After every five years, the national and provincial elections take place where South Africans elect their preferred President and the five-year-term for cabinet ministers elapses. On 08 May 2019 marked the 5th democratic elections and saw Cyril Ramaphosa being unanimously elected as the president of South Africa. A few days after his swearing in, President   read more »

The South African economy slumped sharply in the first three months of 2019, contracting by 3,2%. This is according to Stats SA’s latest gross domestic product (GDP) release. Seven of the ten industries took a knock, with manufacturing, mining and trade the biggest contributors to the fall. The 3,2% decline is the biggest quarterly fall   read more »

The South African economy slumped sharply in the first three months of 2019, contracting by 3,2%.1 Seven of the ten industries took a knock, with manufacturing, mining and trade the biggest contributors to the fall. Construction, mining and trade are in recession. The 3,2% decline is the biggest quarterly fall in economic activity since the   read more »

25 May is National Wine Day! Here are a few fun facts to muse over if you’re planning to enjoy a glass or three.   SA households spend more on wine than on coffee South Africans have clear priorities when it comes to drink. Wine takes up 7,2% of total household expenditure on alcoholic and   read more »

Annual consumer inflation softened to 4,4% in April 2019 after hitting a three-month high of 4,5% in March 2019. While food inflation remains quite stable, rising petrol prices continue to place pressure on consumers. Inflation has remained within the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) target range of 3–6% for two years (since March 2017). The   read more »

Did you know that in 2017, 6,8 million South Africans experienced hunger? While the number has dropped from 13,5 million in 2002, it still affects 1,7 million households across the country. These figures were released in a recent survey, “Towards measuring the extent of food security in South Africa: An examination of hunger and food   read more »

On 8 May 2019, millions of South Africans braved the cold and wet weather and headed to the polls to cast their votes in the country’s sixth democratic elections. The excitement across the country was so tangible that President Cyril Ramaphosa said the 2019 elections were reminiscent of the country’s first democratic elections in 1994.   read more »

The youth aged 15–24 years are the most vulnerable in the South African labour market as the unemployment rate among this age group was 55,2% in the 1st quarter of 2019. Among graduates in this age group, the unemployment rate was 31,0% during this period compared to 19,5% in the 4th quarter of 2018 –   read more »

 MEDIA RELEASE                                                                                                                                                               14 May 2019                    Quarterly Labour Force Survey – QLFS Q1:2019  The results of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the first quarter of 2019 released by Statistics South Africa, indicate that the official unemployment rate increased by 0,5 of a percentage point to 27,6% compared to the fourth quarter   read more »

Freedom Day is a public holiday in South Africa celebrated on 27 April each year. On this day in 1994, South Africa had the first national and non-racial elections where South African citizens of voting age of over 18 years from any race group were allowed to vote. Previously, under the apartheid government, non-whites in   read more »