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Keen eye: Bulelwa Jordan-Tati, the founder of Urban Blend Interiors, a Cape Town studio, offering design services that transform interiors into personal retreats for their clients. Photos: Urban Blend Interiors

Designing with soul: How Bulelwa Jordan-Tati shapes spaces that Feel

Bulelwa Jordan-Tati reflects on crafting meaningful spaces and shares her views on interior design trends for 2026

Power: Ipeleng Mhlanga aims to make solar accessible to people
who would not be able to afford it. Photo: Supplied

Solar firm to tackle high electricity costs

As electricity tariffs continue to rise, squeezing household and small business budgets, a new solar company has entered the market with stokvel and crowdfunding models aimed at…

Starting a formal business in South Africa is arduous, time-consuming, and expensive. (File photo)

Red tape and capital flight: Bureaucracy undermines SA’s economic future

Practical economic strategies are needed to change the regulations that hobble entrepreneurship and result in funds leaving the country

. Building a working relationship with a financial partner, one that supports informed decision-making, may prove to be one of the most practical advantages available in the year ahead.

Why customised SME funding solutions are key to your business success

By tailoring strategies to the specific needs of funders, SMEs can enhance their chances of securing the capital they need to thrive

Sustainability essential for small businesses

Sustainable business practices have the potential to improve traditional and environmental profits

Country duty: Entrepreneur Theo Baloyi worked for PwC before striking it out on his own and founding Bathu sneakers. As well as capitalising on his love for sneakers, he also started the brand to help to address unemployment in South Africa.

Q&A Sessions: ‘I am a product of opportunities’ — Theo Baloyi

Theo Baloyi, motivated by his love for sneakers and his goal of reducing unemployment, founded Bathu in 2015. He shares his transition from corporate employee to entrepreneur

No new coal: Unemployed men such as Bonginkosi Mhlanga scrape a living from abandoned mine shafts. Analysts warn that commodity prices, which have over the years sometimes papered over South Africa’s economic woes, will not keep the country going forever. (Emmanuel Croset/AFP)

Commodities ‘bail out’ South African economy, but chronic structural woes remain

The mining industry is riding a wave that will eventually crash, analysts warn

‘Not well’: The post-lockdown diagnosis for small business

And now another strict lockdown poses a new threat to businesses that struggled to keep going last year

Peloton: Mpumelelo Mtintso and his team of five cyclists no longer guide tourists around Soweto. They now deliver essential goods to customers in Johannesburg and Soweto. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

Small firms adapt or die in lockdown

The harmful economic effect of the pandemic has seen small businesses lose out, but others have been able to survive by changing to suit the times

The report shows that the coronavirus has exacerbated poverty and inequality in the country, with women and informal workers bearing the brunt of the economic downturn. (Paul Botes/M&G)

‘Afraid, but my spaza’s open’

The police and people roving empty streets are intimidating, it’s difficult to replace stock and business has dropped

Lebeko Marabe (technical director ),  Tlotliso Molapo (CFO),Terence Leluma (Managing director), Ipeleng Matlhoko (marketing executive), Tebatso Sodi (Quality and Supply Director)

Cooking up a multi-million rand recipe

It takes absolute belief in your product to get a small business going

Chwayita Rixana (Photo Archive)

Chwayita Rixana

The Cockpit Guesthouse- Ekurhuleni

Hot mess: Veronica Shezi, owner of Vero’s Cakes, says a generator that can power all her ovens at once costs R280?000. (Paul Botes/M&G)

Load-shedding dooms SA profits

From corner bakeries to mines, businesses bear the brunt of the power-cut pain, with alternative energy generation solutions mired in bureaucracy

Ashiq Khan’s business boomed once he switched from running a grocery store to an atchar business. (Renata Larroyd/M&G)

Spicy atchar turns a hot profit

Atchar can be enjoyed with curry, vetkoek, which is also called magwinya, or the uniquely South African bunny chow called kota

Mabuza expressed confidence that small and medium enterprises would help boost the South African economy’s lacklustre performance. (Gallo Images)

‘We can turn SA’s economic situation around’ —Mabuza

Mabuza maintained that analysis of South Africa’s quarterly economic data painted a bleaker picture than the one which would emerge from annual data

The success of foreign-owned spaza stores comes down to competitive pricing.

Cut red tape so that small business is enabled and encouraged

South Africa has realised the value add that small enterprises can bring to the economy, but we seem confused about how to go about creating them

Former Eskom chief executive, Brian Molefe.

Mr Mayor – keep your promise

The seemingly impossible task of transferring title continues to hamstring Soweto businesses.

Heroes: Banyana Banyana celebrate during the African Cup of Nations semifinal against Mali in November.  The team raised sporting South Africa’s pride and hopes. (Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix)

New business model incorporates the poor

Inclusive business – the latest corporate trend – includes low-income groups in the value chain. It’s not charity, but may be the solution to poverty.

Paddy Kearney (left, with Archbishop Rubin Phillip) believed that failure to act on injustice was not an option. (Rajesh Jantilal/AFP)

Economic tides hurt small traders

Macroeconomic events go right down the line to those struggling to make a living on the streets.

Small firms wilt under BEE backlash

Black-owned businesses are being stymied by the new procurement codes intended to help them.