December | Bizcommunity

December | Bizcommunity

News

Vol. 08 - Welcome to On the Dot Insights Newsletter

Printing

Vol. 08 - Welcome to On the Dot Insights Newsletter

Issued by On the Dot 24 Nov 2025

BNPL transactions in South Africa spike post-bonus season

Banking & Finance

BNPL transactions in South Africa spike post-bonus season

2 days

Mass layoffs loom for Samancor as Eskom's price cut fails to save jobs

Mining

Mass layoffs loom for Samancor as Eskom's price cut fails to save jobs

3 days

Primary & Secondary Education

It’s not the device, it’s the design: Battling misconceptions of tech in education

Marce Heath 11 Mar 2026

Pollution is killing Gauteng’s fresh water sources

Food, Water & Energy Security

Pollution is killing Gauteng’s fresh water sources

Seth Thorne 3 days

South Africa’s energy is wheeling towards a brighter future

Energy

South Africa’s energy is wheeling towards a brighter future

Aishah Gire 11 Mar 2026

HomeChoice doubles down on showroom growth in bold retail strategy shift

Shopfitting & Merchandising

HomeChoice doubles down on showroom growth in bold retail strategy shift

10 Mar 2026

Source: Reuters.

Banking

Absa posts 12% rise in annual earnings

Nqobile Dludla 10 Mar 2026

Merafe Resources sees 72% profit drop after halting operations

Mining

Merafe Resources sees 72% profit drop after halting operations

9 Mar 2026

South African manganese miners eye Transnet partnership for new export terminal

Mining

South African manganese miners eye Transnet partnership for new export terminal

6 Mar 2026

Government to fund national FMD vaccination programme

Agriculture

Government to fund national FMD vaccination programme

5 Mar 2026

Source: Reuters.

Banking

FirstRand's half-year earnings up 11% on strong revenue, better credit metrics

Anathi Madubela 5 Mar 2026

Branding

Deep trust, strong brands: 9 South African banks in Brand Finance’s global top 500

5 Mar 2026

The University of Cape Town staff unions have reached agreement on a wage deal after a strike last week. Photo: Liezl Human / GroundUp

Higher Education

UCT staff strike ends as agreement is reached

Liezl Human 4 Mar 2026

Africa’s Business Heroes opens 2026 applications with $1.5m in grant funding

Community

Africa’s Business Heroes opens 2026 applications with $1.5m in grant funding

3 Mar 2026

Restructuring dents Aspen profits, but Mounjaro sales spark hope

Pharmaceuticals

Restructuring dents Aspen profits, but Mounjaro sales spark hope

Nqobile Dludla 3 Mar 2026

Festive focus pays off as NAD malls close 2025 on a high

Retailers

Festive focus pays off as NAD malls close 2025 on a high

Issued by Catchwords 3 Mar 2026

Shoprite delivers 7.1% revenue growth amid festive deflation with customer-first strategy

Banking & Finance

Shoprite delivers 7.1% revenue growth amid festive deflation with customer-first strategy

3 Mar 2026

Moshoeshoe Monare appointed group head of Corporate Affairs at Primedia

Radio & Audio

Moshoeshoe Monare appointed group head of Corporate Affairs at Primedia

Issued by Primedia Broadcasting 4 Mar 2026

Radio & Audio

Cape Town is moving, and it’s moving with purpose

Lois O’Brien, Issued by United Stations 26 Jan 2026

The future of tax compliance

Taxation & Regulation

The future of tax compliance

Issued by SAICA 3 Mar 2026

Image source: rawpixel.com from

Tax Law

Tax policy plot twist: A "Medtronic amendment" that arrived 2 years too late

Nina Keyser 2 Mar 2026

Source: AI-generated image created by Gemini

Corporate & Commercial Law

No free rides: Why you can’t use contractual defenses to avoid paying for services already rendered

Khanyisa Monqo and Nicola Mullineux 27 Feb 2026

#Budgetspeech2026: Pnet backs overhaul of Skills Development Levy and Setas

Skills Development & Training

#Budgetspeech2026: Pnet backs overhaul of Skills Development Levy and Setas

Paul Byrne, Issued by Pnet 26 Feb 2026

Tax increase prediction 2026: Cloudy with a chance of meatballs

Taxation & Regulation

Tax increase prediction 2026: Cloudy with a chance of meatballs

Issued by SAICA 26 Feb 2026

The Constitutional Court has ruled that an employee cannot claim constructive dismissal claim based on the anticipation that working conditions will become intolerable. Archive photo: Ciaran Ryan / GroundUp

Labour Law

ConCourt rules on constructive dismissal after 18 months

Ohene Yaw Ampofo-Anti 25 Feb 2026

#BudgetSpeech2026: SRD grant unchanged, other Sassa social grants see hike

Health & Social Welfare

#BudgetSpeech2026: SRD grant unchanged, other Sassa social grants see hike

25 Feb 2026

Luke Oliver, head of food at Mr D

Food & bev. services

State of the food nation: What South Africa is really ordering right now

Issued by aHead Marketing Services 25 Feb 2026

SA's coffee market defies price hikes with quality-driven consumption

Sales

SA's coffee market defies price hikes with quality-driven consumption

25 Feb 2026

Your marketing strategy was built for a budget you no longer have

Marketing

Your marketing strategy was built for a budget you no longer have

Issued by AdBot 24 Feb 2026

Clur Index reveals November as SA's strongest month for shopping

Commercial Property

Clur Index reveals November as SA's strongest month for shopping

23 Feb 2026

Source: Ihsaan Haffejee/GroundUp.

Affordable & Social Housing

Assassinated Abahlali leader praised for fighting land grab “mafia"

Ihsaan Haffejee 23 Feb 2026

Sasol's profit plunges 34% as oil and chemical prices fall

Coal, Oil & Gas

Sasol's profit plunges 34% as oil and chemical prices fall

23 Feb 2026

City Lodge Hotels’ growth strategy pays off with robust interim results

Tourism

City Lodge Hotels’ growth strategy pays off with robust interim results

Issued by City Lodge Hotels 20 Feb 2026

Zanzibar’s tourism boom opens new investment opportunities

Travel

Zanzibar’s tourism boom opens new investment opportunities

20 Feb 2026

Doctors complain about choice of equipment at Gauteng hospital as thousands await cancer scans

Public Health

Doctors complain about choice of equipment at Gauteng hospital as thousands await cancer scans

Chris Bateman and Raymond Joseph 19 Feb 2026

Food inflation steady at 4.4% despite rising meat prices in January 2026

Agribusiness

Food inflation steady at 4.4% despite rising meat prices in January 2026

19 Feb 2026

The Audit Bureau of Circulations' (ABC) Q4 (October to December) 2025 release shows a decline of 2.5% by newspapers (Image source: Lesely Svenson @ Bizcommunity)

Newspapers

ABC Q4 2025 Newspapers: Dailies up but total sector down

Danette Breitenbach 19 Feb 2026

The resilience of the magazine market is reflected in its eighth consecutive quarter of year-on-year growth in the Q4 (Image source: Lesley Svenson @ Bizcommunity)

Magazines

ABC Q4 2025 Magazines: 8th consecutive quarter of y-o-y growth as magazines show resilience

Danette Breitenbach 19 Feb 2026

Owning the Entire Consumer Journey: From Festive to Everyday

Design

Owning the Entire Consumer Journey: From Festive to Everyday

Issued by Bohemian 5 May 2025

2 major South African unions reject Eskom's 6% wage increase offer

Energy

2 major South African unions reject Eskom's 6% wage increase offer

Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo 18 Feb 2026

Source: GroundUp/Ashraf Hendricks

Affordable & Social Housing

District Six families vow to fight eviction

Matthew Hirsch 18 Feb 2026

Metallic minerals emerge as heroes in South African mining production

Mining

Metallic minerals emerge as heroes in South African mining production

18 Feb 2026

#BizTrends2026 | CDH’s Vivien Chaplin & Haafizah Khota: SA’s rail reform as a catalyst for African logistics

Trends

#BizTrends2026 | CDH’s Vivien Chaplin & Haafizah Khota: SA’s rail reform as a catalyst for African logistics

Vivien Chaplin and Haafizah Khota 17 Feb 2026

Open Access Data Centres acquires 7 NTT facilities in SA

Data & Analytics

Open Access Data Centres acquires 7 NTT facilities in SA

16 Feb 2026

Telkom Q3 profit rises as data demand fuels mobile revenue growth

Telecoms & Networks

Telkom Q3 profit rises as data demand fuels mobile revenue growth

Nqobile Dludla 16 Feb 2026

Regulatory updates and industry news - February 2026

Financial Services

Regulatory updates and industry news - February 2026

Issued by Ambledown 16 Feb 2026

The Supreme Court of Appeal has ruled that damages for future medical expenses in state medical negligence cases must be paid as a lump sum and not through the provision of treatment at public hospitals. Photo: Ben Bezuidenhout via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Medical Law

SCA rules medical negligence damages must be paid as lump sum

Tania Broughton 13 Feb 2026

South Africa to push ahead with splitting Eskom and creating a standalone transmission company

Energy

South Africa to push ahead with splitting Eskom and creating a standalone transmission company

Colleen Goko 13 Feb 2026

Photos of the living conditions, taken by inspectors from the National Bargaining Council for the Clothing Manufacturing Industry, at Drake Clothing in KwaZulu-Natal. Inspections are carried out with SARS, immigration officials and the police. There have been some arrests for breaking immigration law. Photos supplied (GroundUp)

Labour Law

KZN sweatshops sued for labour law violations

Tania Broughton 12 Feb 2026