Star 2025-06-06

The Health Funders Association (HFA), representing 21 medical schemes and three administrators, announced a legal challenge against critical components of the National Health Insurance (NHI) Act during a media briefing on Thursday. HFA's CEO, Thoneshan Naidoo, said the organisation supported universal health coverage (UHC) but criticised the NHI Act as unaffordable, unworkable, and unconstitutional. Key Concerns with the NHI Act The NHI Act establishes a centralised, state-controlled fund that consolidates all healthcare financing, prohibiting medical schemes from covering services reimbursable by the NHI. Naidoo argued that this restriction infringes on citizens' constitutional rights to choose how they access and fund healthcare beyond state provisions. "South Africa deserves an equitable, high-quality healthcare system," Naidoo said. "While we support this vision, the NHI Act is fiscally unfeasible and threatens the stability…

According to the OECD survey economic output grew by 0.7% annually in the past ten years South Africa’s economy remains under significant strain, with gross domestic product (GDP) growth lagging behind population increases over the past decade. According to the OECD Economic Survey: South Africa 2025, economic output grew by a mere 0.7% annually in the past ten years. This slow pace resulted in stagnating or declining GDP per capita, further deepening the country’s entrenched unemployment and inequality. The OECD warned that “economic growth has averaged only 0.7% per year over the past decade, below that of the population,” a key factor in the country’s deteriorating living standards. Public debt, which stood at 31.5% of GDP in 2010, is projected to balloon to 77% by 2025, increasing debt servicing costs…

Sasol has “optimised” its decarbonisation strategy to 2030, but there remain unanswered questions about whether the fuel-from-coal and chemicals group will be able to meet its 2030 emissions targets given its slow pace so far and plans to increase production. This was according to shareholder activist organisation Just Share, which said Sasol’s Capital Market Day last week had raised some serious questions about how Sasol, which generates about 10% of South Africa’s greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), will meet its 2030, 30% emission reduction target with its revised Emission Reduction Roadmap (ERR). Sasol said in response to BR questions on this issue that the new ERR has been carefully designed to meet the 2030 target, while unlocking value, offering optionality, and transforming the group’s asset base. “It supports Secunda’s evolution into…

Investment in clean energy technologies is set to strike a record this year despite global economic uncertainty, double the spending on fossil fuels that will dip for the first time since 2020, the International Energy Agency said Thursday. While the Trump administration has been hostile to renewable energy sources and trumpets boosting oil production, the IEA said security concerns as well as rising demand for electricity - including from artificial intelligence and data centres - is driving investment in clean energy sources. “Amid the geopolitical and economic uncertainties that are clouding the outlook for the energy world, we see energy security coming through as a key driver of the growth in global investment this year to a record $3.3 trillion (R59trl) as countries and companies seek to insulate themselves from…

Turkish mobile network operator, Turkcel, is set to oppose MTN’s bid in the Constitutional Court to appeal a recent ruling that will allow allegations of bribery against MTN to be heard in South Africa. MTN, Africa’s largest mobile network operator, approached the Constitutional Court arguing that South Africa doesn’t have jurisdiction to hear legal bids over alleged corruption in Iran, and the matter should be heard there. In April, the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) allowed Turkcell to present evidence alleging MTN committed bribery and corruption to overturn an Iranian GSM licence award. The SCA ruling marked the first time a South African court determined whether misconduct allegations abroad could be heard locally. On Thursday, Turkcell said it was opposing MTN’s application to the Constitutional Court. In a statement, it…

Hedge funds often occupy a paradoxical space in investors’ minds: widely discussed, poorly understood. The appeal of hedge funds is well established - diversification, agility, consistent risk-adjusted returns, and greater flexibility. However, the path to accessing these benefits is far less straightforward. In an environment shaped by volatility, shifting market regimes, and rapid structural change, the central question is no longer why hedge funds, but how to identify the strategies best positioned to perform. With increased regulation and transparency over time, the hedge fund industry has evolved into one that offers investors a range of strategies and structures tailored to varying preferences, risk appetites, and objectives. Long/short Equity Long/short equity strategies are designed with two core objectives in mind: enhancing alpha and managing beta. By going long on undervalued stocks…