MTN, Vodacom ordered to slash data prices; Worse than Eskom: SA water crisis looms; manufacturing slumps

Loading player...
In the headlines today:
President Cyril Ramaphosa has warned that South Africa faces a grave water crisis. In his weekly letter to citizens, he says: “Unless we take drastic measures to conserve water sources and promote efficient use, water insecurity will become the biggest developmental and economic challenge facing this country. Our current energy challenges will seem small by comparison.

South Africa’s two biggest mobile-phone companies have been ordered to step up efforts to lower data prices within the next two months or face prosecution by the country’s antitrust regulator, reports Bloomberg. Vodacom and MTN have the potential to reduce tariffs by 30% to 50%, Tembinkosi Bonakele, the head of the country’s Competition Commission, said in Pretoria on Monday.

Sentiment in South Africa’s manufacturing industry slipped in November, signalling contraction in the industry for a fourth straight month, reports Reuters. Absa’s Purchasing Managers’ Index, compiled by the Bureau for Economic Research, fell to 47.7 from 48.1 in October, the Johannesburg-based lender said in an emailed statement on Monday.

Offshore investors sold a net R9.84bn ($669m) of South African stocks last week and R3.46bn of bonds, data from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange showed on Monday, says Reuters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
2 Dec 2019 7AM English South Africa Investing · Business News

Other recent episodes

BizNews Edge: Stranger than fiction - Jooste's consigliere meets ET-type end

Today's BizNews Edge covers three stories that cut to the heart of South African business and politics. John Steenhuisen has broken publicly with the DA, naming Geordin Hill-Lewis and Tony Leon in allegations that threaten serious damage to the party just months before the 2026 municipals. Prosus, once a byword…
29 Jun 5AM 24 min

Criminalising corporate silence with Wendy Addison

South Africa's first high-profile whistleblower Wendy Addison is done talking shop. She's raised a criminal docket against a corporation and its directors for silencing two financial industry whistleblowers — and she thinks it could be a watershed moment. Can personal criminal accountability finally give whistleblower protection real teeth?
29 Jun 3AM 23 min

BN Daybreak: Strait of Hormuz showdown as US and Iran head back to Doha

Vessels are still threading the Strait of Hormuz, but a Bloomberg analyst calls it Schrodinger's Strait: you never know if it's open until you try to get through. With traffic down to a fraction of normal and ships taking hits, owners are weighing whether the world's most vital oil route…
28 Jun 9PM 15 min