• South Africa’s Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement highlights the limited room for manoeuvre by policymakers.
• Revenues look poised to remain constrained in the face of weak growth, while the government’s ability to cut back spending will remain undermined by elevated debt servicing costs and a rigid expenditure bill.
• Despite measures to improve

News: South African power utility Eskom plans to add nearly 6,500km of high-voltage transmission lines and 46,000 MVA of transformer capacity, according to the company’s Transmission Development Plan (TDP) for 2019-2028. Eskom plans to include independent power producer (IPP) projects, according to the TDP. The firm also plans to enhance cross

The Latest

Tito Mboweni has been appointed as South Africa's finance minister following the resignation of Nhlanhla Nene. He becomes the country's fifth finance minister in less than three years.

Deficit Narrows But Remains Challenging

South African Expenditure Continues to Outstrip Revenue

e/f = Fitch

Key View

• Ramaphosa's economic stimulus and recovery plan is unlikely to revive growth in the country's mining sector, despite a ZAR400bn infrastructure fund pledge and renewed mining regulatory clarity.
• Low prices forecast for strategic commodities, a contracting construction sector, restrictive regulations and high operational costs will

Key Views

• Economic growth will slow in South Africa in 2018, on the back of falling agricultural sector output and rising inflation.
• The growth outlook will brighten modestly in 2019, however, as headwinds from the agricultural sector ease, but will nevertheless remain well below South Africa’s long-term average. 
• While the government has

Key View

• Naspers will unbundle its Video Entertainment division into a separate company called Multichoice Group.
• This will enable it to focus on its transformation into an internet and e-commerce driven business.
• For Multichoice Group, the loss of Naspers' backing poses downside risks to its ability to fend off regulatory and competitive pay

Key View

• An under pressure rand and rising oil prices will continue to act as a drag on South African consumers' disposable income and thus weigh on growth in new car sales.
• We expect growth in new car sales in 2019 to remain under pressure on the back of sluggish economic activity and a rise in borrowing costs.

Forecast Changes

• We have

Key View

• Lowering the cost of mobile data will give more South Africans access to the country's burgeoning digital economy.
• However, these efforts will require addressing fundamental challenges in the market.

In a move to regulate the cost of mobile data in South Africa, the Independent Communications Authority (ICASA) will launch a market

Key View

• Cell C's interim results for 2018 show a rise in mobile and fibre subscribers as well as an increase in the consumption of content on its video on demand offering.
• Nonetheless the operator is still posting losses and remains highly indebted, hampering the likelihood of a successful IPO in early 2020.
• Cell C must improve its financial

The Latest: On July 31 President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a decision to push ahead with a constitutional amendment allowing for the expropriation of land without compensation in South Africa. This followed a two day meeting of the ruling ANC's top decision making body, the National Executive Committee. According to his statement, it had become