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Articles by JP Landman
Worst Case Scenario: What US Tensions Mean for SA Jobs
When a foreign minister tells citizens to prepare for a “worst case scenario”, the question stops being one of diplomatic protocol. It becomes a question of livelihoods: jobs tied to exports, tourists and the spending they bring, farmers who depend on markets, and the investment that sustains employment.
SA/US Quo Vadis II
By JP Landman 29 September 2026 The recently announced US visa arrangements, followed by the US ambassador’s belligerent remarks, have put SA/US relations back in the spotlight again.
JP Landman | Starlink’s rivals are closing in: What the new space race means for SA
Starlink is the world leader in LEO satellite communications. But it is no longer the only major player, writes JP Landman. For more financial news, visit News24 Business. In 2019, Elon Musk launched the first 60 Starlink satellites. This was the start of a new satellite internet network. Starlink uses low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites. They travel around the Earth at an altitude of about 550km.
JP Landman | How a Pretoria start-up is changing global medicine testing
A small SA software company is showing why Africa doesn’t need charity – it just needs to build systems that work, writes JP Landman. For more financial news, visit News24 Business. Adriaan Kruger, a young entrepreneur from Pretoria, won $150 000 (about R2.5 million) at an African Business Heroes event in Rwanda in December organised by the Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Philanthropy. Jack Ma, a former teacher and founder of the Chinese internet giant Alibaba, attended the ceremony in person.
JP Landman | NHI: Where are we now?
Both the Department of Health and the “no NHI at all costs” camps must take a step back and plot a different route to the ultimate aim – better healthcare for all, argues JP Landman. For more financial news, visit News24 Business. After the Department of Health’s presentation to Parliament and the medium-term budget statement, the National Health Insurance (NHI) is back in the news. Let’s try to get a grip on it.
40 days that changed the world
By JP Landman In my view, this is an important read. Our media have been obsessing about the pro-US work of Afriforum and Solidarity, cancellation of AGOA, the pro-East obstinacy of the ANC, Ramaphosa’s article in Foreign Policy, fleeing Afrikaner farmers and the like. Mostly sensationalist headline grabbing stuff! Below is the reality of the Trump ascendancy, and it’s scary! (Steuart Pennington) It is now just more than 40 days since Donald Trump became president.
As with chickens, so with steel: SA faces a difficult choice
RETURNING from a very relaxing holiday in Namibia, we walked into a storm over the closure of the long steel business by ArcelorMittal South Africa (Amsa). The saga concerns more than just steel – it is about public policy issues on tariffs, import protection, localisation and industrialisation. It is worth unpacking. Amsa started life as Iscor, the South African Iron and Steel Corporation, way back in the 1920s.
Building SA billion by billion
IN 2023 total investment in the country amounted to just over R1 trillion. Total GDP was just over R7 trillion, which means investment came to 15% of GDP. It is below the 25% ambition of the National Development Plan but still an enormous number.
JP Landman | Investment in SA - pulling it all together
Ministers from the ANC and DA alike say investment in infrastructure is a priority in South Africa. JP Landman outlines the state of play. For more financial news, go to the News24 Business front page. Turning South Africa into one big construction site is the expressed ideal of ministers from the ANC and the DA. What is the state of play, and what are the prospects? Two sectors: public and private In 2023, total investment in the country amounted to just over R1 trillion.
Investment - pulling it all together
Turning South Africa into 1 big construction site is the expressed ideal of ministers from the ANC and the DA. What is the state of play, and what are the prospects? 2 sectors: public and private 2023 GDP in Current Prices: About R7-trillion Total Investment In Trillion 2023: R1-trillion, i.e. 15% of GDP In 2023 total investment in the country amounted to just over R1-trillion. Total GDP was just over R7-trillion, which means investment came to 15% of GDP.
Some you win, some you lose
There is an old saying that there are weeks when nothing happens, and then there are days when weeks happen. The first 2 weeks of October were days when a lot happened in both policy and politics. Policy Visas The Minister of Home Affairs gazetted new visa regulations. Visa reform has been a government priority for a long time, predating the government of national unity, and it has now at last happened.
So far so good
The middle ground is getting stronger. Two and a half months into the Government of National Unity (GNU) and contrary to the expectations of many, it is holding firm. A major red line for some coalition parties – the BELA bill – was crossed when the president signed it. Despite the noise, no one left the GNU. From his side, the president didn’t force through the two most contentious parts of the bill, giving three months to find a compromise. And if that fails?
Elections - a historic shift to the middle
First, some things that did not happen during this election season are as important as those that did. What did not happen? • We did not see the violence and disruption that so many people predicted. It could still happen of course. We heard on Saturday that extra police units have been deployed to KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). So far, however, we have seen much less than the general expectation. This year, to date, 11 people have been killed in political assassinations in South Africa, mainly in KZN.
2024 Elections - JP Landman
The election date has been announced for 29 May and the Budget speech delivered. Now it is off to the races! The lie of the land In the last national elections, in 2019, 14 political parties were elected to parliament. However, only 3 of them, the African National (ANC), the Democratic (DA), and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), garnered 89% of the vote. The remaining 11 parties shared the remaining 11%. In 2021, 2 and a half years later, we had local government elections.
JP Landman | Reality check: SA's power crisis in 2024
South Africa will have to rely on private sector power generation to get us over the line. This is happening, writes JP Landman. For more financial news, go to the News24 Business front page. Over the holiday period, there were several important developments regarding the major issue facing the country: electricity. By far the most important was the release of the long-term electricity plan, the Integrated Resource Plan 2023 or IRP 23. This is a still a draft.
2024 - Once again electricity
Over the holiday period there were several important developments regarding the major issue facing the country, electricity. By far the most important was the release of the long-term electricity plan, the Integrated Resource Plan 2023 or IRP 23. This is a still a draft. After public comments, it will be gazetted to replace IRP 2019. Even as a draft, it is a wholly unsatisfactory document that lets the country down in a crucial area of development. We will discuss this below.
Thoughts after a visit to China
Through the good offices of the Inclusive Society Institute of South Africa, I recently had the privilege of doing a short study tour in China. Everybody paid their own expenses, but the Inclusive Society arranged the (very efficient) programme and interesting engagements. Obviously, China is a massive country and one study tour does not even scratch the surface. Nevertheless, I would like to share some personal observations.
JP Landman | SA's fight against corruption is uneven and slow. But there is progress Original
South Africa's titanic struggle against crime and corruption is not unique. But we can take comfort from the US experience, writes JP Landman. Get the biggest business stories emailed to you every weekday, or go to the Fin24 front page. In 2021, two researchers published a paper on a period of rife corruption in the US between 1865 and 1941. They distilled four lessons from that period.
Neither a one-day, nor a one-person job
In 2021, two researchers published a paper on corruption in the US between 1865 and 1941, a period infamous for its corruption. They distilled four lessons from that period. Their first finding was that ‘it is possible to make a transition from a systemically corrupt political system to a system in which public corruption is aberrational.’ The paper specifically rejected the notion that an entrenched culture of corruption is virtually impossible to dislodge.
Coalitions - important shifts
Three months ago, in May, I wrote about coalitions, the need to strengthen the middle ground in our politics, as well as a 'grand coalition' between the African National Congress (ANC) and the Democratic Alliance (DA). Since then, three important developments have taken place. Firstly, on 11 July the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and the DA signed an agreement to cooperate in coalitions at local government level in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN).
Coalitions
Since the 2021 local government elections, several municipalities have been governed by coalitions. It has not been a happy experience. Johannesburg recently had its eighth mayor elected in eight years. In Tshwane, Ekurhuleni and Nelson Mandela Bay power has been bouncing around between the major parties like ping-pong balls. Position, power, and patronage determined the formation of the councils, and governance fell by the wayside. It was and is about who will govern, not how they will govern.
Electricity distribution: A glimpse of what the future could be
Close Email this article Sponsored by Close Article Enquiry Electricity distribution: A glimpse of what the future could be Embed VideoPopup VideoInstagram My sense is that South Africans are utterly exhausted. So, to give readers a break, this month I am sharing something very different. A real-life story from the ground up.
Electricity and loadshedding
Antonio Gramsci had it right: ‘The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear.’ Gramsci was referring to politics in Italy in the 1930s, but the quote also describes Eskom and loadshedding in South Africa in the 2020s. Loadshedding brings with it the morbid destruction of many small businesses and the merciless disruption of peoples’ lives.
JP Landman | What COP27 means for SA and Eskom | Business
COP – or the Convention of the Parties – is the annual climate change conference held under the auspices of the United Nations. South Africa has been a participant since COP 1 in 1993. In 2011 the country hosted COP 17 in Durban. SA also hosted the World Sustainability Summit in Johannesburg. The country has a long political commitment to the climate change process. COP21 in Paris in 2015 marked a breakthrough in negotiations, when most governments in the world agreed a climate change accord.
Corruption and consequences
Once a year, usually in August, I do an update on the fight against corruption. This year I delayed it because the head of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Shamila Batohi, committed in May to Parliament that nine ‘high-profile’ state capture cases would be brought to court by the end of September 2022. Below is a summary of the status at the end of September: 1.
Electricity - NERSA
Close Email this article Sponsored by Close Article Enquiry Electricity – NERSA Embed VideoPopup VideoInstagram A significant announcement was made on Friday 26 August about electricity, but the news has for all practical purposes been ignored by the media. Given this ‘black-out’ I have decided to do this note to keep you abreast of the developments.
JP Landman | Electricity - green is the new gold
We are moving from a state monopoly in electricity to a free market where people can risk their own money to build plants, generate power and sell it to their chosen customers. This could unleash enormous investment, writes JP Landman. Get the biggest business stories emailed to you every weekday, or go to the Fin24 front page. Before we go any further, let's deal with load shedding. It will still be with us until the end of 2024. There is no short-term fix for Eskom.
JP Landman | The country is undeniably better off than it was five years ago
15 Jul 2022 Share your Subscriber Article You have 5 articles to share every month. Send this story to a friend! Enter recipient email address This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Subscribers can listen to this article The removal of Jacob Zuma gave the country and critical state institutions a fighting chance to recover.
Ukraine - The Second Iron Curtain
This coming Saturday marks exactly 76 years since Winston Churchill made his ‘iron curtain’ speech. On 5 March 1946, visiting Fulton in Missouri as a guest of President Harry Truman, he famously said ‘… from Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across Europe.’ At the time, he was dismissed by some as a ‘war monger,’ but his observation was proven unambiguously correct.
JP Landman | SA needs drastic change to lift growth rate, and govt has chosen the 'hard way'
Without dramatic intervention, the South African economy has a growth ceiling of about 1.5% to 2.0% per year - about the same rate as population growth. There is no hope of dealing with the country’s triple curse of poverty, unemployment, and inequality if this doesn’t change, says JP Landman. As far as the economy goes, last week’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) dealt primarily with structural reform in sectors like electricity, spectrum, transport and infrastructure.
SONA – CAN WE IMPLEMENT? - The Home Of Great South African News
YES, seems to be the answer, but ‘the hard way’! By JP Landman As far as the economy goes, last week’s State of the Nation address (SONA) dealt primarily with structural reform in sectors like electricity, spectrum, transport and infrastructure. But even the sceptics who supported the announcement asked: it’s all very well, but will it be implemented? The easiest way to answer that question is to look back at the track record of implementation on critical economic issues.
JP Landman | Ending load shedding could happen sooner than you think - but it won't be easy
The noise over load shedding and energy constraints has been obscuring a different - and important - trend line that has been taking shape over the past few years, explains JP Landman. Electricity is the biggest single constraint on the South African economy. It also demoralises citizens and saps the energy of individuals and corporates, big and small alike.
JP Landman | The biggest vote in the election was the stayaway
The local government system provides for direct voting for an individual representative but, overall, it hasn’t contributed to better outcomes for voters, says JP Landman. Some 26 million people were registered, but only about 46% chose to go out and vote. This is as powerful a political statement as you can get. Fikile Mbalula, Head of Elections for the African National Congress (ANC), appropriately described it as "a warning shot" for the ruling party.
JP Landman | Local government elections: What to watch for
It looks like coalitions will be the name of the game – the trick will be who exactly will pair with whom. iStock The local government system provides for direct voting for an individual representative but, overall, it hasn’t contributed to better outcomes for voters, says JP Landman. Pity the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).
JP Landman | Despite all of SA's chaos, the centre is holding - and we should not forget that
In the chaos, it was easy to lose sight of a major achievement: Jacob Zuma was arrested and incarcerated, says JP Landman. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times … it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope…" These opening lines of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities could have been written to describe the past few weeks in South Africa.
JP Landman | Zuma's fall strengthened SA's habits of the heart
Former president Jacob Zuma during a media briefing at his Nkandla homestead on Sunday night. Emmanuel Croset / AFP Through this whole long, painful Zuma episode, South Africa has learnt what it means to live under a Constitution, says JP Landman. In the end, it all ended with a whimper.
JP Landman | 2021 could be the year SA bounces back, followed by growth
The commitment of the Ramaphosa government to reignite growth through structural reform is coming more and more into focus, says JP Landman. South Africa has now been in a "demographic recession" for six years because the population grew faster than the economy. Our population growth is 1.6% pa (allowing for one immigrant every 2.5 minutes). Since 2015, economic growth has not kept pace with that number.
Forensic evidence points to light at the end of the political-economic tunnel
Will politics allow us to grow the economy again? This is the question I believe is the main issue on the minds of business people and investors across SA, and one I attempted to answer in a webinar hosted by Nedbank Business Banking last week. To unpack the current and future socio-political landscape I’d like to clarify that the country has been in a demographic recession for the past six years.
JP Landman | What's the story with SA's Covid-19 vaccine supply?
A proverbial storm has developed around South Africa’s procurement, or the perceived lack thereof, of Covid-19 vaccines. People are understandably anxious and have many questions. JP Landman has compiled this note from publicly available information, and trusts that readers find it useful. What is approved and available? Currently (though this changes all the time), there are five approved vaccines available in the world. All of them require two shots, administered roughly three weeks apart.
Corruption - What Actually is Being Done?
How often does one hear “All this corruption is going on and no one is behind bars, typical… the Govt. is sitting on its hands” Not true – a lot is going on. Find out the facts… by JP Landman There is palpable anger in the land about corruption. The anger is largely focused on what the ANC is doing and failing to do about the scourge. If we separate party and state, it is useful to look at the scoreboard of what the state has achieved so far in fighting corruption.
SA’s 49 Year Productivity Record – Surprise? | The Home Of Great South African News
By JP Landman In a time of intense contestation on the correct economic policy for South Africa, economists from the left, right and centre all agree on one thing: productivity matters.
ANALYSIS: How Ramaphosa governs and his plans to change the economy
It is now 23 months since President Ramaphosa was elected president of the ANC and 21 months since he took over from Jacob Zuma. He set himself two tasks: rebuild the ethical foundations of the state (reclaim it from state capture) and revitalise the economy. We described the attempts to reclaim the state in a note ‘Act 1’, published in August. In the three months since then a lot more has happened to reclaim the state. We will update you in due course.
Eskom - more than just looting
Recently, at the Zondo Commission, Trevor Manuel said that Eskom was once the envy of the world. Indeed in 2001 it was crowned the global ‘Power Company of the Year’. And not just foreigners: in 2004 it was South Africa’s ‘most admired brand’. Corruption, maladministration, looting, and the wrong people in the wrong jobs put an end to that. But something else played a role: the changing world of electricity provision.
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