Daily News Briefing

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Morning all, hope you’re taking it easy this Saturday.

Saturday, 25 July 2026

End of an era: Ivan Saltzman steps down from Dis-Chem
Ivan Saltzman, the man who built Dis-Chem from a single Mondeor pharmacy into the retail giant it is today, has resigned as a non-executive director. He’s a proper local success story and a lot of us have been walking into a Dis-Chem for decades without really thinking about who started it all. It’s the end of a chapter for one of SA’s genuine home-grown billionaire success stories, and I’ll be curious to see who steps up to fill those shoes on the board.
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The five best-run municipalities in SA, and what it costs to live there
A new list is out ranking South Africa’s top-rated municipalities for 2026, along with the cost of living in each one. This is always an interesting one because it shows you don’t need to be in Sandton to get decent service delivery, some smaller municipalities are quietly doing a much better job than the big metros. If you’re thinking of relocating for a better quality of life without the Joburg traffic and load shedding headaches, this is worth a proper read.
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R1 trillion industry under the Competition Commission’s microscope
One of the country’s biggest employers, an industry worth around a trillion rand, is now facing scrutiny from the National Competition Commission over its business practices. When an industry this size gets this kind of attention, it usually means pricing or conduct that’s been flagged as anti-competitive, and that eventually filters down to what we all pay as consumers. Worth keeping an eye on where this investigation goes because these things can take years but the findings tend to matter a lot when they land.
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New employment equity rules coming for bigger businesses
The Department of Employment and Labour has gazetted a draft Code of Good Practice for employment equity plans, aimed at businesses with more than 50 staff. This is a big deal for anyone running or working at a medium to large company in SA, since it’ll shape how targets and plans get drawn up going forward. If you’re in HR or management, it’s probably worth getting ahead of this one rather than scrambling once it’s final.
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So, who’s actually lived in one of those top rated municipalities, and did it live up to the hype? Chat below.

Have a good one, catch you tomorrow.

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Morning all, happy Friday!

Friday, 24 July 2026

Reserve Bank keeps interest rates on hold, and that’s actually good news for your bond
The MPC decided to leave rates unchanged this week, which means if you’ve got a home loan or you’re looking to buy, things stay steady for now instead of getting more expensive. I know a hold doesn’t feel as exciting as a cut, but after the rollercoaster we’ve had the last few years, steady is something I’ll take. If you’re budgeting for a bond repayment this winter, at least you know what you’re working with for now.
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A Port Elizabeth guy just walked away with R900 million after running a Fortune 500 company in the US
This one’s a proper feel good story for me. A South African became the longest serving CEO of Henry Schein, a massive American company, and he’s leaving with a payout that most of us can’t even properly picture. It’s a good reminder that South Africans do well overseas, we’ve got the skills and the work ethic, we just don’t always get the opportunities here that we should. Makes you wonder how many more of these stories are out there that we never hear about.
[Read more →](South African man leaves with R900 million after building a Fortune 500 company in the United States – BusinessTech]

Mr Price just picked up over 2,000 stores across 7 countries
Mr Price bought out NKD and in one move basically doubled or tripled its footprint outside SA. This is a big statement that South African retail companies aren’t just surviving, they’re actually going out and buying up international competitors. Good for local investors, good for the JSE, and honestly good for our national ego a bit too. We complain a lot about SA business, but this shows some of our companies are punching well above their weight.
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Themba Zwane named in FIFA World Cup match fixing investigation
Now this one’s going to sting for a lot of Bafana Bafana supporters. Zwane, a proper fan favourite, has been linked to an international probe into alleged betting irregularities. I’ll hold my judgement until we see actual evidence, these investigations can drag on and names get thrown around before anything’s proven. But if there’s any truth to it, it’s a massive blow to a team that’s finally been giving us reasons to believe again.
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So, question for the forum this morning: are you more relieved the repo rate stayed put, or more gatvol that we never seem to get an actual cut when we need one? Chat below, let’s hear it.

Have a good one, chat later.

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Morning all, hope everyone’s wrapped up warm because Thursday’s brought some proper Highveld chill with it.

Thursday, 23 July 2026

Interest rates and your payslip are both taking strain
June’s inflation numbers came in higher than expected, which basically kills any hope of a rate cut and now has people talking hikes instead. To make it worse, real take home pay has dropped to its worst level in two years, so we’re all paying more for less while our actual buying power shrinks. I don’t think I need to tell anyone in Pretoria how this feels at the till, groceries and petrol just keep eating into whatever’s left after debit orders go off.
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722 generals and brigadiers costing us R3.6 billion a year
Turns out there are over 700 senior defence force employees each pulling in around R5 million when you factor in pay and benefits, and the department spends R3.6 billion a year just to keep them on the books. I get that senior military people should be paid properly, but that ratio of brass to actual troops on the ground has never sat right with me, especially when we hear about equipment shortages elsewhere. Feels like another case of the state being top heavy while service delivery struggles.
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An old Stellenbosch wine cellar is now a private school
There’s a lovely story out of the Western Cape where a historic wine cellar has been converted into a private school campus, offering decent education for R780 a month. That’s genuinely affordable compared to most private schools, and it shows what’s possible when people repurpose old heritage buildings instead of letting them rot. More of this please, we’ve got beautiful old properties all over the country that could be doing something useful instead of standing empty.
[Read more →](Old wine cellar in South Africa turned into a private school offering top education for R780 a month – BusinessTech]

Dog owners in the firing line in one of our best run municipalities
One of SA’s better managed municipalities is clamping down on residents who ignore dog bylaws, think unregistered pets, noise complaints and owners not cleaning up. It’s a small story in the scheme of things but it says something bigger, that the municipalities actually functioning properly are the ones still enforcing basic rules. Maybe if more of our councils sweated the small stuff we wouldn’t be dealing with the big service delivery messes.
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Right, tell me honestly, are you more annoyed about the rate hikes coming or about those defence force salaries? Chat below, catch you in the comments.

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Howzit, hope your Wednesday’s treating you better than Eskom treats a heatwave.

Wednesday, 22 July 2026

Another taxi shutdown could be coming our way
A provincial taxi industry is threatening to down tools next week over operating licences that just aren’t being issued or renewed fast enough. If you’ve ever tried to get anywhere in this country without a car, you know how quickly a taxi strike can turn a normal Tuesday into absolute chaos. Honestly, it’s the same story every time, government red tape grinding to a halt while ordinary commuters pay the price.
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Over 750 businesses went under this year already
Stats SA has picked its insolvency tracking back up and the numbers aren’t pretty, 753 businesses have folded so far in 2026. That’s a lot of jobs and a lot of dreams gone, and it tells you the economy is still under serious pressure no matter what the headlines say about recovery. I know a few small business owners around Pretoria who are barely hanging on, so this doesn’t surprise me one bit.
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The Diepsloot chicken queen making R720,000
This one’s a proper good news story for a change. A woman and her husband have built up a serious little empire in Diepsloot selling braaied chicken pieces and sides, and they’re pulling in R720,000 doing it. This is what I love about SA, people in the toughest circumstances finding a gap and just grafting until it works. More of this please.
[Read more →](The woman who makes R720,000 braaiing chicken pieces in one of South Africa’s most populated townships – BusinessTech]

Gauteng cop killed in Limpopo mine shootout
A Gauteng police officer was one of two people killed in a shootout linked to illegal mining activity in Limpopo, and the acting provincial commissioner has now ordered all available resources to hunt down those responsible. This zama zama violence just keeps escalating and it’s costing real lives, not just economic damage from stolen minerals. Feels like this problem has been left to fester for years and now it’s boiling over.
[Read more →](Mine clash turns deadly: Gauteng cop among two killed in Limpopo shootout | The Citizen]

So, taxi strikes, business closures and mine violence all in one morning, but also a reminder that ordinary South Africans keep hustling and building regardless. What do you reckon, is it time provinces sort out this operating licence backlog once and for all before we’re all stuck at home again next week?

Chat soon, have a good one.

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Morning all, hope the Tuesday cold snap isn’t giving you too much grief out there.

Tuesday, 21 July 2026

Trial for the July 2021 unrest accused hits another snag
The trial of 62 people accused over the July 2021 riots has stalled again, this time because their attorneys have withdrawn from the case. More than 350 people died across KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng in that unrest, and five years later we still haven’t seen real accountability play out in court. Honestly, it’s starting to feel like a pattern in SA, big traumatic events happen, commissions and trials get set up, and then they just drag on until everyone stops paying attention.
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The rand’s holding its own despite the chaos overseas
With tensions flaring up again in the Middle East, you’d expect the rand to take a proper hiding, and it did wobble for a bit. But it’s shrugged that off and is proving more resilient than most people expected. If you’ve got an overseas trip planned or you’re importing stock for a small business, this is worth keeping an eye on because every cent matters once you’re converting to dollars or euros.
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R326 million clawed back from a Tembisa tender tycoon
The Joburg High Court has granted a final order stripping a Tembisa businessman named Maumela of mansions, Lamborghinis and other assets bought with dodgy tender money, after Kubayi and Motsoaledi’s Asset Forfeiture Unit did the digging. This is exactly the kind of result people keep asking for when they complain about tender corruption. It won’t fix the system overnight, but seeing someone actually lose the loot, even years later, gives me a bit of hope that accountability isn’t completely dead here.
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New procurement rules might make things worse, not better
Government has rolled out new public procurement regulations meant to clean up state tenders, but critics reckon they’re more complicated, more expensive to comply with, and could actually open new doors for graft instead of closing the old ones. Considering the story above about the Tembisa tycoon, you’d think the goal would be simpler rules that are easier to police, not harder ones that just add red tape. I’m not holding my breath on this one.
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There’s also a proper argument brewing about SASSA grants at the moment, with some pensioners saying grants should match the minimum wage, and others clashing over who actually deserves support after decades of paying tax. Where do you land on that one, should pensions go up regardless, or does it depend on what someone’s put in over the years? Let me know below.

A quick note: I couldn’t verify the full detail on the passport/visa story (BusinessTech’s headline got cut off mid-sentence, naming an unspecified Asian country) since I wasn’t able to fetch the full article this time, so I left it out rather than guess. Happy to add it in if you can confirm the destination country, or I can take another crack at pulling the source next time.

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