Cape Times 2025-11-05

Dubai-based Optasia, a leader in AI-powered digital finance technology, listed on the JSE’s Mainboard on Tuesday, bringing R23.5 billion of market capitalisation to the market. “At Optasia, we have a deep commitment to deliver real-time financial access to millions of underserved individuals in the emerging markets. We are honoured to be listed on the JSE and are excited about the potential to grow further in the long term. Today is not just about an IPO – it continues a journey that began in 2012 as an idea premised on inclusion and value creation,” CEO Salvador Anglada said. Optasia’s post-IPO ownership structure reflects strong investor confidence, with key stakeholders including FirstRand, Chronos Capital, TRG, and a further diverse group of local and international institutional investors. At a final offer price of…

FlySafair will apply to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) for a Section 150 intervention to expedite the resolution of a labour dispute, after members of the South African Cabin Crew Association (SACCA) were locked out on Monday following failed negotiations. FlySafair confirms that the employer-initiated work stoppage commenced at midnight on Tuesday night, with no disruption to flights on Tuesday. The airline has secured full operational coverage over the upcoming roster cycle and remains confident that all services will continue as scheduled. Currently, more than two-thirds of FlySafair’s cabin attendants are committed to work, comprising both non-union members and union-affiliated crew who have formally accepted the company’s offer. Combined with the seasonally reduced November schedule, this allows the airline to fully protect its operations, FlySafair said. In…

Zuko Godlimpi, Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, while speaking at the annual Business Process Enabling South Africa (BPESA) conference in Durban on Tuesday, said that the aim of the conference is to attract international investors and bolster Global Business Services (GBS) to create 500 000 jobs by 2030. Godlimpi said one of the values you get from bringing international investors to a conference set up is that they listen to what you say, they listen to what you've done, and they tell you what the global market is looking for. “Global investors will tell you that South Africa, you've been doing well in this sub-sector of this industry, but these are the global trends that you should try to catch up on. The conference supports the government’s…

Local producers warn that unprecedented surge of subsidised imports could decimate the sector South Africa’s sugar industry is facing a crisis, with local producers warning that a flood of cheap, heavily subsidised imports is threatening the survival of jobs and could decimate the industry. SA Canegrowers said in a statement on Tuesday that sales of locally produced sugar are falling dramatically as a result of an unprecedented surge in heavily subsidised imported sugar, raising concern from South African growers that not enough is being done to protect local jobs in rural KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga. “Already sugar imports for 2025 are more than 400% higher than 2024 levels, and this has directly led to a drop of more than 100 000 tons of locally produced sugar being sold or being used…

How do we change our environment, life situation and political economy? This change can be achieved through education. By training our minds and achieving capabilities and capacity not only to change the current but to project into the future we can create an environment that is predictable risks notwithstanding. The aim will be to consistently design inputs and processes that derive change that must be for the better. Morena Mohlomi, a mentor to the king of Lesotho, Morena Moshoeshoe, makes a distinct difference in the definition of leadership. His definition reads thus the point that “a responsible leader pursues peaceful and productive alliances, accommodates stakeholders, and uses new instruments of power to create intergenerational value through integrated reporting.” To this end Mohlomi was a design thinker who designed a system…

The city is still dark when her alarm sounds, a faint digital chime cutting through the quiet as her children sleep. Her day begins long before sunrise: a walk to the taxi rank, a crowded minibus ride, and the slow crawl through Johannesburg’s traffic. From her seat, she watches two worlds pass by: the one she leaves behind, where survival is a daily struggle, and the one she travels to, where high walls and manicured lawns signal comfort and security. During this journey, her mind is a ledger. The school fees are due next week. The price of maize meal is up again. Her mother’s clinic appointment cannot be missed. She mentally subtracts these costs from the R3,635 she earns each month, knowing that the true cost of keeping her…