South Africa's export-dependent industries are bracing for an unprecedented disruption as a 30% tariff on exports to the United States is set to take effect on August 1, 2025. This policy shift is expected to impact the country's vital sectors, especially agriculture, automotive manufacturing, and metals.
Citrus, wine, and macadamia
Among the most severely exposed is South Africa’s citrus industry, which is the second largest in the world. The US currently imports about R1.8 billion worth of South African citrus annually, sustaining approximately 140,000 jobs across the value chain.
A 30% tariff could effectively price South African produce out of the US market, despite strong demand driven by declining local production in Florida.
Wine and macadamia exporters can also expect to experience major setbacks. The US has been a key growth market for South African wines, and tariff-induced price hikes could erase margins. Macadamia exporters, already suffering from a global oversupply, will see competitiveness vanish, especially for smallholder farmers in Limpopo and Mpumalanga.
Auto industry
The Eastern Cape’s automotive sector, already dealing with a 25% tariff since April, will be further hamstrung by the broader 30% import tax. In 2024, the US bought R35 billion in luxury vehicles and components from South Africa, a third of which consisted of auto parts manufactured by smaller suppliers.
Steel and aluminium
Heavy industry isn’t spared either. According to early projections, steel and aluminium exporters could be hit with tariffs as high as 50%. These sectors are crucial not only for direct exports but also as suppliers to automotive, construction, and energy projects.
The effect across supply chains — from mines to fabrication plants to shipping — could result in job losses, factory closures, and significant GDP contraction.
Agriculture
The agricultural sector, which contributes over 10% of South Africa’s export revenue, now finds itself exposed in multiple areas. Beef, wine, and niche exports such as cold-pressed oils and processed fruits are all facing sudden erosion of competitiveness.
A recent analysis by the National Agricultural Marketing Council highlights the broader context: a global rise in protectionism, with the WTO recording record numbers of restrictive trade measures in 2025. South Africa is among the worst-affected, particularly given its high compliance with global trade norms but limited leverage in bilateral negotiations.
Parliament weighs in.
The Select Committee on Economic Development and Trade has urged the government to act urgently. Chairperson Sonja Boshoff described the tariffs as “a direct assault on our rural economy and industrial base,” warning that the impact would stretch far beyond exporters.
“Entire rural economies and towns — especially those dependent on citrus, wine, or macadamia farming — are in jeopardy,” said Boshoff. “We cannot afford to wait for the axe to fall. Intervention is needed now.”
She called on the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) to fast-track support packages for affected industries, including logistics relief, export financing, and rapid market reorientation.
*This article was first published by IOL News
Abigail Visagie
Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality has fully paid its R921 million debt to Vaal Central Water and no longer owes third parties such as SARS.
This comes after Minister of Water and Sanitation, Pemmy Majodina, lauded the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality for the strides it has made in improving water service delivery and settling its water debt, calling the progress a positive step towards restoring public confidence in local governance.
Tabling her departmental budget speech last week in Parliament, Majodina said regular meetings with Executive Mayor Gregory Nthatisi, MEC for Cogta Saki Mokoena and Premier Maqueen Letsoha-Mathae, as well as the Water Board, are beginning to produce positive changes.
She said the problem of water debt, which is about R24 billion, is detrimental to water security in the country as well as the reliability of services.
“As a result of our engagements with provincial and local government, we are beginning to see positive changes. Today, Mangaung, Johannesburg and Tshwane no longer owe water boards. Sadly, many municipalities are still failing to honour their debts. As a result of these debts, 18 municipalities will have their quarterly equitable share allocation withheld by the National Treasury this month. The allocation will be paid to the municipalities in tranches, depending on their paying their current invoices from the water boards,” said Majodina.
Last year, the metro was reported to owe the water board about R921 million.
This comes after Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwan, last month warned of his intentions to withhold 39 municipalities' July 2025 tranche of local government equitable share and conditional grants for their persistent failure to pay third parties.
This includes three municipalities in the Free State, Kopanong, Matjhabeng, and Nala Local Municipality, which still owe Vaal Central.
According to Godongwana, this will further include municipalities that will fail to submit the evidence that SARS, AGSA, pension funds, and other relevant statutory third parties have been paid fully, “the national treasury will approach Parliament to endorse that the national treasury stop the transfer of all the LGES due to the municipality over the remainder of the 2025/26 municipal financial year for the municipality’s persistent failure.”
By: Rorisang Rampheteng
President Cyril Ramaphosa is facing sharp criticism after his televised “family meeting” on Sunday evening, which addressed explosive allegations against Police Minister Senzo Mchunu.
Calls for a national shutdown continue to gain momentum following his decision to put Mchunu on leave, announce a judicial commission of inquiry, and appoint an acting police minister from outside parliament.
As early as an hour after Ramaphosa concluded his briefing, South Africans took to social media platforms expressing their dissatisfaction and disappointment over the decision, calling for a national shutdown against the president.
One of the supporters, Bianca_GoldSA, posted that she supports the national shutdown because the country needs a change.
“I support the #NationalShutDown the is so much weighting on South Africans, we don't need leaders who destroy us (Sic). We need a change,a criminal mafia running the country is destroying us and they have to GO Cyril Ramaposa hates us. Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi we stand with you. #FamilyMeeting,” said Bianca.
The call has been supported by many influential people, including former EFF member and parliamentarian Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, who questioned the logic behind Mchunu continuing to receive full benefits and salary while on leave.
“What does special mean (Sic)? Does Mchunu remain with all the benefits of being a minister: salary, security, but he cannot report for anywhere! Including parliament,” asked Ndlozi.
Announcing Mchunu’s leave, Ramaphosa said that he would make an interim appointment from his Cabinet to step into Mchunu's shoes until Wits law professor, Firoz Cachalia, retires from academia and can take over as minister in August.
Cachalia is a former MEC for safety and security in Gauteng province.
The Constitution empowers the president to appoint two people to his Cabinet from outside the National Assembly.
South Africa’s history is marked by numerous commissions of inquiry that have focused on investigating corruption, human rights abuses, and systemic failures. While some have made significant contributions to understanding these issues, others have struggled to deliver justice, raising concerns about their effectiveness, costs, and long-term impact.
Recently, allegations involving Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, Deputy Police Commissioner Shadrack Sibiya, and officials linked to a criminal syndicate have once again thrust the spotlight on the role and effectiveness of these bodies following President Cyril Ramaphosa's announcement that a commission of inquiry would be established to investigate the allegations.
While commissions have played a crucial role in exposing wrongdoing, critics argue their impact often falls short of delivering tangible justice.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), chaired by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and established in 1995, was instrumental in addressing apartheid atrocities, fostering national healing through truth-telling, and encouraging dialogue among victims and perpetrators.
However, many critics and some political parties argue that the commission failed in its primary goals of reconciliation and prosecution.
Decades later, the Zondo Commission, set up in 2018 to investigate allegations of state capture involving former President Jacob Zuma and the Gupta family, uncovered widespread corruption at the highest levels of government.
Its findings have led to numerous referrals for prosecution and prompted policy reforms. Yet, despite the hefty price tag - nearly R1 billion, many critics argue that it has yet to produce the expected results.
Other notable inquiries include the Seriti Commission, which investigated the 2012 arms deal but was widely criticised for failing to hold anyone accountable; and the Marikana Commission, which examined the police killing of 34 striking miners in 2012 but resulted in few prosecutions and lingering dissatisfaction among victims’ families.
Experts argue that many commissions have successfully exposed systemic abuses and informed public debate. However, translating these revelations into action remains a persistent challenge.
Critics argue that commissions can serve as political tools rather than genuine agents of reform, citing political interference, limited resources, and the slow pace of follow-up actions as factors diminishing their ability to effect meaningful change.
Independent political analyst Professor Sipho Seepe expressed skepticism about the actual utility of some commissions.
“There is nothing wrong with commissions of inquiry in unraveling societal challenges. The challenge arises when recommendations of commissions are ignored.
“South Africans have had the misfortune of having to contend with two of the worst commissions recently, the Nugent and Zondo Commissions. These commissions were politically tainted from the outset.”
Seepe argued that their chair weaponised them to target specific individuals instead of providing insights into the country's challenges.
“They became arsenals of the so-called 'New Dawn' to target individuals associated with a certain faction within the ANC. Both these commissions have done no great disservice in South Africa's body politic to the extent that many South Africans have lost faith in commissions as mechanisms to address societal challenges.”
In his academic article ‘Integrity & Accountability Commissions of Inquiry: A South African Perspective,’ Lauren Kohn proposed a permanent commission that seeks truth and enforces solutions.
“South Africans cannot again sleep through state capture. Abuses of public power must be brought to light and dealt with swiftly and effectively. Establishing a permanent commission would greatly enhance public trust and confidence in government, and indeed that of the ‘state’ more broadly. It exists to advance the public interest and perhaps even, as many authors suggest, ‘the well-being of its members’.”
Kohn felt that the presidency's adoption of this recommendation would also help to keep the spirit of truth and reconciliation alive.
“The benefits of commissions of inquiry have been examined above. One of their costs is that the public expenditure that goes into their operation does not yield real dividends when it matters most; namely, after their terms end, when reports tend to gather dust and recommendations get shelved.”
Professor Dirk Kotze from the University of South Africa echoes this view, stating the importance of timely and well-resourced investigations.
“A commission of inquiry is a fundamental and practical mechanism to investigate. If it is done within the day, then it can be beneficial and prosperous. The challenge is often that the implementation of recommendations is delayed or inadequate, which diminishes their impact.
“The reason many commissions, like those on the PIC, fail to bring about tangible change is not due to their principle but political interference and resource constraints. It’s often seen as an easy or cheap option, but without proper follow-through, its effectiveness is limited.”
List of Commissions since 1995 include the Nel Commission (2001), Ngoepe Commission (2001), Inquiry into human rights violations in farming communities (2001), Jali Commission (2001), Ngobeni Commission of Inquiry (2001), Myburgh Commission (2002), Donen, Commission (2002), and Hefer Commission (2003).
Khampepe Commission (2005), Ginwala Enquiry (2007), Seriti Commission (Arms Procurement) (2011), Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry (2012), Marikana Commission (2012), Cassim Inquiry (2015) Fees Commission (Higher Education and Nugent Commission (Tax Administration and SARS Governance) (2018), PIC Commission (Public Investment Corporation) (2018), and Mokgoro Commission (Fitness of NPA officials) (2018).
*This article was first published IOL News
For the second time this year, the world’s most powerful finance ministers gather in South Africa without the presence of the US Treasury Secretary.
Scott Bessent will skip the Group of 20 again this week, continuing a boycott of South Africa by top US officials begun by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who stayed away out of scorn over his hosts’ theme for its G20 presidency of “Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability.”
South Africa is the first nation from the continent to host the G-20. But its ambition to use that to advance issues vital for developing nations is likely to be further sidelined as the club confronts the latest salvo in US President Donald Trump’s trade war.
“The challenge around the G-20 is that you just don’t know what is going to come out of the White House,” said Sanusha Naidu, senior research fellow at the Pretoria-based Institute for Global Dialogue.
“There is an actor in the international system who is playing such a disruptive role for the order of global international governance.”
The preeminent forum for multilateral cooperation has been under assault since Trump returned to the White House, hampering progress on issues including climate change and debt relief that South Africa hoped to promote.
This meeting, held at the Indian Ocean resort of Zimbali near the port city of Durban on the country’s southeast coast, faces the same fate.
In addition to Trump’s threat of crippling levies on key trading partners from 1 August, the US president has taken aim at the BRICS bloc of emerging economies — which includes South Africa — threatening an extra 10% tariff for “anti-American” policies.
He’s also singled out Brazil, a member of both BRICS and the G-20, promising a 50% tariff on the nation as he criticized its prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro for attempting to overturn the results of an election he lost.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was the first BRICS leader to take on Trump after a meeting in Rio de Janeiro last week, saying the American president needed a “greater appreciation of the emergence of various centers of power in the world.”
That came several weeks after he endured Trump berating him in a televised Oval Office meeting over false claims that his government was ignoring a genocide of the nation’s White farmers.
Ramaphosa is also still trying to convince Trump to attend a G-20 leaders summit in Johannesburg in November, where he is due to hand over the presidency of the group to the US.
The prospects that Trump would help advance South Africa’s G-20 priorities looks slim.
“For a lot of the agenda that has been built up over the last four or five years, it’s not fertile ground next year,” said Elizabeth Sidiropoulos, chief executive officer of the South African Institute of International Affairs, referring to climate finance and sustainability.
Despite Washington’s indifference, South Africa is sticking to its guns and will try to salvage what it can from the meeting, which runs all week and will be headlined by finance chiefs and central bank governors on Thursday and Friday.
“Africa’s development must remain front and center this year and into the future,” Ronald Lamola, South Africa’s international relations minister, told a United Nations conference in Spain this month.
“The world cannot stand by and watch as rising debt-service costs crowd out development for a generation.”
One consequence of the US skipping the meetings is that it’s pushed some members of the so-called Global South and the US’s traditional allies closer together.
Shortly after Rubio’s snub the European Union said it supported South Africa’s G-20 aims. Two weeks later, the economic bloc, which had been bickering with Pretoria over a range of issues, held its first summit with the nation since 2018.
Trump “will not render the G20 irrelevant,” said Louw Nel, a senior political analyst at Oxford Economics Africa. “Countries are already starting to look beyond the Trump presidency and know these multilateral institutions will outlive this administration.”
*This article was first published Business Tech
On Monday, the NPA took its first formal step toward challenging the ruling which let the pastor walk free.
The outcome of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA)'s bid to seek clarification on the court’s decision to acquit Nigerian televangelist Timothy Omotoso is set to be announced on Tuesday.
On Monday, the NPA took its first formal step toward challenging the ruling which let the pastor walk free.
In April, the Gqeberha High Court found that the State had failed to prove Omotoso’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. This saw the dropping of 30 charges, including rape, racketeering and human trafficking, after a case marred by contradictory testimony and frequent changes in prosecutors.
In May, the NPA announced it would appeal the high court ruling, but first sought clarification of Judge Irma Schoeman’s factual findings.
In court on Monday, the State and defence clashed, one trying to pave the way for an appeal, the other insisting the matter was closed.
Omotoso’s lawyer, Peter Daubermann, argued that the application had no legal basis.
“The case has been finalised. That is the position of the case at the moment. No application for leave to appeal or reservation of the question of law has been made.”
The NPA countered that it simply sought clarity, not a reversal.
“The request, as I said in my main submissions, does not seek to have you alter the judgment. The judgment is what it is. We remain with the outcome My Lady made - the finding acquitted the accused, and we live with that.”
If the court grants the NPA’s request for clarification, it could then petition the Supreme Court of Appeal to try and overturn Omotoso’s acquittal.
*This article was first published Eye Witness News
