Moody’s Investors Service (Moody’s) has affirmed South Africa’s government bond long and short term ratings of Baa2 and P-2 respectively, and has assigned a negative outlook.

The consensus view is that it is now less a case of ‘if’ and rather a case of ‘when’ regarding the downgrade of South Africa’s credit rating to junk status by the global rating agencies.

Old Mutual has held constructive discussions with National Treasury, the Reserve Bank and the Financial Services Board (FSB) over the course of its strategic review.

A government expenditure review has found that government could save 20% on its current property leases over the next three years.

Efforts are being stepped up to alleviate electricity supply constraints, with government preparing to expand the Independent Power Producer (IPP) initiative, said National Treasury.

The SA REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) sector has published Best Practice Recommendations that will make financial reporting of South African REITs clearer and more comparable.

Strategically-located, upmarket niche shopping complexes in Cape Town are contributing to the upswing in prices of nearby residential property and to the sales of both new and existing sectional title units.

According to Instinctif Partners, the rapid acceleration in the depreciation of the South African exchange rate in December 2015 has widely been seen as evidence of South Africa’s poor macro policy and ultimately a reflection of worsened foreign investor sentiment following the controversial changes at the National Treasury.

The South African Property Owners Association (SAPOA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with National Treasury (NT)  in Johannesburg yesterday.

President Zuma surprised markets on Wednesday evening by recalling South Africa’s well-respected Finance Minister, Nhlanhla Nene, and appointing David van Rooyen, an ANC veteran, as the head of National Treasury.