An impassioned call for unity reverberates through Africa as leaders emphasize the continent's potential to shape its future.

Chip stocks fell on rate fears, but AI’s real test is financing: debt-fuelled data-centre buildouts now face investor scrutiny.

The Construction Education and Training Authority (Ceta) has come under fire for failing to award bursaries within the relevant academic year, with Parliament warning that delays disrupted students’ studies and jeopardised their chances of completing their qualifications. The portfolio committee on higher education and training raised concerns about the impact of delayed funding when Ceta and the Services Sector Education and Training Authority (Seta) presented their 2025-26 annual reports on Thursday. The committee said Ceta appeared not to fully appreciate the consequences of failing to provide bursaries to new and continuing students when they needed financial support. It rejected CETA’s explanation that the delays had been addressed in the subsequent financial year, arguing that late funding could not reverse the damage caused by interrupted studies and lost academic time. “Delayed funding cannot compensate for lost academic time, interrupted studies, forgone educational opportunities and the financial hardship affected students experienced,” the committee said. Ceta’s financial position raises concerns The committee also expressed concern about Ceta’s financial position, including approximately R914 million in overspending against expenditure of R1.25 billion. Ceta received a qualified audit opinion, while the committee noted approximately R956 million in irregular expenditure accumulated from previous years and R44 million in fruitless and wasteful expenditure. It also raised concerns about a material irregularity involving the purchase of a biometric attendance and stipend-payment system for approximately R13.26 million that was never fully operationalised. The committee said the bursary delays were particularly damaging for continuing students, whose studies could be disrupted without financial support, putting their academic progress and prospects of completing their qualifications at risk. Prospective students were also disadvantaged by the failure to provide funding within the relevant academic year. Committee questions accountability The Department of Higher Education and Training placed Ceta and the Services Seta under administration in August 2025 following governance and operational difficulties. Both entities are expected to remain under administration until 31 January 2027. The committee also raised concerns about what it described as a trend among sector entities of failing to implement audit action plans issued by the Auditor-General of South Africa. It recommended that the department ensure its reporting entities comply with these plans. Committee chairperson Tebogo Letsie said Ceta’s failure to hold people accountable for wrongdoing was particularly concerning. “Ceta’s lack of consequence management is extremely worrying,” Letsie said, adding that it was taking too long for the authority to settle matters and act on wrongdoing, even when it had evidence. He said annual reports were an important tool for assessing whether public institutions had fulfilled their mandates. Seta’s must help tackle unemployment Letsie said Seta’s had a critical role to play in developing skills and addressing South Africa’s unemployment crisis. “For Ceta, this means ensuring that the skills development levies paid by employers translate into meaningful training,” he said. “With South Africa facing a severe unemployment crisis and millions of people not in employment, education or training, the Seta’s should be among the state’s primary tools for developing skills and addressing unemployment. That is why the committee looks beyond compliance,” Letsie said.

Retailer Clicks has overhauled its ClubCard proposition with instant 10% savings on more than 2 500 health, beauty and wellness products. The move follows rival Dis-Chem’s relaunch of its loyalty programme as ‘Better Rewards’ in October 2025. The Better Rewards programme also sees shoppers receiving 10% off on more than 180 brands (more than 10 000 products), with additional boosts for Capitec clients, Dis-Chem insurance customers or those who use the pharmacy. This is one of the biggest changes Clicks has made to its loyalty programme in years. Earlier in 2026, it changed the cashback cycle to a monthly one (from every two months). Rivalry The two rewards offerings look incredibly similar (right down to the yellow logos used to denote the savings), and the move speaks to the intensifying competition between the two pharmacy groups. Both have shifted into areas where the other had traditionally been strong (Dis-Chem’s push to open smaller stores, for example, and Clicks’s renewed focus on attracting dispensary clients). Clicks has introduced two additional banking partners, Standard Bank and Absa. Standard Bank uCount Rewards or Absa Rewards members can now earn up to 30% on their health and beauty purchases. It has an existing longstanding partnership with FNB (eBucks). Clicks has not yet explained how this discount model is funded, but rival Dis-Chem did earlier this year. It is highly likely that they operate in very comparable ways. Dis-Chem’s discount model At its 2026 results presentation, Dis-Chem CEO Rui Morais explained how it built its new programme off learnings from ‘Extra Rewards’, which was “an instant discount programme at point of sale that was centred at [its] policyholder base”. Effectively, the Better Rewards programme is “collectively funded” by participating vendors (suppliers) and the retailer. Just “repurposing some of the funding that was assigned to benefit points and paid out to partner associations directly into the Better Rewards basket” gets the base discount to 10%. “The brands that were selected to be part of the Better Rewards programme were selected as a function of their commoditised nature, the value of the brand participating and the importance of that brand and that product in the health basket of a South African consumer.” Before the introduction of Better Rewards, the group saw sales growth of 83% – with this accelerating in the 17 weeks under the new model. “Of course, the 9.2% is highly discounted. If you think about the contribution of Better Reward brands to total front shop trade, it’s significant.” Participating brands saw value growth increase from 6.1% (prior) to 11.8%, with volume up from 5.7% to 18.7%. Morais says this is driving market share gains for the group. “What you have is effectively a fully funded programme as a function of vendor participation in the way that we’ve reimagined the use of what was being paid out under the Benefit programme and to participating partners.” ClubCard ‘incredibly important’ to Clicks Clicks has 12.9 million active ClubCard holders and acquired 800 000 new members in the six months to February. This base has more than doubled in the last decade. In the six months, it paid back R527 million to members. Basket sizes of ClubCard members are roughly double that of shoppers who aren’t and the split is weighted to nearly 70% female. The proposition is incredibly important to the retailer, with these members comprising 83.7% of sales. Sales of items on promotion now make up 47.8% of turnover. The core ClubCard benefit remains – members earn 2% cashback on qualifying purchases (4% for Baby Club or seniors on Wednesdays). This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.

Take a look at the dates you need to note for December holidays 2026 from the day schools close to the public holidays. WHEN DOES SCHOOL CLOSE? Public schools across South Africa officially close on 9 December. Educators stay on until 11 December. This is the long December school holidays. So, schools only reopen on 12 January 2027. The 2027 school year opens on 13 January. Private schools may differ from these dates, it would be best to check dates with the school directly. PUBLIC HOLIDAYS Wednesday 16 December: Day of Reconciliation Friday 25 December: Christmas Day Saturday 26 December: Day of Goodwill 1 January: New Year’s Day Please note: Day of Goodwill falls on a Saturday. South African law only moves a public holiday to Monday when it falls on a Sunday. So, there is no extra day off. There is also a “bonus” public holiday this year on 4 November. The declaration follows the formal gazetting and proclamation of 4 November 2026 as the election date by Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Velenkosini Hlabisa in August 2026. Ramaphosa first announced the election date on 30 April 2026, at the Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg, during discussions at the Extended Presidential Coordinating Council meeting. At the time, he stated that as the local government elections were due in 2026, the date “should be held on a Wednesday, which is the middle of the week,” settling on 4 November 2026. PLANNING YOUR LEAVE AHEAD OF TIME You could take Thursday 17 and Friday 18 December off to give you five days off from 16 to 20 December or you could take Monday 14 and Tuesday 15 off to extend your weekend from 12 December. Christmas Day is on Friday the 25th and this will give you a long weekend. 1 January also falls on a Friday so you will also have a long weekend without using an leave. It would be advisable to book your leave days in advance. The first full week after schools close become peak period with busier roads, flights and coastal accomodation. Book flights, accomodations and anythign else in advance if you are able to.

Cape Town is one of South Africa’s biggest December destinations, but getting to the Mother City is becoming an increasingly expensive part of the festive-season holiday. For travellers from Johannesburg and Durban, flying remains the quickest option, while driving could work out cheaper for families and groups sharing a car. Current December 2026 fares show that travellers could pay more than R3 000 for a one-way flight, depending on where they are travelling from and which airline they choose. Johannesburg to Cape Town There are five airlines competing on the Johannesburg-Cape Town route: SAA, FlySafair, LIFT, CemAir and Airlink. A live fare comparison for Friday, 18 December 2026 shows a significant spread between the cheapest and most expensive options. Johannesburg to Cape Town flight prices AirlineOne-way fare on 18 DecemberSAAR2 489CemAirR2 909LIFTR2 949FlySafairR2 989AirlinkR3 359 SAA is currently the cheapest of the five for this particular date, while Airlink is the most expensive at R3 359. The prices were checked on 15 October and are live fares rather than historical averages, meaning they can change as seats are sold. Another current fare search found a R2 489 SAA one-way fare on 11 December, showing that prices can vary even within the same month. Durban to Cape Town Durban travellers have fewer seats to choose from than those travelling from Johannesburg, and December fares are already expensive. For Friday, 18 December, the current search found: Durban to Cape Town flight prices AirlineOne-way fare on 18 DecemberCemAirR3 029FlySafairR3 139LIFTR2 595SAAR7 449AirlinkR4 416 CemAir is currently the cheapest of the fares exposed in the December search, at R3 029 one way. The available fare data was also checked in early October, so these prices should be treated as a snapshot rather than a guaranteed December price. Flying isn’t the only option For families and groups, driving could still work out cheaper because the cost of fuel and tolls can be split between several passengers. The Johannesburg-Cape Town road trip is about 1 400km one way, while Durban-Cape Town is roughly 1 730km. Using a vehicle that averages 7 litres per 100km, and October’s petrol prices, the estimated fuel and toll costs are: RouteApprox. distanceEstimated return fuelReturn tollsEstimated return road costJohannesburg – Cape Town~1 400km each way~R5 930~R504~R6 430Durban – Cape Town~1 730km each way~R7 110~R228~R7 340 The calculation uses the October 2026 petrol price of R30.25/l inland and R29.38/l at the coast. December’s petrol price is not yet known, so these are estimates rather than December quotations. The road-trip figures also exclude food, accommodation, parking and vehicle wear and tear. So, flying or driving? The difference becomes clearer when the cost is divided between passengers. Using the estimated road-trip costs and the current December fares: TravellersJohannesburg flights*Johannesburg driveDurban flights**Durban drive1R4 978 return~R6 430R6 058 return~R7 3402R9 956 return~R6 430R12 116 return~R7 3404R19 912 return~R6 430R24 232 return~R7 340 * Based on the current SAA fare of R2 489 each way on 18 December, assuming the same fare in both directions. ** Based on the current CemAir fare of R3 029 each way on 18 December, assuming the same fare in both directions.

Cybersecurity has moved from a technical matter to a question of national security, writes DCDT's director-general.

Median pay for CEOs of the JSE's 200 largest companies rose to R23.2-million as bonuses jumped 42%.