Sunday Tribune 2025-08-03

In a bold leap for South African fintech innovation, a new app is reimagining the way we give and invest. Squirrel Away, a first-of-its-kind platform in the local market, offers a simple yet powerful alternative to traditional gifting: instead of toys or gift cards, friends and family can now contribute directly to a child’s financial future. Launched in May 2025, Squirrel Away has quickly gained traction on both the Google Play Store and Apple App Store, drawing in hundreds of users within its first few weeks. At its core, the app enables anyone to gift investments, without any minimum deposit requirement, through a user-friendly interface. More than just a convenient tool, it’s a platform with a powerful purpose: fostering long-term wealth and financial literacy, starting from childhood. A vision born…

Generation Z is entering the workforce in numbers too large to ignore. By 2030, they’ll make up nearly 40% of South Africa’s working population. They are young, ambitious, tech-savvy, and largely uninsured. In a country where private medical aid remains unaffordable for many, a worrying number of Gen Z employees are going without any form of health cover. This isn’t due to negligence. It’s economics. The average Gen Z worker, either fresh out of university or early in their career, simply doesn’t earn enough to justify paying thousands of rands a month for traditional medical aid schemes. As a result, many are walking a tightrope without a safety net. The high cost of poor cover The implications for employers are bigger than they may realise. A generation under financial pressure…

South African consumers were given some reprieve this past week as the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) lowered interest rates in the country. SARB Governor Governor Lesetja Kganyago announced that the central bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted to cut the repurchase rate (repo rate) by 25 basis points (BPS). This means the repo rate will decrease from 7.25% to 7%, effectively taking the prime lending rate in the country to 10.50% from 10.75%. Kganyago said that the decision was unanimous among the MPC members. “For policy, as we showed last time, lower inflation allows for lower interest rates. In our Quarterly Projection Model, for a 4.5% objective, rates bottom out around 7%. “By contrast, the forecast for a 3% objective has roughly five more cuts, over the medium term,…

It was one of those weeks where I wanted to just have a good laugh, and I found a sure-fire bet to do that with Shifting Gears on Disney+. With Tim Allen (Home Improvement) and Kat Dennings (2 Broke Girls) heading the cast, it looked like the perfect vehicle to help me unwind. In this frenzied binge-watching era, where you try and keep up with the deluge of content across streaming platforms, not forgetting traditional TV offerings, it can drive you mad. This 10-part dysfunctional family comedy, following the traditional American blueprint, allows you to simply pause and enjoy. Look, it’s not a trailblazing offering that flips the genre on its head. It’s just a well-written and well-cast offering. Still grieving over his late wife, Matt Parker (Allen) keeps busy…

After decades away from the golf course, iconic actor Adam Sandler is back on the green in the highly anticipated sequel to the 1996 sports comedy classic, Happy Gilmore. This time around, Happy (Sandler) is the opposite of what his name suggests. He’s a washed-up, legendary world golf champion who is now an alcoholic. He has liquor stored in canisters shaped as a TV remote control to a cucumber, and even a cellphone. If you’re worried about not having seen the original film, fear not. Happy Gilmore 2 begins with a recap that perfectly captures the essence of the first movie, making it easy for newcomers to jump right in. Happy’s journey continues as he grapples with the loss of his wife and the challenges of raising five grown children,…

Eric Bana’s absence from the TV landscape is over; he’s back, helming Netflix’s mystery thriller Untamed. Through his role as Kyle Turner, a National Park Service Investigative Services Branch (ISB) special agent at Yosemite National Park, he proves why he is revered as one of Hollywood’s finest actors. The six-part series takes viewers on an emotional rollercoaster with its characters navigating a delicate balancing act between their personal demons and professional responsibilities. Set in Yosemite National Park, it homes in on the investigators looking into a murder, with their work cut out for them as they face political pressure within their ranks. The series opens with Kyle enjoying some downtime with his son Caleb until it is cut short by a call about a young woman’s body being found. Rushing…