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In May, for the third month in a row, South African food and non-alcoholic beverage (NAB) inflation, hereafter to be referred to simply as food inflation, ran at a level below that of consumer price index (CPI) headline inflation, reported the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP) in its latest Food Inflation Brief report. Year-on-year (y-o-y) food inflation was 4.7% last month, while CPI headline inflation was 5.2%. In month-on-month (m-o-m) terms, the two rates were effectively flat, ...

Damen Shipyards Group (DSG) has signed a new strategic partnership agreement with the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic) as part of the National Industrial Participation (NIP) programme. Under the agreement, Damen subsidiary Damen Shipyards Cape Town (DSCT) will continue its localisation work and industrial participation “to the benefit of the South African shipbuilding industry and economy”, says the Dutch-owned group.

South Africa achieves first primary budget surplus in 15 years

Published: 27 Jun 24

South Africa achieved its first primary budget surplus in 15 years as it took a stern approach to funding State-owned companies that have drained government finances. Africa’s most-industrialised economy posted a primary surplus — when revenue exceeds non-interest expenditure — of R31.6 billion or 0.4% of gross domestic product in the year through March 2024, data in the South African Reserve Bank’s Quarterly Bulletin published on Thursday showed. That matched the National Treasury’s February forecast. “The decline in non‐interest expenditure was driven by lower voted expenditure, largely owing to the sharp decline in payments for financial assets, reflecting government’s limited recapitalisation of State-owned companies,” the central bank said. The data shows that Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana held a firm line on funding to debt-stricken State companies like ports and railways operator Transnet, providing relief only if they meet strict conditions including implementing recovery plans and selling non-core assets. In his February budget, he provided no new bailouts to state firms.

Independent power producer SolarAfrica Energy has officially broken ground on its first utility-scale solar farm in the Northern Cape. Known as SunCentral, Phase 1 of this project will total about 342 MW in generation capacity, with Phases 2 and 3 to raise the capacity to 1 GW, making it one of the largest projects of its kind in the country.

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