Tighter profits in the formal business sector

The formal business sector, excluding agriculture and banking, generated R2,34 trillion in income during the first quarter of 2017, for the months of January, February and March. On average, that’s R300 560 of income generated every second over that 90-day period.You might be thinking that’s quite a hefty amount. You might catch yourself imagining the difference it would make to your personal finances if the fruits of just one or two...

Electricity: big business for municipalities

The recent power blackout in Msunduzi municipality again highlights the importance of electricity supply. Large parts of Pietermaritzburg were plunged into darkness for about a week when saboteurs, suspected to be striking workers, disrupted the city’s power grid².

Municipalities: Which are most in debt?

The answer might surprise you. Stats SA’s recently released Financial census of municipalities report, for 2016, provides in-depth detail on the financial state of South Africa’s municipalities, including levels of debt.

SA reports 48 000 job losses in first quarter

With South Africa formally in recession and hoping for some good news, the latest employment figures released by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) holds no reprieve. According to the March 2017 Quarterly Employment Survey (QES), an estimated 9 644 000 persons were employed in the formal non-agricultural sector of the South African economy. This reflected a net quarterly decrease of 48 000 employees between December 2016 and March 2017.