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Daily English South Africa Business News · News
12,931 Episodes
880 – 900

Gold slips before release of Fed minutes

Bengaluru — Gold eased on Monday, extending a sell-off that left the market with its worst week in five months as caution crept in ahead of the release of US Federal Reserve minutes later this week. Spot gold was down 0.2% to $1,940.73 per ounce by 4.58am. Gold fell 4.5%…
17 Aug 2020 1AM 2 min

Oil edges higher as China increases US crude imports

Singapore — Oil prices rose on Monday as China’s plans to ship in large volumes of US crude in August and September outweighed concerns over a slowdown in demand recovery after the coronavirus pandemic and an uptick in supplies. Brent crude added 30c, or 0.7%, to $45.10 a barrel by…
17 Aug 2020 1AM 2 min

JSE faces mostly positive Asian markets on Monday

The JSE faces mixed, but mostly higher Asian markets on Monday morning, and may get a lift from the prospect of SA’s move to level 2 lockdown on Tuesday. The lifting of bans on alcohol and tobacco sales, as well as the activity of bars and restaurants may help improve…
17 Aug 2020 1AM 1 min

How the labour law protects new mothers

Pregnant employees are strongly protected under South African law. There are no fewer than six pieces of legislation that require employers to treat pregnant and post-pregnant employees with the greatest of care. One of these pieces of legislation is the Code of good practice on pregnancy and after birth (…
16 Aug 2020 6PM 3 min

ROB ROSE: Don’t think it’s the end of the nanny state

If you think President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to lift the ban on cigarettes and alcohol from tomorrow means an abrupt end of the nanny state, you’re likely to be sorely disappointed. This, at least, is the impression you get by reading the legal papers filed by government leaders, notably cooperative…
16 Aug 2020 5PM 5 min

Democrats call Trump’s postal chief to testify on cutbacks ahead of election

Washington — Top Democrats in the US Congress on Sunday called on President Donald Trump's appointed postmaster general to testify in August on changes that have stoked fears they are aimed at holding up mail-in ballots ahead of the November election. The US Postal Service's internal watchdog has begun investigating…
16 Aug 2020 4PM 3 min

India sends team to Mauritius as stranded oil tanker breaks apart

India has sent technical equipment and a team of specialists to Mauritius to help local authorities deal with an environmental crisis after an oil spill from a Japanese ship, a government official said on Sunday. A Japanese bulk carrier struck a coral reef off the Indian Ocean island nation on…
16 Aug 2020 4PM 2 min

José Filomeno dos Santos jailed for five years

A court in Luanda has sentenced the son of former Angolan president José Eduardo dos Santos to five years in prison over a $500m corruption case, the Portuguese news agency Lusa reports. José Filomeno dos Santos, the former head of Angola's $5bn sovereign wealth fund, was found guilty, along with…
16 Aug 2020 3PM 1 min

SA’s cement foundation should not be allowed to collapse

Attractive is not a word that springs to mind when thinking about concrete. Dull, heavy, grey, boring and ugly are more likely descriptors. Yet concrete has been foundational to human society for centuries. Cement can be found in Babylonian, Assyrian, Egyptian and ancient Greek architecture. Even today, the magnificent dome…
16 Aug 2020 2PM 5 min

Benefits can outweigh drawbacks in new workplace reality

The Covid-19 pandemic has modernised thinking about the workplace. The notion that “work” is something you do and not a place you go to is a major mindshift that is setting in. In his book Maverick, Ricardo Semler describes an unusual workplace that, in 1993, was far ahead of its…
16 Aug 2020 2PM 5 min

Eskom warns load-shedding may return this week

Eskom says the power supply will be severely constrained this week due to the unavailability of eight generation units and delays in its maintenance programme. While some of the units that have broken down will be returned to service on Sunday evening and Monday “the system is expected to remain…
16 Aug 2020 2PM 1 min

Russia offers military support to Belarusian leader Lukashenko

Minsk — Russia said on Sunday it had told Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko it was ready to offer military assistance if necessary as demonstrators held one of the biggest protests yet against Lukashenko’s contested re-election. The protest in Minsk attracted tens of thousands of people, despite the deaths of at…
16 Aug 2020 1PM 4 min

TELITA SNYCKERS: With the ban lifted, what’s next for dirty tobacco?

It’s taken 141 days, but from tomorrow, the tobacco ban will finally be lifted. Unfortunately, it may well be too little, too late. The fact is, illicit cigarettes are likely to dominate the local landscape in the foreseeable future. What does the lifting of the ban mean for the balance…
16 Aug 2020 1PM 5 min

PODCAST | The outlook for the African legal environment with Andrew Skipper

Click here ( to listen to the podcast. Podcast host Desné Masie welcomes Andrew Skipper, head of Africa at Hogan Lovells and a senior partner in the corporate practice of the firm, on African Business podcasts. ( In this episode, Skipper sets out the pertinent issues for investors and entrepreneurs…
16 Aug 2020 1PM 1 min

EDITORIAL: Easing lockdown brings relief — now it’s up to us

President Cyril Ramaphosa certainly took his time to confirm last week’s reports that South Africans will be able to, legally, enjoy a drink at a bar, travel between provinces and puff on a cigarette. But the decision — in which he juggled downward trends in confirmed Covid-19 cases, hospital admissions…
16 Aug 2020 12PM 3 min

Easing the state of disaster may lift the lid on community protests

Since March, material conditions have worsened significantly for most of the population. SA is well known for its protests, and in normal circumstances one might expect heightened conflict. Yet in practice most protests have been prohibited under state of disaster regulations and senior politicians have warned that marches spread coronavirus…
16 Aug 2020 12PM 7 min

A rebel with a feminist cause — Diana Russell

Diana Russell: November 6 1938 — July 28 2020. Recent years have seen an increase in protest, marches and public outcry about the scourge of violence against women. Social media groups are prolific and an abundance of non-profit organisations support victims, educate potential perpetrators and lobby for policy changes. In…
16 Aug 2020 11AM 5 min

CHINA DAILY: US will violate rules by labelling Hong Kong goods as made in China

The government of the Hong Kong special administrative region is considering taking action under the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO) after the US issued a notice saying Hong Kong-made products imported to the US will have to carry “Made in China” labels from September 25. A Hong Kong…
16 Aug 2020 11AM 2 min
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