Star 2025-02-11

A two-year long battle between two bottled water companies continues to go back and forth in the courts, with arguments being made and denied that money was misused by Oasis Water, the largest dedicated water shop network in the country. The matter dates to February 2023 after a former franchisee, MANZI Water, alleged that Oasis had breached its contract over aspects including that Oasis was competing with its own franchises. Oasis operates what it calls “the largest dedicated water shop network in the country”. It has 88 successful franchisees managing around 400 outlets and bottling facilities nationwide. Hundreds of pages of court papers have been exchanged between the two parties. Alfred Challis, CEO of MANZI Water, had previously told Business Report that: “three judges in the High Courts have considered…

Farming associations and experts in South Africa have raised concern about the impact on the agriculture sector after an Executive Order signed by US President Donald Trump granting refugee status to Afrikaners. The order, unveiled on Saturday, has sent ripples of concern throughout the agricultural sector, prompting farming associations and experts to voice fears over food security and economic stability. In his official statement, President Trump asserted that the US would no longer support the South African government’s alleged violations of human rights over its Land Expropriation Act and its actions, which he said undermined the US foreign policy. The executive order not only halts US aid to South Africa but also promotes the resettlement of Afrikaner refugees, raising alarms among those invested in the nation's agricultural future. Professor Andre…

Deloitte Africa has cautioned that the National Treasury needs to build a more sustainable debt trajectory in a bid to lower South Africa’s risk premium as the country’s public finances continue to deteriorate under the burden of This comes as finance minister, Enoch Godongwana, will deliver his fourth Budget Speech of his term next week after indicating that economic reforms were starting to yield results, noting improvements in electricity supply, stabilised logistics, and reduced business costs in his speech a year ago. The budget is expected to focus on tax reforms, sustainable development, job creation, healthcare funding, infrastructure investments, and support for agriculture. Despite these positive strides, it is clear that South Africans will have to navigate financial pressures for a while longer. Hannah Marais, chief economist at Deloitte Africa,…

Predominant exports are aluminium and semi-fabricated products such as plates, sheets, and foil The South African steel and aluminium export market to the United States is bracing for a significant impact from a possible 25% additional sweeping tariff which may cripple local companies unless exemption rules are applied fairly, a slim hope with current sentiment between the two countries, observers said Monday. This comes as US President Donald Trump announced Sunday that his administration will impose a sweeping 25% tariff on all steel and aluminium imports, a move that could have significant repercussions for South Africa’s economy. Industry stakeholders said the broad spread of the tariffs amongst major steel producing countries would exert inflationary pressure on local producers and increase the risk of more dumping by countries cut-off from the…

President Donald Trump's second term in office and his threats should not be taken lightly because he is acting on his promises this time, which should be sufficient for other countries he has mentioned in passing or during conversations. Consider Mexico and Colombia, where Presidents Gustavo Petro and Claudia Sheinbaum may have interpreted Trump's remarks lightly before his directives were issued. In reference to South Africa in particular, Trump recently declared that he was stopping aid to the country while an inquiry was to be conducted, citing "human rights violations." The most crucial prerequisite for African countries to be eligible for the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) is that their human rights must be in line with its provisions. On February 7, 2025, Trump signed an executive order titled…

Zimbabwe’s central bank has issued a new directive for listed companies to report their financial results in the country’s struggling local currency, and also reduced the portion of proceeds that exporters retain in foreign currency. Stretched for foreign exchange resources and struggling to entrench usage of the Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) local unit of exchange, the administration of President Emerson Mnangagwa has been scrambling for ways to contain company closures, de-stocking by retailers and decimation of the formal economy. This has resulted in new monetary measures announced by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor, John Mushayavanhu, including a requirement that companies listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange report their financials in the ZiG currency. With the economy highly dollarised, most Zimbabwe listed companies had started to report their financials in US…