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Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana delivers the 2025 Budget. Photo: Jeffrey Abrahams/Gallo Images

Godongwana keeps medium-term infrastructure spending above R1tn to boost ailing economy

The finance minister said the expenditure would be carried out ‘without compromising the fiscal strategy of sustainable public finances’

Many railway lines are underutilised or abandoned, with over 30% of Africa’s rail infrastructure inoperable.

Economy 2025: A GNU hope, but ports, rail and water crisis likely to hinder growth

The country’s ports and rail systems are shambolic, but GNU and a pause in load-shedding have elicited some optimism

David Masondo’s job is up for grabs in the ongoing negotiations for ministerial positions. (David Harrison)

Economic reforms still a priority amid GNU uncertainty

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Operation Vulindlela is forging ahead with its next phase amid ongoing wrangling over positions in his executive

On the money: Treasury director general Duncan Pieterse says its focus is on Transnet’s turnaround plan. Photo: Jaco Marais/Gallo Images via Getty

Treasury’s Pieterse: Transnet bailout ‘not inevitable’

The 2024 budget is Duncan Pieterse’s first as director general. And he says the fiscal framework does not constitute a negotiating position

President Cyril Ramaphosa delivers his State of the Nation address. (Dwayne Senior/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

State of the nation: Brace for the Ramaphosa ripple effect

There is a tendency to think of the president as ineffective. But his first term has seen a marked hastening of structural reforms, which could change the economy forever

Photo by Leon Sadiki/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Creaking economy must be reformed for the better

Structural reforms are often offered as the solution to South Africa’s growth problem, but we should be wary when they are code for privatisation

Don’t read too much into GDP growth spurt

Growth in the third quarter is encouraging, but analysts have cautioned against viewing the data as a sign of the economy’s improved health

The pandemic’s shock to the local economy was a big reason for the decision to downgrade the country to junk status.(Photo by MARCO LONGARI / AFP)

Long road ahead for South Africa to climb out of junk status

Economist don’t expect an upgrade anytime soon, but the country is in a better position to claw back its investment grade rating

Unemployment epidemic: These men, gathered together to wait for the possibility of a piece job, are some of the 34.9% of South Africans who are without work, the highest figure among 82 countries monitored by business news agency Bloomberg.  (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

Slow implementation spurs frustration over South Africa’s jobs crisis

So says Rudi Dicks, who is in charge of coordinating President Cyril Ramaphosa’s initiatives to drive structural reforms and employment

The president’s strategy to stop the unemployment crisis from spiralling includes cutting red tape and focusing on infrastructure investment

Sona 2022: Ramaphosa says private sector can dig South Africa out of jobs and growth slump

The president’s strategy to stop the unemployment crisis from spiralling includes cutting red tape and focusing on infrastructure investment

A mine employee measures the temperature of a mineworker, enroute to his evening shift at the Sibanye-Stillwater platinum mine, before letting him board a company bus at the Wonderkop taxi rank in Marikana, near Rustenburg. (Photo by Michele Spatari/AFP)

OECD urges SA to reform to recover from pandemic effects

The OECD predicts a 7.5% contraction in South Africa’s GDP, with an 8.2% contraction if a second wave of Covid-19 is not avoided