Financial Mail
The future is prepaid
● Lunga Siyo, CEO of Telkom Consumer and Small Business, sees a massive opportunity to expand its business, anchored in prepaid, with plans to “double down and continue to grow” this segment. “I think the biggest opportunity is in prepaid — both...
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TREAD CAREFULLY IN THE GLOBAL MINEFIELD
After a year of policy unpredictability from Washington, the first few weeks of 2026 appear to have delivered a decisive blow to the foundations of the post-war rulesbased global order. In the US, the criminal investigation into Federal Reserve chair...
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Editor’s Note
r Price’s opinion-splitting acquisition of European value fashion retailer NKD, quite curiously, had some familiar elements — and threw up a name that many readers might associate with probably the biggest corporate disaster in the history of the JSE....
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Black Friday’s grey area
lack Friday” is a misnomer because it is no longer a single day of shopping frenzy. It has become a marathon stretching from early November through December, as retailers pull deals forward to ease oneday pressure on supply chains, staffing and...
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THE ANC AND THE GRIEF CYCLE
"Depend upon it, sir, when a man his mind knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concen“Dtrates wonderfully.” Dr Samuel Johnson’s remark helps us understand what has happened to the ANC in recent months, as personified by its leader, President...
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INVESTING 29 Industrials 31 Media 32 Technology 33 Property 34 Pharmacy Retail 36 The Ghost Train 37 Economic Indicators 40 JSE Top Stocks FM LIFE 43 Cricket 45 None the Wiser: Patrick Bulger
upermarket giant Pick n Pay invites some interesting — and critical — numbercrunching. Consider this: it turned over R36.3bn in the first half of financial 2026, while Boxer, its 65.6%held separately listed subsidiary, generated R22.5bn at the top...
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DERAIL THIS TRAIN OF THOUGHT, NOW
The idea of a high-speed train in South Africa has again raised its ugly head. It is a beast that just won’t die. Transport minister Barbara Creecy said last week that the government was “testing the water for a new 300km/h” rail link between Joburg...
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Large-scale deals require a bank with large-scale capital markets capabilities.
It’s the largest Equity Capital Markets transaction to have ever taken place on the JSE. A landmark mining deal, representing a major step in Anglo American’s plan to unlock the inherent value in its portfolio for shareholders by divesting from...
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TRUMP TRUE TO HIS FICKLE SELF
he greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu US President Donald Trump. The occasion was the exchange of Palestinian prisoners for Israeli hostages, as part of the ceasefire agreement...
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THE GREEN MACHINE
October 9 - October 15 2025 Botswana: P34.00 Eswatini: E46.60
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EASING THE EDUCATION BURDEN
“You men have achieved a miracle.” That was Franklin Sonn, democratic South Africa’s first ambassador to the US, speaking to a conference of headmasters of public boys’ schools in the early 2000s. He was referring to the achievement of these schools...
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ANGLO MERGER TECKS THE RIGHT BOXES
Talks about the $52bn merger of Anglo American with Teck Corp got serious just two months ago. The two companies had been discussing how neighbouring mines in Chile — Collahuasi, in which Anglo has a 44% stake, and Quebrada Blanca (QB) — might realise...
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IS IT WORTH PROPPING UP SA’s STEEL INDUSTRY?
The closure of the long steel business at ArcelorMittal South Africa (Amsa) is no longer a threat but an imminent reality, and with it a significant reshaping of the country’s steel landscape. For decades, the Newcastle and Vereeniging steel plants...
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TROUBLE DOWN THE LINE WITH TRANSNET
South Africa’s railway system was modelled on Britain, the inventor of railways — except in one important respect. South Africa’s railways, apart from a few small companies in the very early days, have always been owned and operated by the state. In...
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SAVE OUR SKILLS
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SPECIAL PROJECTS
40 Investors Monthly Loose The Property Handbook 2025 (For subscribers)
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THE BEST WE NEVER HAD
Who to trust? And what about morale and the South African Police Service (SAPS) chain of command? The country is alarmed. After KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s explosive allegations about senior police officers and...
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A TRUE CHARACTER OF SA JOURNALISM
Stephen Mulholland, who has died aged 88, was one of the great editors and characters of South African journalism. His influence on the FM, and more broadly on the media landscape, was out of all proportion to his relatively short tenure. He became FM...
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BANK TAKES AIM AT INFLATION
After four years of debate, the Reserve Bank has gone into overdrive in its push to have the inflation target lowered from 4.5% to 3%. With consumer inflation below 3% for the past three readings, the time is right to make the move, it argues, with the...
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FULL CIRCLE FOR POSTAL SERVICE
“Letters should go with the regularity of the sun.” This was the motto of 19th-century English novelist Anthony Trollope, who, in addition to his prolific writing, spent 33 years working for the General Post Office (GPO). He created many of its...
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THE SENSIBLE CHOICE FOR MUTUAL
obert Prevost was only given a 2% chance of becoming pope. In contrast, as soon as Iain Williamson announced he was stepping down as Old Mutual CEO, there was just one serious candidate. Jurie Strydom was licking his wounds after losing the tug-of-war...
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SOUTH AFRICA, THE ULTIMATE SURVIVOR
For 31 years, the ANC has dominated South Africa’s political economy. It has also had great success in imposing its moral framework on the country. It has persuaded society that decent and acceptable debates can only exist within the set of boundaries...
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IF AT FIRST YOU DON’T SUCCEED ...
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Reputation is earned.
BEST FOREX HOUSE by our clients for the fourth year running and winner in 12 categories.
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ANC QUIETLY SLIPS THE FISCAL ANCHOR
It’s been just over a year since finance minister Enoch Godongwana mooted the idea of a fiscal rule. Also known as a fiscal anchor, it is designed to cap government borrowing. In his medium-term budget in October, Godongwana promised a discussion...
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THE BUDGET 2025 STRANDED
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HOW TO FIX GOVERNANCE AT SOCs
One thing that President Cyril Ramaphosa got right in 2024 was to put both the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) and Transnet under the same cabinet minister. It never made sense to separate accountability for passenger and goods trains,...
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GNU NOISE IS JUST NOISE
What does 2025 hold for the government of national unity (GNU)? The pact ushered in a wave of optimism, boosting market sentiment and investor interest. When cracks over policy issues emerged early on between parties, President Cyril Ramaphosa...
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THIS IS AN INITIATIVE THAT NEEDS TO SUCCEED
The JSE (touch wood) looks like ending 2024 in a far better position than most mark et watchers might have expected at the start of the year. For those who need reminding, pre-election jitters about possible dire political outcomes sent the all share...
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Www.financialmail.co.za the changes Levy brothers to ring SA: R46.50 inc Vat
Mark Levy November 21 - November 27 2024 Botswana: P34.00 Eswatini: E46.60 Lesotho: M46.50
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THE FUDGE-IT BUDGET
It was always going to be an awkward medium-term budget, occurring as it did a little more than three months after the confidence-boosting formation of the government of national unity (GNU) but before the economy really had a chance to benefit. The...
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MBOWENI LEFT SA A BETTER PLACE
Governor No 8, the Duke of Magoebaskloof, the Earl of Killarney — these were some of the monikers that former Reserve Bank governor (1999-2009) Tito Mboweni wore in his storied career. A big man, with an even bigger personality, Mboweni, who passed...
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A LUXURY RICHEMONT CANNOT AFFORD
Luxury brands conglomerate Richemont has kicked its costly online retailing ambitions further down the road. And what a bumpy information superhighway it’s been for the owner of some of the best-known luxury brands including Cartier, Montblanc,...
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THESE WHEELS MUST TURN FASTER
The competition authorities, at the best of times, can poke a spoke in a deal-making wheel. These interventions can be costly and frustratingly prolonged, even if genuine concerns around fair competition cannot ever be shrugged off. With Parks Tau as...
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TIME TO GET A FOOT IN THE DOOR?
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