Star 2025-08-13

The Government Pensions Administration Agency (GPAA) has refuted all allegations of mismanagement of funds, irregular procurement, and subvertion of governance processes. This comes after weekend reports that the GPAA paid R270 million to contractors for refurbishing a building it allegedly has no legal access to, linked to a 10-year office lease agreement estimated at R1 billion. The GPAA is a government agency that administers funds for the Government Employees Pension Fund, serving 1.7 million employees and pensioners. GPAA spokesperson, Mack Lewele, on Tuesday said the allegations were the subject of an ongoing audit process. Lekwele told Business Report that due to this process, the GPAA was not in a position to make pre-emptive statements as they may jeopardise the audit outcome. “As stated previously, we reiterate that our process to…

Platinum metals group will dispose SA mining operations, to focus on Zambian copper business Jubilee Metals Group plans to dispose of its chrome and platinum group mining operations in South Africa - it is one of the five top chrome producers worldwide - for up to $90 million (R15.8 billion), so that it can focus on its copper business in Zambia. This appears similar, albeit at a smaller scale, to the strategy being adopted by former South African mining goliath, Anglo American, which has already divested of its South African platinum and coal assets and will also soon sell its diamond assets, to focus on its new core assets: copper, premium iron ore, and crop nutrients. Jubilee Metals, which owns and operates several chrome and PGM processing plants across the…

The South African poultry industry has voiced concerns about the government’s decision to facilitate the import of 72 000 metric tons of poultry from the United States as part of measures to boost trade and reduce the tariffs. The local poultry industry on Tuesday said it has been sacrificed to benefit the automotive sector and others focusing on profitable exports to the US. The South African Poultry Association (SAPA) told Business Report that the decision was a surprise. SAPA CEO Izaak Breitenbach said the industry had instead been hard at negotiations with the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic) to suspend the US imports prior to the tariff negotiations. Breitenbach said that the US, under the African Growth and Opportunity Act agreements, along with Brazil, were amongst the…

The official unemployment rate in South Africa rose to its highest in one year as the jobless population surged by 140 000 in the three months to June, resulting in a total of 8.4 million individuals seeking work. The increase in unemployment has raised concerns, with the official unemployment rate jumping by 0.3 percentage points from 32.9% in the first quarter to 33.2% in the second quarter. This is the highest jobless rate since the second quarter of 2024. According to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) results for the second quarter of 2025, the labour market showed a modest increase in employment numbers but this was coupled with a worrying rise in the unemployment rate. Statistics South Africa said there was an increase of 19 000 employed persons, bringing…

The doctrine of public good, in relation to modern banking or banks, was introduced as early as 19th century. In more recent times, the notion that banks are a public good has been articulated more sharply by careful scholars in economics, having had regard to what money is and what banks do. It is now settled that banks perform a public good function. Classical and neoclassical theory however, the type of doctrine religiously followed and evangelised by Treasury and the Reserve Bank, erroneously conceptualised banks as mere financial intermediaries whose role in the economy can be replaced by any other firm, consequently subject to the theory of a firm just like all other firms. For banks, this means they receive money (deposits) for safekeeping on behalf of depositors. They can…

The Minister of Home Affairs Dr Leon Schreiber on Tuesday announced Capitec Bank and First National Bank (FNB) as the first banks that have elected to sign up to the Department’s new digital partnership model that will expand access to Smart ID and Passport services. This is from the existing 30 to hundreds more bank branches in both urban and rural areas across South Africa, as well as to digital banking applications. Schreiber said a third bank would be announced soon that joined the partnership. The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) said it marks the beginning of the end for long travelling distances to reach Home Affairs services, for long queues, as well as for the Green ID book with its unacceptable vulnerability to fraud and identity theft, and the…