It’s been three years since the #FeesMustFall campaign erupted on campuses across the country. Thousands of students protested – at times violently – over rising tuition fees. On the back of frustration over the lack of funding for poorer students, the movement resuscitated, in a big way, the debate over whether South Africa should offer   read more »

Summer is here and it’s time once again for the tourist high season. For those in the tourism industry, it is the busiest time of the year with tourists from around the globe flocking to South African shores to enjoy our beautiful beaches, the African sun and the many attractions that South Africa has to   read more »

Does that braai pack feel a bit expensive? If you’ve recently noticed a rise in meat prices, then you’re not alone. Let’s take a closer look at that, as well as other items in the consumer price index with inflation higher than South Africa’s inflation target of 3–6% that is used for monetary policy. In   read more »

It’s hard to believe. It goes against what we often hear. Whether chatting with friends around the braai or debating with family at the dinner table, almost everyone has a story to tell about their own experiences with rising prices. Surprisingly, data show that there are in fact items that are cheaper now than they   read more »

More bad news looms for job-seekers as the formal non-agricultural sector of the economy reported a decline of 34 000 jobs for the quarter ended June 2017. This is according to the latest Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES) report released by Statistics South Africa. The QES data tracks changes in employment at the establishment level, and thus   read more »

After two consecutive quarters of decline, the South African economy spluttered back to life in the second quarter of 2017. Positive contributions to higher economic activity across most industries – in particular agriculture, finance and mining – lifted the gross domestic product (GDP) by 2,5% quarter-on-quarter (seasonally adjusted and annualised). Agriculture continued to show strong   read more »

  Media Release                                                                                                        22 August 2017 Poverty Trends in South Africa: An examination of absolute poverty between 2006 & 2015 The proportion of the population living in poverty declined from 66,6% (31,6 million persons) in 2006 to 53,2% (27,3 million) in 2011, but increased to   read more »

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   read more »

  Press statement                         Embargo: Tuesday 6 June 2017, 11:30   GDP in the first quarter of 2017 contracted by 0,7%   Gross domestic product (measured by production)   South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate was -0,7% in the first quarter of 2017.1 The largest negative contributor to growth in GDP in the first   read more »

The South African economy moved into recession with the reported decrease of 0,7% in GDP during the first quarter of 2017, following a 0,3% contraction in the fourth quarter of 2016. Using the widely accepted measure of ‘recession’ as two (or more) consecutive quarters of negative growth (real GDP quarter-on-quarter), this means that South Africa   read more »