# Business Bagel
> Fast, clear, daily coverage of the markets, money and companies shaping South Africa. A bite of business, every day.
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Append `.md` to any post or page URL to get the content in Markdown (for example, `/example-post.md`).

## Pages
- [About](https://www.businessbagel.com/about.md) - Business Bagel is South Africa’s business and finance news, served daily. We cut through the noise to bring you fast, clear, decisive coverage of the markets, money and companies shaping South Africa — and what they actually mean for you. We believe business news shouldn’t be dense, dry or reserved…
- [Editorial Standards](https://www.businessbagel.com/editorial.md) - Our commitment to independent, accurate and clearly-sourced business and finance journalism.
- [Business Bagel](https://www.businessbagel.com/links.md) - South Africa's daily business & finance brief. Subscribe, read, listen and partner with us.
- [Markets](https://www.businessbagel.com/markets.md) - Markets data hub.
- [Privacy Policy](https://www.businessbagel.com/privacy.md) - How Business Bagel collects, uses and protects your personal information, in line with POPIA.
- [Work with us](https://www.businessbagel.com/work-with-us.md) - Daily SA business & finance · live now South Africa’s business news, served daily. A bite of business. Daily. Fast, clear, decisive coverage of the markets, money and businesses shaping South Africa — across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Spotify, WhatsApp and the newsletter. One audience. Every platf…

## Posts
- [South Africa's factories shrank again in June, and the economy may feel it](https://www.businessbagel.com/south-africas-factories-shrank-again-in-june-and-the-economy-will-feel-it.md) - Manufacturing output fell 1.7% in June, a softer patch than May but still a decline that is likely to drag on second-quarter growth.
- [The Roundup — Friday, 14 August 2026](https://www.businessbagel.com/the-roundup-friday-14-august-2026.md) - Today's edition Cart Blanche Good morning. Some things look unstoppable right up until you ask what’s actually keeping them moving. Today’s stories are full of momentum - businesses racing ahead, markets suddenly finding their feet, and technology getting smarter by the week. But underneath all tha…
- [Claude is about to hide a watermark in everything it writes, and some users are furious](https://www.businessbagel.com/claude-is-about-to-hide-a-watermark-in-everything-it-writes-and-some-users-are-furious.md) - Anthropic is embedding an invisible, machine-readable mark in Claude's text to meet a new European law, and it travels with your words when you copy and paste.
- [The rand just hit a five-month high, and South Africa barely earned it](https://www.businessbagel.com/the-rand-just-hit-a-five-month-high-and-south-africa-barely-earned-it.md) - A soft US inflation reading knocked the dollar and pushed the rand to its strongest since March, pulling R23.1 billion of foreign money into local bonds in a week.
- [Shoprite's Sixty60 is becoming a business big enough to list on its own](https://www.businessbagel.com/shoprites-sixty60-is-quietly-becoming-a-business-big-enough-to-list-on-its-own.md) - Checkers Sixty60 sold R25.5 billion of groceries last year, growing nearly five times faster than Shoprite's supermarkets, and this week it gave its AI assistant a voice.
- [The company behind PayJustNow skipped its dividend as bad debts piled up](https://www.businessbagel.com/the-company-behind-payjustnow-skipped-its-dividend-as-bad-debts-piled-up.md) - Weaver Fintech grew revenue 10% to R2.8 billion, but a 62% jump in bad-debt costs and a debit-order glitch pushed earnings lower and the payout to zero.
- [Foschini's owner spent a billion rand buying its own shares. It has lost about half](https://www.businessbagel.com/foschinis-owner-spent-a-billion-rand-buying-its-own-shares-it-has-lost-about-half.md) - TFG borrowed more than R1 billion for the first buyback in its history at nearly R106 a share; ten months on, the stock trades near R55.
- [Standard Bank just had its best six months ever, and shareholders are getting paid](https://www.businessbagel.com/standard-bank-just-had-its-best-six-months-ever-and-shareholders-are-getting-paid.md) - Africa's biggest bank grew profit to a record R26.1 billion and lifted its dividend 10%, as fewer bad loans and busier trading desks did the heavy lifting.
- [Gold's record run hands Gold Fields a bumper first half](https://www.businessbagel.com/golds-record-run-hands-gold-fields-a-bumper-first-half.md) - Higher output and a record gold price are set to push Gold Fields' half-year earnings up as much as 90%, with free cash flow more than doubling.
- [Platinum's turn: Northam's earnings jump nearly eightfold, and it lifts the dividend floor](https://www.businessbagel.com/platinums-turn-northams-earnings-jump-nearly-eightfold-and-it-lifts-the-dividend-floor.md) - A 57% surge in the rand PGM price drove record revenue, profit and earnings, and Northam is now returning more cash to shareholders.
- [The Roundup — Thursday, 13 August 2026](https://www.businessbagel.com/the-roundup-thursday-13-august-2026.md) - Today's edition Class Act Good morning. It's results season, and the market is in a mood to argue with the numbers. Two of today's biggest names both posted strong halves, and only one of them got any credit for it. One is busy building the future the state can't keep up with; the other is getting…
- [MTN just posted its best African run in years, so why did R22.55bn vanish?](https://www.businessbagel.com/mtn-just-posted-its-best-african-run-in-years-so-why-did-r22-55bn-vanish.md) - A single writedown on MTN's stranded Iran stake dragged reported profit down and knocked the share nearly 6%, even as its core markets boomed.
- [Varsity College's owner is building the campuses the state can't, and cashing in](https://www.businessbagel.com/varsity-colleges-owner-is-building-the-campuses-the-state-cant-and-cashing-in.md) - Advtech guided half-year earnings up to 18% higher as it opens new campuses in Sandton and Gqeberha, with Durban next.
- [The JSE-listed landlord quietly winning in Spain](https://www.businessbagel.com/the-jse-listed-landlord-quietly-winning-in-spain.md) - Lighthouse Properties lifted half-year earnings almost 10% as recent Spanish mall buys fed through, and raised its dividend outlook.
- [Google's Gemini joins the billion-user club, drawing level with ChatGPT](https://www.businessbagel.com/googles-gemini-joins-the-billion-user-club-drawing-level-with-chatgpt.md) - Gemini has passed a billion monthly users, Google's fastest climb yet, as AI assistants reach a scale once reserved for the biggest internet platforms.
- [The cheapest Uber is going away: UberX bows out in South Africa on 1 September](https://www.businessbagel.com/the-cheapest-uber-is-going-away-uberx-bows-out-in-south-africa-on-1-september.md) - The budget ride that put Uber on local roads in 2014 is being retired as the app trims its menu and the low-cost fight with Bolt and InDrive heats up.
- [Shoprite opened more stores last year than Pick n Pay, Woolworths and Spar combined](https://www.businessbagel.com/shoprite-opened-more-stores-last-year-than-pick-n-pay-woolworths-and-spar-combined.md) - While much of SA retail trod water, the Checkers owner added a net 262 stores and guided full-year earnings up to 14.7% higher.
- [Meta's new AI model is small enough to run on your laptop](https://www.businessbagel.com/metas-new-ai-model-is-small-enough-to-run-on-your-laptop.md) - Alongside a 6,500-word manifesto from Mark Zuckerberg, Meta released Muse Glimmer — a model built to put an AI agent on your own machine.
- [Nedbank is about to debit some customers for fees it forgot to charge](https://www.businessbagel.com/nedbank-is-about-to-debit-some-customers-for-fees-it-forgot-to-charge.md) - A billing glitch undercharged certain debit-order fees between February and May. On 17 August, the bank claws back the difference.
- [The Roundup — Wednesday, 12 August 2026](https://www.businessbagel.com/the-roundup-wednesday-12-august-2026.md) - Today's edition Return Of Daily Bagel... Kind Of Good morning! If you’re one of the original Daily Bagel readers, I’m so happy to see you again. A few years ago, I signed off the final Daily Bagel newsletter by saying, “Who knows what the future holds?” As it turns out, the answer was Business Bage…
- [Tiny trades, big profits: the trick the FSCA is now chasing](https://www.businessbagel.com/tiny-trades-big-profits-the-trick-the-fsca-is-now-chasing.md) - South Africa's market watchdog has three live investigations into a scheme that moves a sleepy share to cash a much bigger side bet.
- [While everyone chased gold, the company that runs the JSE quietly cleaned up](https://www.businessbagel.com/while-everyone-chased-gold-the-company-that-runs-the-jse-quietly-cleaned-up.md) - JSE Ltd grew its half-year profit almost 17% by taking a small cut of a very busy market.
- [SARS just opened its new tax-certainty deal to far more companies](https://www.businessbagel.com/sars-just-opened-its-new-tax-certainty-deal-to-far-more-companies.md) - After industry called the original bar unrealistic, the taxman cut the entry threshold for its new upfront pricing deals from R50bn to R10bn.
- [One metal is holding up two South African scoreboards at once](https://www.businessbagel.com/one-metal-is-holding-up-two-south-african-scoreboards-at-once.md) - A climbing gold price did the heavy lifting for both the JSE and the rand last week — even as local factory data disappointed.
- [Coal is paying off again for Thungela](https://www.businessbagel.com/coal-is-paying-off-again-for-thungela.md) - The miner expects its half-year profit to more than double — helped by firmer coal prices, a steadier Transnet, and a one-off asset sale.
- [eNCA wants to cut more than half its newsroom](https://www.businessbagel.com/enca-wants-to-cut-more-than-half-its-newsroom.md) - South Africa's first 24-hour news channel has begun a process that could axe 171 of its 309 staff — and its journalists are not taking it quietly.
- [The owner of SA's biggest mall got censured for a deal it never put to a vote](https://www.businessbagel.com/the-owner-of-sas-biggest-mall-got-censured-for-a-deal-it-never-put-to-a-vote.md) - The JSE has publicly rapped Accelerate Property Fund and fined it R500,000 for appointing Fourways Mall's managers without asking shareholders.
- [A weak US jobs report quietly did South Africa a favour](https://www.businessbagel.com/a-weak-us-jobs-report-quietly-did-south-africa-a-favour.md) - American hiring stalled, gold hit new highs and the dollar slipped — and the rand, the gold miners and the Reserve Bank all felt the upside.
- [Buffett's Berkshire finally cracked open its cash mountain](https://www.businessbagel.com/buffetts-berkshire-finally-cracked-open-its-cash-mountain.md) - In Greg Abel's second quarter as boss, Berkshire bought back stock, added $10 billion of Alphabet, and turned a buyer of shares for the first time in years.
- [Netcare wants to use AI to catch medical emergencies 8–10 hours early](https://www.businessbagel.com/netcare-wants-ai-that-spots-a-patient-crashing-hours-before-doctors-can.md) - South Africa's largest hospital group has asked the regulator to approve a tool that reads vital signs and flags danger up to ten hours early.
- [Spur set aside R129.5 million over a ribs deal it says never existed](https://www.businessbagel.com/spur-set-aside-r129-5-million-over-a-ribs-deal-it-says-never-existed.md) - A six-year fight with a food manufacturer just dented Spur's profits — but the restaurant group is appealing, and reckons it will get the money back.
- [Zimbabwe's dollar stock exchange wants to be a quarter bigger in a year](https://www.businessbagel.com/zimbabwes-dollar-stock-exchange-wants-to-be-a-quarter-bigger-in-a-year.md) - The Victoria Falls Stock Exchange is chasing a $5 billion valuation and building a new board to fund small mining explorers.
- [Global food prices just hit a three-year high — and your trolley will feel it later](https://www.businessbagel.com/global-food-prices-just-hit-a-three-year-high-and-your-trolley-will-feel-it-later.md) - The UN's food-price benchmark climbed again in July as heat, energy costs and grain-export fears lifted wheat, cooking oil and sugar.
- [OpenAI reportedly wants to sell you a $300 metal doughnut](https://www.businessbagel.com/openai-reportedly-wants-to-sell-you-a-300-metal-doughnut.md) - The ChatGPT maker's first gadget is said to be a screenless, doughnut-shaped speaker designed with Jony Ive — and priced like a premium one.
- [A Saudi ports giant is circling Cape Town's troubled harbour](https://www.businessbagel.com/a-saudi-ports-giant-is-circling-cape-towns-troubled-harbour.md) - Transnet has opened a 25-year deal to rebuild and run a Cape Town terminal — and one of Saudi Arabia's biggest state-backed operators showed up to take a look.
- [The Roundup — Friday, 7 August 2026](https://www.businessbagel.com/the-roundup-friday-7-august-2026.md) - The business day in five minutes — Friday, 7 August 2026.
- [Gold's rally is lifting the JSE — and quietly pinching the miners driving it](https://www.businessbagel.com/golds-rally-is-lifting-the-jse-and-quietly-pinching-the-miners-driving-it.md) - Bullion's third straight gain pushed South African mining shares and the rand higher, but a firmer rand on the same gold move nibbles at the earnings of the dollar-priced miners doing the lifting.
- [Icasa staff walk out as the telecoms regulator says it can't afford more](https://www.businessbagel.com/icasa-staff-walk-out-as-the-telecoms-regulator-says-it-cant-afford-more.md) - Nehawu members downed tools over a 4.5% increase the union rejected — but Icasa says a budget deficit leaves no room to move, and promises services will run as normal.
- [Eskom wants to go green — mostly with other people's money](https://www.businessbagel.com/eskom-wants-to-go-green-mostly-with-other-peoples-money.md) - Its year-old renewables arm is about to tender a 2GW solar and 1GW battery project, and plans to keep the cost off Eskom's strained balance sheet by leaning on private partners.
- [Pick n Pay's recovery is real — but its own supermarkets aren't the engine](https://www.businessbagel.com/pick-n-pays-recovery-is-real-but-its-own-supermarkets-arent-the-engine.md) - Online sales jumped 37.5% and clothing clawed back, yet the core Pick n Pay supermarkets stayed flat — and a contested retrenchment fight still stands between the group and break-even.
- [The JSE is fighting to land a piece of Africa's biggest-ever listing](https://www.businessbagel.com/the-jse-is-fighting-to-land-a-piece-of-africas-biggest-ever-listing.md) - Johannesburg is openly courting Nigeria's Dangote refinery for a secondary listing — but "strong intent" is not a signed deal, and even a win might only be a shadow of one.
- [South Africa's property funds just broke free of the interest-rate trap](https://www.businessbagel.com/south-africas-property-funds-just-broke-free-of-the-interest-rate-trap.md) - Listed property beat both shares and bonds in July, and for once it was not about rate cuts — rising rental income is now doing the heavy lifting.
- [Emirates and SAA turn a 30-year partnership into a two-way street](https://www.businessbagel.com/emirates-and-saa-turn-a-30-year-partnership-into-a-two-way-street.md) - With regulators signed off, Emirates can now sell seats on South African Airways flights across nine domestic and regional routes — and Johannesburg gets to play gateway.
- [EasyEquities is about to move into Absa's banking app](https://www.businessbagel.com/easyequities-is-about-to-move-into-absas-banking-app.md) - The investing platform will embed inside Absa's app from September, handing the bank's millions of customers a route into the market — without Absa having to build a broker of its own.
- [Sasol's profit is about to leap — but not the number that counts most](https://www.businessbagel.com/sasols-profit-is-about-to-leap-but-not-the-number-that-counts-most.md) - A fresh trading statement points to statutory earnings nearly doubling, yet the cleaned-up figure investors actually track barely moves — and a friendlier oil price, not a turnaround, did the lifting.
- [SpaceX doubled its revenue, and it wasn't the rockets that did it](https://www.businessbagel.com/spacex-doubled-its-revenue-and-it-wasnt-the-rockets-that-did-it.md) - In its first results since a record IPO, SpaceX's revenue jumped 92% — driven by renting out AI computing power to Anthropic and Google, and by Starlink.
- [MTN is buying back the towers it once sold off](https://www.businessbagel.com/mtn-is-buying-back-the-towers-it-once-sold-off.md) - A shareholder vote has pushed MTN a step closer to taking full control of Africa's biggest tower company in a R101-billion deal.
- [The Roundup — Thursday, 6 August 2026](https://www.businessbagel.com/the-roundup-thursday-6-august-2026.md) - The business day in five minutes — Thursday, 6 August 2026.
- [The plan to police crypto at the border, and why VALR says it backfires](https://www.businessbagel.com/the-plan-to-police-crypto-at-the-border-and-why-valr-says-it-backfires.md) - Treasury and the Reserve Bank want cross-border crypto routed through approved channels; the country's biggest exchange warns it will push the money out of sight.
- [A court just ordered the boss of South Africa's biggest fund manager reinstated](https://www.businessbagel.com/a-court-just-ordered-the-boss-of-south-africas-biggest-fund-manager-reinstated.md) - The High Court set aside Patrick Dlamini's suspension, ruling the PIC board never had the power to remove him.
- [The JSE wants to go digital and take itself across Africa](https://www.businessbagel.com/the-jse-wants-to-go-digital-and-take-itself-across-africa.md) - New boss Valdene Reddy has set out a five-year plan to reinvent the 139-year-old exchange as a pan-African digital marketplace.
- [New-car sales just hit a 12-year high, and Chinese brands are rewriting the leaderboard](https://www.businessbagel.com/new-car-sales-just-hit-a-12-year-high-and-chinese-brands-are-rewriting-the-leaderboard.md) - South Africans bought more new cars in July than in any month since 2014 — but the bigger story is who they bought from.
- [The headlines say bleak August for the rand. The smart money is betting the other way](https://www.businessbagel.com/the-headlines-say-bleak-august-for-the-rand-the-smart-money-is-betting-the-other-way.md) - As bond outflows and a shock rate hold darken the mood, options traders have quietly cut their bets against the rand to a year low.
- [Apple finally fixed Siri, so why does the launch feel flat?](https://www.businessbagel.com/apple-finally-fixed-siri-so-why-does-the-launch-feel-flat.md) - Apple's long-promised Siri overhaul has reached iPhones in beta and it actually works well, but critics say it arrives too late to feel exciting.
- [Telkom is pulling BCX out of the corner and betting on “One Telkom”](https://www.businessbagel.com/telkom-is-pulling-bcx-out-of-the-corner-and-betting-on-one-telkom.md) - Telkom has put acting BCX boss Hasnain Motlekar in charge of merging BCX, Telkom Business and Openserve into one offering for business customers, after a decade of lost ground.
- [The Roundup — Wednesday, 5 August 2026](https://www.businessbagel.com/the-roundup-wednesday-5-august-2026.md) - The business day in five minutes — Wednesday, 5 August 2026.
- [Your peanut butter could get a 20% import tax, and the regulator is watching prices](https://www.businessbagel.com/your-peanut-butter-could-get-a-20-import-tax-and-the-regulator-is-watching-prices.md) - South Africa's trade regulator wants to lift the import duty on peanut butter to 20% to protect local makers, while warning shops not to use it as cover for price hikes.
- [Nedbank's profit looks flat, but the real number is 12%](https://www.businessbagel.com/nedbanks-profit-looks-flat-but-the-real-number-is-12.md) - Nedbank's half-year profit barely moved on paper, yet strip out a business it sold and it grew double digits, even as the bank scraps one of its most senior jobs.
- [Capitec is changing its name, and you probably won't notice](https://www.businessbagel.com/capitec-is-changing-its-name-and-you-probably-wont-notice.md) - Capitec Bank Holdings is becoming Capitec Limited after shareholders and the corporate registrar signed off, but the share code, listing and history all stay put.
- [Coronation is buying Absa shares while openly doubting its comeback](https://www.businessbagel.com/coronation-is-buying-absa-shares-while-openly-doubting-its-comeback.md) - One of South Africa's largest fund managers has taken a stake in Absa, betting a cheap price outweighs its long-held doubts about the bank's retail turnaround.
- [Stor-Age is buying its biggest rival's sites, and a competitor is crying foul](https://www.businessbagel.com/stor-age-is-buying-its-biggest-rivals-sites-and-a-competitor-is-crying-foul.md) - South Africa's largest self-storage company has struck a R387 million deal to absorb ten Xtraspace properties, but a rival says it hands Stor-Age a national monopoly.
- [Amazon just joined a five-company club worth three trillion dollars](https://www.businessbagel.com/amazon-just-joined-a-five-company-club-worth-three-trillion-dollars.md) - Amazon's market value topped three trillion dollars for the first time after a booming quarter, but its own boss says the AI spending is only getting started.
- [The Roundup — Tuesday, 4 August 2026](https://www.businessbagel.com/the-roundup-tuesday-4-august-2026.md) - The business day in five minutes — Tuesday, 4 August 2026.
- [A mining windfall has Goldman betting on another SA ratings upgrade](https://www.businessbagel.com/a-mining-windfall-has-goldman-betting-on-another-sa-ratings-upgrade.md) - Company tax is pouring in far ahead of budget, and Goldman Sachs thinks Moody's and S&P will reward South Africa with upgrades within a year.
- [The Premiership kicked off. The SABC couldn't show it.](https://www.businessbagel.com/the-premiership-kicked-off-the-sabc-couldnt-show-it.md) - A stalled sub-licensing deal with DStv's new French owner left free-to-air viewers staring at blank screens on opening weekend.
- [Wall Street braces for a jobs report, a Fed puzzle and SpaceX's debut](https://www.businessbagel.com/wall-street-braces-for-a-jobs-report-a-fed-puzzle-and-spacexs-debut.md) - A busy week of US data and megacap earnings could set the tone for global markets, with shares near record highs and little room for disappointment.
- [Capitec built an empire on consumers. Now it wants your business.](https://www.businessbagel.com/capitec-built-an-empire-on-consumers-now-it-wants-your-business.md) - With profit up 23% to R16.8 billion, Capitec says its tiny share of business banking is the biggest growth opportunity of the next three years.
- [The AI boom is about to make your next laptop more expensive](https://www.businessbagel.com/the-ai-boom-is-about-to-make-your-next-laptop-more-expensive.md) - A global memory shortage nicknamed RAMaggedon has delayed Apple's MacBook Air and pushed gadget prices sharply higher, with cars possibly next.
- [South Africa's driving licences are about to last twice as long](https://www.businessbagel.com/south-africas-driving-licences-are-about-to-last-twice-as-long.md) - Cabinet has approved doubling the validity of ordinary licences to ten years, but the familiar five-year renewal still applies until the law catches up.
- [Mondi Is Shutting Factories After a Painful Half — and Investors Cheered](https://www.businessbagel.com/mondi-is-shutting-factories-after-a-painful-half-and-investors-cheered.md) - Profits fell hard at the packaging giant, so it sped up plant closures and cut spending. The market read it as discipline, sending the shares sharply higher.
- [The Roundup — Monday, 3 August 2026](https://www.businessbagel.com/the-roundup-monday-3-august-2026.md) - The business day in five minutes — Monday, 3 August 2026.
- [South Africans Are Drinking Less Beer. SAB Still Made More Money.](https://www.businessbagel.com/south-africans-are-drinking-less-beer-sab-still-made-more-money.md) - By steering drinkers towards premium brands like Corona, SAB grew revenue and margins even as beer volumes fell — the same playbook powering parent AB InBev worldwide.
- [MTN's Best Numbers in Years Triggered Its Worst Day on the JSE](https://www.businessbagel.com/mtns-best-numbers-in-years-triggered-its-worst-day-on-the-jse.md) - A 71% profit jump in Nigeria should have been a triumph — but a mobile-money stumble and a surprise Ghana lawsuit sent MTN's shares down almost 10%.
- [Cigarettes Are Fading. Nicotine Pouches Just Rescued Big Tobacco's Year.](https://www.businessbagel.com/cigarettes-are-fading-nicotine-pouches-just-rescued-big-tobaccos-year.md) - British American Tobacco lifted its profit outlook as booming Velo pouch sales and a strong US run offset shrinking cigarette demand — even as it cuts thousands of jobs.
- [Pep's Owner Says It's Building Its Own Bank — On Its Own](https://www.businessbagel.com/peps-owner-says-its-building-its-own-bank-on-its-own.md) - Pepkor shot down a report that it was teaming up with Standard Bank to take on Capitec, insisting its own bank is still on track for 2027.
- [Foschini's Boss Just Took a 59% Pay Cut. His Stores Are Next.](https://www.businessbagel.com/foschinis-boss-just-took-a-59-pay-cut-his-stores-are-next.md) - After a year of falling profit and a share price cut in half, The Foschini Group slashed its CEO's pay to R18.5 million and lined up hundreds of stores to close.
- [Apple's Record Quarter Came With a Near-$500 Billion Hangover](https://www.businessbagel.com/apples-record-quarter-came-with-a-near-500-billion-hangover.md) - The iPhone maker posted its strongest-ever June quarter, then watched a looming memory-chip shortage knock almost 10% off its share price.
- [The Roundup — Friday, 31 July 2026](https://www.businessbagel.com/the-roundup-friday-31-july-2026.md) - The business day in five minutes — Friday, 31 July 2026.
- [A Faraway War Is Emptying South African Planes](https://www.businessbagel.com/a-faraway-war-is-emptying-south-african-planes.md) - FlySafair says domestic demand has fallen about 14% since the Middle East conflict sent jet-fuel prices soaring and priced ordinary travellers out of their seats.
- [Anglo American Is Betting Everything on Copper](https://www.businessbagel.com/anglo-american-is-betting-everything-on-copper.md) - Record copper prices tripled the dividend and lifted core profit by more than a third, but writing down the coal business it is selling still tipped Anglo into a loss.
- [Microsoft's AI Cloud Is Minting Money, Even as Xbox Keeps Slipping](https://www.businessbagel.com/microsofts-ai-cloud-is-minting-money-even-as-xbox-keeps-slipping.md) - A record year for Azure and a $3.2 billion windfall on its Anthropic stake carried Microsoft past $90 billion in quarterly sales, while the games and Windows businesses stalled.
- [BMW Is Cutting Thousands of Jobs as the Good Times Fade](https://www.businessbagel.com/bmw-is-cutting-thousands-of-jobs-as-the-good-times-fade.md) - A deal with its own workers will shrink the German carmaker by a reported 8,000 people, after quarterly profit tumbled and Chinese sales slid.
- [Woolworths' New Boss Has Inherited an Old Problem](https://www.businessbagel.com/woolworths-new-boss-has-inherited-an-old-problem.md) - A solid year on paper hides a second half knocked off course by the Middle East war and rising interest rates, just as a new chief executive settles into the job.
- [South Africa Wants to Know Why It's So Hard to Buy Into a Franchise](https://www.businessbagel.com/south-africa-wants-to-know-why-its-so-hard-to-buy-into-a-franchise.md) - The Competition Commission has opened a sweeping inquiry into the R1-trillion sector behind KFC, Spar and Pick n Pay, asking whether the deck is stacked against the small players trying to get in.
- [The Roundup — Thursday, 30 July 2026](https://www.businessbagel.com/the-roundup-thursday-30-july-2026.md) - The business day in five minutes — Thursday, 30 July 2026.
- [A World Cup gave Coca-Cola its best quarter in years](https://www.businessbagel.com/world-cup-coca-cola-best-quarter.md) - Coca-Cola beat expectations and raised its full-year outlook, crediting a global World Cup marketing blitz for a jump in demand.
- [PayPal to its lurking suitor: not at that price](https://www.businessbagel.com/paypal-not-at-that-price.md) - After beating earnings, PayPal signalled a $53.4 billion takeover bid from Stripe and Advent undervalues it, without ruling a deal out.
- [South Africa's gas-import plan hangs on one overdue call](https://www.businessbagel.com/sa-gas-import-plan-overdue-call.md) - A banker says naming the winners of the country's first gas-power auction is the decision that will make or break its plan to import natural gas.
- [DStv's best month in a decade — and a payday for switching Showmax off](https://www.businessbagel.com/dstv-best-month-decade-showmax.md) - MultiChoice's first results under Canal+ show new subscribers flooding back, plus an accounting twist that turned a shutdown into a gain.
- [One roof for your GP, your scan and your surgery](https://www.businessbagel.com/one-roof-gp-scan-surgery.md) - Growthpoint has opened a R100 million healthcare village in Rosebank, the first of a planned rollout across South Africa and beyond.
- [Boxer keeps building as cheaper food slows its sales](https://www.businessbagel.com/boxer-keeps-building-cheaper-food.md) - Falling prices for maize meal, rice and flour cooled Boxer's sales growth, but the discount grocer is still opening stores at pace.
- [Harmony borrows big to go chasing copper](https://www.businessbagel.com/harmony-borrows-big-copper.md) - South Africa's largest gold miner has raised more than R20 billion to refinance debt and bankroll its growing copper business in Australia.
- [The day the AI rally lost its nerve](https://www.businessbagel.com/ai-rally-lost-its-nerve.md) - A worldwide sell-off in chip stocks dragged global markets to a one-month low on Tuesday, and the JSE didn't escape.
- [A stronger rand and weaker prices just knocked a third off Kumba's earnings](https://www.businessbagel.com/a-stronger-rand-and-weaker-prices-just-knocked-a-third-off-kumbas-earnings.md) - Anglo American's iron-ore arm saw first-half earnings fall 41% as currency, prices and volumes all turned against it — but the CEO is betting on a better second half.
- [The rand just lost its 13-year monopoly on Southern Africa's payment system](https://www.businessbagel.com/the-rand-just-lost-its-13-year-monopoly-on-southern-africas-payment-system.md) - The Angolan kwanza has become the second settlement currency in the SADC payment system, a move meant to make regional trade cheaper and faster.
- [Nvidia just rallied 30 tech giants to defend AI — and three big names stayed away](https://www.businessbagel.com/nvidia-just-rallied-30-tech-giants-to-defend-ai-and-three-big-names-stayed-away.md) - The new Open Secure AI Alliance wants regulators to treat open AI models as a defence, not a danger — but OpenAI, Google and Anthropic are all missing.
- [Oil slides for a third day as the US-Iran truce holds](https://www.businessbagel.com/oil-slides-for-a-third-day-as-the-us-iran-truce-holds.md) - Brent crude has fallen toward $86 a barrel as a pause in US-Iran fighting eases supply fears — though analysts warn the calm is fragile.
- [Why global markets are holding their breath this week](https://www.businessbagel.com/why-global-markets-are-holding-their-breath-this-week.md) - A wave of Big Tech earnings and a knife-edge US Federal Reserve decision have investors walking on eggshells over how much AI is costing.
- [DStv's owner just put nearly R19bn on the table to make peace with French cinema](https://www.businessbagel.com/dstvs-owner-just-put-nearly-r19bn-on-the-table-to-make-peace-with-french-cinema.md) - Canal+, the group that now owns MultiChoice, has pledged €980m to French film from 2028, ending a bruising standoff and keeping its prized six-month streaming window.
- [Mrs Ball's is going home: inside Tiger Brands' R200m Paarl bet](https://www.businessbagel.com/mrs-balls-is-going-home-inside-tiger-brands-r200m-paarl-bet.md) - Tiger Brands has spent R200 million rebuilding its century-old Paarl site to bring Mrs Ball's Chutney back in-house — and, it says, to make its groceries cheaper.
- [The AI that broke into a tech company all by itself](https://www.businessbagel.com/the-ai-that-broke-into-a-tech-company-all-by-itself.md) - An OpenAI system being tested on how well it could hack broke into Hugging Face's live servers on its own, in what both companies are calling the first attack of its kind.
- [The one corner of China's economy that refuses to slow down](https://www.businessbagel.com/the-one-corner-of-chinas-economy-that-refuses-to-slow-down.md) - As China posts its softest growth in years, a worldwide scramble to build the machinery behind artificial intelligence has quietly become the one thing propping the numbers up.
- [Aspen bets on a monthly pill to  help prevent HIV, and wants to make it for Africa](https://www.businessbagel.com/aspen-bets-on-a-monthly-pill-to-prevent-hiv-and-wants-to-make-it-for-africa.md) - The South African drugmaker has won a royalty-free licence from Merck to make an experimental once-a-month pill designed to prevent HIV, with rights covering every country in Africa.
- [The Roundup — Tuesday, 28 July 2026](https://www.businessbagel.com/the-roundup-tuesday-28-july-2026.md) - The business day in five minutes — Tuesday, 28 July 2026.
- [Vodacom is keeping more profit to chase Egypt and M-Pesa](https://www.businessbagel.com/vodacom-is-keeping-more-profit-to-chase-egypt-and-m-pesa.md) - The mobile group is handing shareholders a smaller share of its profit so it can pour cash into its fastest-growing markets, and it has just raised its 2030 revenue goal to more than R300 billion.
- [Apple's next big thing might be glasses that refuse to spy on you](https://www.businessbagel.com/apples-next-big-thing-might-be-glasses-that-refuse-to-spy-on-you.md) - Apple is reportedly building its first smart glasses and, unusually, is designing them around what they will not be able to record.
- [The startup that rented you a phone is now fighting to survive](https://www.businessbagel.com/the-startup-that-rented-you-a-phone-is-now-fighting-to-survive.md) - Rentoza, which let thousands of South Africans subscribe to a smartphone instead of buying one, has entered a formal rescue process after running out of money.
- [The people minding South Africa's pensions just walked out](https://www.businessbagel.com/the-people-minding-south-africas-pensions-just-walked-out.md) - Most of the board overseeing the retirement money of the country's government workers resigned in a single week, forcing the finance minister to step in.
- [A symbol of state capture is back to shipping coal](https://www.businessbagel.com/a-symbol-of-state-capture-is-back-to-shipping-coal.md) - The Mpumalanga mine at the centre of South Africa's state-capture scandal has been rebuilt with billions of rands and is exporting coal to Asia again.
- [Data centres could swallow a fifth of America's electricity by 2035](https://www.businessbagel.com/data-centres-could-swallow-a-fifth-of-americas-electricity-by-2035.md) - A new BloombergNEF forecast says AI's hunger for power will quadruple data-centre electricity use in a decade, straining grids already struggling to keep up.
- [The Roundup — Monday, 27 July 2026](https://www.businessbagel.com/the-roundup-monday-27-july-2026.md) - The business day in five minutes — Monday, 27 July 2026.
- [Intel just posted its best growth in over 15 years, powered by AI](https://www.businessbagel.com/intel-posts-best-growth-in-15-years-powered-by-ai.md) - Second-quarter revenue jumped 25% as demand for AI chips surged, though the market still wants proof the turnaround can last.
- [South Africans now gamble a fifth of the economy, and the damage is mounting](https://www.businessbagel.com/south-africans-now-gamble-a-fifth-of-the-economy.md) - New reporting by GroundUp and data group The Outlier shows online betting has exploded past R1 trillion a year, while calls to the gambling helpline have jumped more than fifteenfold.
- [The old phone company is now a data business, and it is paying shareholders more](https://www.businessbagel.com/old-phone-company-is-now-a-data-business-paying-shareholders-more.md) - Telkom lifted its dividend by two-thirds after a year in which data revenue climbed to nearly 60% of the total and cash flow strengthened.
- [Why pork just got a lot cheaper at the till](https://www.businessbagel.com/why-pork-just-got-a-lot-cheaper-at-the-till.md) - A feared shortage turned into a glut, and wholesale pork has slid from about R40 a kilo back down to R30. Here is what happened.
- [Mr Price's German bet is paying off, just as local shoppers run out of room](https://www.businessbagel.com/mr-prices-german-bet-is-paying-off.md) - A 45% jump in sales looks stellar, until you strip out the new German chain and see how hard South African consumers are being squeezed.
- [The fund guarding civil servants' pensions just lost most of its board](https://www.businessbagel.com/fund-guarding-civil-servants-pensions-loses-most-of-its-board.md) - In a single week, six directors quit the Public Investment Corporation, the chair resigned and the finance minister stepped in. At the centre: a fight over top investment jobs and a R411 million payment.
- [Why the Reserve Bank left your loan repayments exactly where they are](https://www.businessbagel.com/why-the-reserve-bank-left-your-loan-repayments-where-they-are.md) - Most economists bet on a rate hike this week. The Reserve Bank held steady instead, the rand tumbled, and even the governor admits he might be proven wrong.
- [South Africa wants to build electric-car batteries, not just dig up what goes in them](https://www.businessbagel.com/south-africa-wants-to-build-electric-car-batteries-not-just-dig-up-what-goes-in-them.md) - A five-year, UN-backed programme aims to give the country the labs, skills and recycling to claim a place in the electric-vehicle battery chain.
- [Forbes just put South Africa's most expensive homes in a global shop window](https://www.businessbagel.com/forbes-just-put-south-africas-most-expensive-homes-in-a-global-shop-window.md) - The invitation-only Forbes Global Properties network has launched locally, aiming to sell Atlantic Seaboard and Winelands trophy homes to foreign buyers.
- [Pepkor is betting R21 billion on banking South Africa's cash economy](https://www.businessbagel.com/pepkor-is-betting-r21-billion-on-banking-south-africas-cash-economy.md) - The retailer behind Pep and Ackermans is merging Flash and Shop2Shop into a payments business aimed at the country's R1 trillion informal market.
- [South Africa's weight-loss jab market is about to get a lot more crowded](https://www.businessbagel.com/south-africas-weight-loss-jab-market-is-about-to-get-a-lot-more-crowded.md) - The country's medicine regulator is weighing a dozen generic copies of the drug behind Ozempic and Wegovy, and cheaper prices should follow.
- [South Africa's state bank is hunting an investor for a private-island resort](https://www.businessbagel.com/south-africas-state-bank-is-hunting-an-investor-for-a-private-island-resort.md) - The Industrial Development Corporation has spent about R430m on a five-star Mozambican getaway, and now it wants a partner to help finish it.
- [London's stock exchange wants to trade through the night, with AI doing the buying](https://www.businessbagel.com/londons-stock-exchange-wants-to-trade-through-the-night-with-ai-doing-the-buying.md) - A new venue called LSE 24 would run from evening to dawn, built for algorithms and AI agents to trade around the clock.
- [France just became the first EU country to log its teenagers off](https://www.businessbagel.com/france-just-became-the-first-eu-country-to-log-its-teenagers-off.md) - A new law bars under-15s from social media from September and kicks phones out of high schools, and the rest of Europe is watching.
- [A rising oil price just made Thursday's rate call a lot harder](https://www.businessbagel.com/a-rising-oil-price-just-made-thursdays-rate-call-a-lot-harder.md) - Brent crude is back above $90 as US-Iran tensions flare, and South African economists warn the Reserve Bank could answer with another hike.
- [The Roundup — Wednesday, 22 July 2026](https://www.businessbagel.com/the-roundup-wednesday-22-july-2026.md) - The business day in five minutes — Wednesday, 22 July 2026.
- [Transnet Wants Someone Else to Run Cape Town's Docks](https://www.businessbagel.com/transnet-wants-someone-else-to-run-cape-towns-docks.md) - Transnet's ports authority has invited private bidders to rebuild and run the Port of Cape Town's multipurpose terminal for 25 years, a year after fruit exporters lost R1 billion to delays there.
- [Everyone Is Talking About the De Beers Sale Except Anglo](https://www.businessbagel.com/everyone-is-talking-about-the-de-beers-sale-except-anglo.md) - A Botswana cabinet minister told parliament that Anglo American has picked a buyer for De Beers, Namibia's mines minister says that is incorrect, and Anglo itself is saying nothing at all.
- [The arms industry its own government stopped buying from](https://www.businessbagel.com/the-arms-industry-its-own-government-stopped-buying-from.md) - More than 600 South African firms make defence equipment and earn over 80% of their money abroad, while the state-owned company at the centre of the sector has lost money for a decade and is now advertising for outside investors.
- [Home Affairs Would Rather Vet the Company Than the Person](https://www.businessbagel.com/home-affairs-would-rather-vet-the-company-than-the-person.md) - South Africa's work visa system now asks employers to sit a scored test, and only those clearing 80 out of 100 get their foreign hires waved through.
- [The Fibre Deal That Cost Pensioners R100 Million](https://www.businessbagel.com/the-fibre-deal-that-cost-pensioners-r100-million.md) - South Africa's state pension manager paid half of a R200 million commitment to a small lender financing fibre subcontractors, stopped the rest when red flags appeared, and laid criminal charges; the first R100 million has not come back.
- [The R700 million sieve behind Sasol's best year in five](https://www.businessbagel.com/the-r700-million-sieve-behind-sasols-best-year-in-five.md) - Sasol spent R700 million taking the rocks out of its own coal, and Secunda promptly turned in its highest annual output in five years.
- [The Taps Join the Queue: Inside South Africa's Newest World Bank Loan](https://www.businessbagel.com/the-taps-join-the-queue-inside-south-africas-newest-world-bank-loan.md) - Treasury has signed a US$1.5 billion World Bank loan, its fourth since 2022, and the first to put money behind water and sanitation alongside electricity and freight.
- [Samsung Watched Apple Hand Out a Credit Card for Seven Years. Now It Has One.](https://www.businessbagel.com/samsung-watched-apple-hand-out-a-credit-card-for-seven-years-now-it-has-one.md) - Samsung's first US credit card, issued by Barclays and running on Visa, pays 5% back on Samsung purchases and lands inside Samsung Wallet on the same day as its next big phone launch.
- [Aspen Won The Right To Sell An Ozempic Copy It Cannot Yet Make](https://www.businessbagel.com/aspen-won-the-right-to-sell-an-ozempic-copy-it-cannot-yet-make.md) - Health Canada has approved Aspen's copy of Ozempic, but the supplier of its key ingredient has halted production until at least late October, leaving the company with a licence and no launch date.
- [Down To One Saltzman](https://www.businessbagel.com/down-to-one-saltzman.md) - Saul Saltzman has resigned from the Dis-Chem board after a 25-year career at the company, leaving his father Ivan as the only member of the founding family still holding a seat.
- [BP is selling off some of the startup bets it spent 20 years making](https://www.businessbagel.com/bp-is-selling-off-some-of-the-startup-bets-it-spent-20-years-making.md) - The oil major is offloading most of its venture portfolio to Nordic investor Verdane, a quiet unwinding of its energy-transition experiment.
- [African Bank's buying spree has caught up with it as job cuts announced](https://www.businessbagel.com/african-banks-buying-spree-has-caught-up-with-it-as-job-c.md) - The lender wants to cut up to 1,200 jobs and close 90 branches after acquisitions left its costs running ahead of its income.
- [Coronation is walking away from the world's hottest trade](https://www.businessbagel.com/coronation-is-walking-away-from-the-worlds-hottest-trade.md) - The R773 billion manager has cut its bet on AI chipmakers and moved the money to India, warning the price of hope has climbed too high.
- [More South Africans are planning for retirement, but far fewer are ready for it](https://www.businessbagel.com/more-south-africans-are-planning-for-retirement-ar-fewer-are-ready-for-it.md) - FNB's latest survey finds a jump in retirement planning — and a warning from those already retired that it costs far more than they budgeted.
- [Cartrack’s subscriber growth sped up when many expected it to slow down](https://www.businessbagel.com/cartracks-subscriber-growth-sped-up-when-many-expected-it-to-slow-down.md) - A record 142,472 new subscribers in three months pushed owner Karooooo to record profit — even as a stronger rand worked against it.
- [South Africa's tech jobs are going unfilled — and it isn't only about degrees](https://www.businessbagel.com/south-africas-tech-jobs-are-going-unfilled-and-it-isnt-only-about-degrees.md) - Recruiters say most IT applicants don't meet the bar for the roles on offer, but others argue the real gap is experience, not qualifications.
- [Absa is bankrolling electric cars, and quietly staging a comeback](https://www.businessbagel.com/absa-is-bankrolling-electric-cars-and-quietly-staging-a-comeback.md) - A BYD finance deal and a set of much-improved results are two halves of the same turnaround story.
- [One entrepreneur's plan to let firms buy their way to a BEE score](https://www.businessbagel.com/one-entrepreneurs-plan-to-let-firms-buy-their-way-to-a-bee-score.md) - Alan Knott-Craig wants companies to pay 3% of revenue for automatic empowerment credentials. Not everyone calls it a levy.
- [Netflix just put a $587m price tag on Hollywood's AI anxiety](https://www.businessbagel.com/netflix-just-put-a-587m-price-tag-on-hollywoods-ai-anxiety.md) - A regulatory filing reveals what Netflix paid for Ben Affleck's AI startup, and what the tools actually do.
- [Sasol is riding the oil spike, and the Reserve Bank is watching](https://www.businessbagel.com/sasol-is-riding-the-oil-spike-and-the-reserve-bank-is-watching.md) - A collapsed Middle East ceasefire has lit a fire under oil, Sasol shares and the odds of another rate hike.
- [Why the mood in commercial property just soured overnight](https://www.businessbagel.com/why-the-mood-in-commercial-property-just-soured-overnight.md) - FNB's brokers went from upbeat to gloomy in a single quarter as war-driven costs and rate fears bit.
- [The foreigners quietly buying up Cape Town's priciest streets](https://www.businessbagel.com/the-foreigners-quietly-buying-up-cape-towns-priciest-streets.md) - Overseas buyers have poured R153bn into Cape Town homes in a decade, and they are clustered right at the top of the market.
- [Uber wants to own takeaways almost everywhere, and it's buying Delivery Hero to do it](https://www.businessbagel.com/uber-wants-to-own-dinner-almost-everywhere-and-its-buying-delivery-hero-to-do-it.md) - Uber's ~$14.8bn cash offer for Delivery Hero would fold Glovo, foodpanda and talabat into its empire, with a Glovo-shaped thread running through Africa.
- [Amazon takes the door Starlink slammed, bringing satellite internet to SA in 2027](https://www.businessbagel.com/amazon-takes-the-door-starlink-slammed-bringing-satellite-internet-to-sa-in-2027.md) - Amazon Leo will reach South African homes through Herotel's new Evry service, using a licensing route that neatly sidesteps the rules keeping Starlink out.
- [Toyota builds the new Hilux at home, and bets on Durban over the doubters](https://www.businessbagel.com/toyota-builds-the-new-hilux-at-home-and-bets-on-durban-over-the-doubters.md) - The carmaker switched on a new Hilux line at its flood-hit Durban plant, its biggest capital project there since 2022, as Chinese rivals crowd into South Africa.
- [Old Mutual's R300m CEO prize just drew a shareholder rebuke](https://www.businessbagel.com/old-mutuals-r300m-ceo-prize-just-drew-a-shareholder-rebuke.md) - A third of shareholders refused to back the pay deal that offers CEO Jurie Strydom R300m to lift a share price stuck near R14.
- [The Ozempic price war reaches South Africa](https://www.businessbagel.com/the-ozempic-price-war-reaches-south-africa.md) - Sun Pharma has won SAHPRA approval for a generic semaglutide, making SA the second market after India to clear a cheaper Ozempic rival.
- [Virgin Active is betting big that luxury gyms sell, right before it plans to list](https://www.businessbagel.com/virgin-active-is-betting-big-that-luxury-gyms-sell-right-before-it-lists.md) - A R130m flagship, R2,499 fees and a 37-club plan: inside Virgin Active's premium bet ahead of a Brait listing.
- [PayJustNow lands on TFG's Bash, and buy now, pay later creeps further into your cart](https://www.businessbagel.com/payjustnow-lands-on-tfgs-bash-and-buy-now-pay-later-creeps-further-into-your-cart.md) - From 15 July, shoppers on TFG's Bash can split purchases into three, as buy now, pay later chases the retailer's 49% online-sales surge.
- [Coca-Cola's African bottler is one regulator away from the JSE](https://www.businessbagel.com/coca-colas-african-bottler-is-one-regulator-away-from-the-jse.md) - Coca-Cola HBC says the Competition Commission's backing for its $2.6bn takeover of Coca-Cola Beverages Africa keeps it on course to list in Johannesburg this year.

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