Few things in SA arouse as much dread as a visit to your local Home Affairs office… the queues, the admin, the “Sorry ma’am, we’re offline… come back tomorrow”. But soon, thanks to a new partnership between the Department of Home Affairs and TymeBank, South Africans will be able to apply for Smart IDs and passports at the digital bank’s kiosks in Pick n Pay, Boxer and The Foschini Group outlets around the country. The DHA’s snappily named “Home Affairs @ home” initiative has until now been limited to only 30 locations, but plans are for it to reach 1,000 by 2029, thanks also to new partners including Capitec, Nedbank, Absa, African Bank, and Discovery Bank. TymeBank will test the service first at its HQ in Joburg, after which its kiosks will start offering services nationwide.
Still with retail and banking, Shoprite is just itching to play that game. “You’re going to see us enter the banking world,” said Oom Piet, announcing that shoppers who already have a money market account will be able to “migrate to a fully-fledged bank account that [they] can use anywhere with minimal fees. But as long as a customer uses the card to transact within the Shoprite real estate, the transaction cost will be free.”

Comment: This wouldn’t be the first time Shoprite has watched the competition, bided its time and then launched with a product that completely dominates – see Xtra Savings and Sixty60. Now for the name… BankRite? ShopBank? CheckBank60X? We’re quite sure the Brackenfellas will come up with something smart.

As we reported back in June, the big news at SPAR’s half-year results was that the Group would be exiting its underperforming geographies, i.e. Poland, Switzerland and the UK, to focus on its core operations in Southern Africa and Ireland. The wheels have now started turning in Switzerland, with SPAR announcing earlier this week that it would be selling its Swiss business, debt and all, for around R1.03bn to Tannenwald Holding, a company based in Basel, Switzerland. In addition to the sum, SPAR may receive a potential payment of up to R660m based on the Swiss business’ earnings over the next two years. When SPAR decided to enter Switzerland back in 2016, it was in an attempt to diversify its portfolio and geographies, with Switzerland being a stable market showing room for growth. Even COVID provided a boon for the Swiss business, since its neighbourhood formats were smaller and closer to people’s homes during lockdown and the subsequent restrictions. But ultimately, the historical debt load that SPAR inherited proved too much for the retailer to absorb.

Comment: Swings and roundabout, hey? Backtracking on what seems a sound strategy is always tough, but in SPAR’s case, it is necessary to enable it to go back to its core.

Oh my goodness, we were so very excited last week when Jamie Oliver sent us a personalised message inviting us to stock our pantries with Checkers’ Simple Truth products. But then, when he pronounced our name wrong, and all our friends got one too, the twinkle in our eyes faded somewhat. Still, it was another stroke of genius from Shoprite’s marketing peeps, who these days are starting to rival a certain Portuguese flame-grilled chicken takeaway when it comes to clever advertising. We look forward to seeing what they come up with next. Moving on, mirror, mirror on the wall, who was the cheapest retailer of them all? Makro, according to BusinessTech’s August grocery basket comparison, which collected the online prices of nine staple foods and products. Makro’s total, which came to R352.55, was R89.36 and R75.36 less than Woolworths and Pick n Pay, respectively. Food Lover’s Market took second place at R364.75. And closing off, congratulations to Dis-Chem, which opened its 300th store in Mbombela, Mpumalanga, last week. When Dis-Chem listed on the JSE in 2016, with 101 stores at the time, it announced a target of doubling its store count within eight years. Nine years later, it has exceeded that by some way, having opened 40 new stores in the last 18 months alone.

Comment: Dis-Chem still has some way to go to come close to Clicks’ footprint of over 1,000 stores. Its push to evolve into an integrated primary healthcare provider means that it’s looking at more than just raw store numbers right now, however.

A number of stories have come in from suppliers this week, which we round up for you here. First, we start with Rainbow Chicken, which, in celebration of our beloved South African grandmothers, is planning season 2 of its content series ‘Gogo vs Gogo’. The series pits the oumas against each other in a cooking competition, which showcases their chicken recipes, cultural traditions, and general life wisdom. Season 1 was a huge hit, achieving over 50 million views across various social media platforms. This year’s competition is themed “Twice the Taste” and aims to expand its reach into rural communities. Over R170,000 in prizes is up for grabs.
Next, results season at AVI, which released its numbers for the year to end June. Despite muted revenue growth of +1% to R16.02bn, the Group managed to grow operating profit by +7.8%, thanks to tight cost control and better margins. Looking at some of the detail, its fashion division experienced supply chain challenges, and while I&J enjoyed better catches, the fishing unit faced weak demand for abalone, particularly from China and Hong Kong. Some restructuring is (ahem) afoot, with the business closing its Green Cross retail stores, and R500m being invested in new projects.
A difficult story to tell is the recent news from poultry producer, Daybreak Foods, which you may recall went into business rescue in May. At the time, it was hoped that the decision would help save Daybreak’s 3,000+ jobs, but sadly, retrenchments are now on the cards – and how. As much as 80% of its workforce may lose their jobs; that’s some 2,200 employees, with only 500 staff remaining to operate Daybreak’s breeder farms and hatcheries. With a salary bill of R33m a month, and only R20m coming into the business, drastic action needs to be taken to prevent a complete collapse. By law, retrenchments can only take place once a company’s creditors formally adopt the business rescue plan. In the case of Daybreak, this is expected to pass since it already has the support of its sole owner, major shareholder and creditor, the PIC.
We close off on a lighter, more salutary note. After 30 years at Heineken, and the last 10 years as president of the Americas division, Marc Busain will be moving on from the brewer to become CEO of a completely different kind of brew, Lipton Teas and Infusions. In his last decade at Heineken, the region led by Mr Busain doubled its revenue, operating profit, and net profit.

Stats SA’s GDP data for Q2/2025 was released last week, showing a welcome uptick to +0.8% quarter-on-quarter after +0.1% was achieved in Q1.

• Primary sector ticked up +3.2%, supported by increases in both Agriculture (+2.5%) and Mining (+3.7%)
• Secondary sector increased +1.3% over the quarter, with growth from two of the three industries. Manufacturing: +1.8% (supported by automotive and petroleum divisions), Electricity: +0.2% (due to increased production), while Construction declined -0.3% with drops in residential and non-residential buildings over the quarter
• In the tertiary sector, the +0.5% increase was supported by +1.7% growth in trade (retail, motor trade, accommodation and food & beverages reported increased activity), as well as growth in finances (+0.3%), government (+0.7%) and personal service (+0.5%), more than offsetting the decline in transport (-0.8%)

Comment: Lots of positive numbers, which are encouraging considering the challenging economic context.