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THE BRIEF: DJ Warras murdered, Trump’s ambassador to SA confirmed

The Week Behind

Hello from Johannesburg,

The murder of DJ Warras, one of South Africa’s popular and outspoken entertainers, in broad daylight in Johannesburg shocked the nation. It was yet another painful reminder of the violent crime crisis that President Cyril Ramaphosa has failed to address. For years, I have asked a simple question: Why have we allowed terrifying levels of violent crime to continue in South Africa? It can be drastically reduced in less than twenty-four months through efficient, disciplined policing.

In politics, KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thami Ntuli survived the no-confidence motion brought by the MK Party in the provincial legislature. Frankly, I was relieved. Soon after the vote, the MK Party resorted to violence. I do not trust the MK Party to run my home province, KwaZulu-Natal; they thrive on chaos and remain an unstable organisation led by individuals of questionable character. Ntuli’s survival was far from guaranteed—the coalition margin is razor-thin. The vote was 39-40 split in a legislature of 80 members. Expect the MK Party to pursue another motion of no-confidence next year. They won’t give up.

In the United States, the Senate confirmed Leo Brent Bozell as President Donald Trump’s ambassador to South Africa. Bozell is an old-school, principled conservative. His ambassadorship, arriving at a time of heightened US–South Africa tensions, will be interesting to watch.

On the economic front, the South African Reserve Bank’s Quarterly Bulletin was one of the most notable releases of the week. The SARB painted a positive picture of South Africa’s economic performance this year. The Bank noted that “positive developments have lifted investor sentiment in the domestic economy in recent months,” highlighting the commodity price boom, South Africa’s removal from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list, the new 3% inflation target, and the upgrade of South Africa’s foreign currency sovereign credit rating by S&P Global Ratings. All of this is true. The key question for the new year is momentum: can it hold over the next three quarters? Most of what has been described as “positive economic news” has very little to do with Ramaphosa’s policies.

Inflation slowed to 3.5% in November, down from 3.6% in October, driven largely by lower fuel and transport costs. Producer price inflation remained unchanged at 2.9%. Add to these stats the easing of inflation expectations for 2026 and 2027 as shown by Bureau for Economic Research (BER)’s survey two weeks ago. With these favourable conditions, I expect further repo rate cuts in the new year.

The Week Ahead

It’s Christmas week, which means South Africa’s political and economic activity will be quiet as the country goes on holiday.

Enjoy your Christmas wherever you may be in the world.

Merry Christmas from Johannesburg. PM #markets #politics #economy #macro #MajoziCommentary

Purchase Phumlani’s book, Lessons from Past Heroes, on Takealot. It will make a great Christmas gift.

© PHUMLANI M. MAJOZI