The Financial Surveillance Department of the SA Reserve Bank announced today that SA resident individuals may use their single discretionary allowance (R1m per calendar year) for foreign investment purposes without having to obtain a tax clearance certificate. Previously, the single discretionary allowance (applicable to SA residents over the age of 18), covered the following: a) …
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A big change to the small change 0
The South African government announced last week that it will be discontinuing the production of 5 cent coins. The discontinuation of the 5c denomination is to be welcomed because the denomination is useless in every-day purchase transactions. Nothing in the South African retail sector costs 5c and the only role of the coin is as …
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China – SA trade (part 2) 0
Last week’s article was about the nature of the trade relationship between China and South Africa. Whenever this issue is discussed, there is the potential for criticism of Chinese investors because of the way that they market their manufactured goods at lower prices than local producers. This type of price rivalry is blamed for pushing …
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China – SA trade (part 1) 0
In the words of prominent socio-economic commentator Moeletsi Mbeki, “[China] is both a tantalizing opportunity and a terrifying threat to South Africa.” At present, China is South Africa’s largest trading partner. Mainly raw materials are exported to China, and South Africa imports manufactured goods in return. Chinese businesses have also taken an interest in South …
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Coal in South Africa 0
Although the last few articles have been about mined metals in South Africa, this one is about a mined product that is not a metal or even precious but which is nevertheless an integral part of South Africa’s economy. South Africa is one of the five largest coal exporting countries in the world, and has …
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Chrome in South Africa 1
Chrome may have a reputation as an ornamentation metal on cars, but it is actually a very important metal in industry. Pure chrome has the property of being extremely smooth, and it is therefore useful as a coating for sliding parts of machinery, such as piston shafts, but its main application is in the production …
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Going platinum in South Africa 1
The platinum group of metals are very important in industry and are traded at a higher price than gold, even though the volume of platinum that is traded internationally is only about 6% of that of gold. (World demand for platinum is roughly 130 tonnes per annum.) South Africa is home to about 80% of …
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Reserve Bank governor takes on Finance Minister 2
In my article on 26 September, I discussed the possibility that South Africa may assist the International Monetary Fund in providing a rescue package to the economically distressed Eurozone countries such as Ireland, Portugal and Greece (the co-called Piigs countries – the others are Italy and Spain). This possibility was raised by South African Finance …
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Opposition to Walmart merger 0
My article on 25 July discussed the opposition that three Cabinet Ministers have raised to the take-over or “merger” of South African retail operation Massmart by the international retailer Walmart. What I did not emphasise at the time was the significance of this take-over in South Africa. To people in the USA or the UK, …
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Fuelling the pessimism in South Africa 0
If you’ve been watching the headlines in South African news over the last few years, you’ll probably be accustomed to those big ones that appear from time to time, announcing the imposition of an increase in the price of fuel. Last month was no different, with one headline describing the latest increase as “whopping”. It …
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