied/Astral Foods)

Another town bites the dust

Things are so bad in Standerton that a JSE-listed company has to truck in and treat its own water

The claims are contained in a dossier compiled by a whistleblower and submitted to Parliament’s portfolio committee on trade, industry and competition, the department’s Minister Ebrahim Patel and the public protector.
 (David Harrison)

Prescribed assets a ‘bad call’

An investment firm has warned that requiring pension funds to put their money in specific assets would be bad for the SA economy

Ebrahim Patel, the minister of trade and industry. (David Harrison/M&G)

Just implementing existing plans will mark a ‘revolution’ in the state — Patel

The minister wants smart policy and private sector partnership as central to industrial strategy. Will government have the discipline to implement it?