Fewer people have jobs, but many who do are flocking to Capitec

CAPITEC added 109,000 active users a month in the half-year period to August. Those are customers who pay their salaries into their accounts with the bank. It recorded a 25% increase in transactions and boosted its lending book 3% to R41.8bn. SA has signed an extradition treaty with the United Arab Emirates, justice minister Michael Masutha said, raising the prospect of the Gupta brothers returning to face corruption charges. Masutha told Reuters that treaties on extradition and legal assistance had been signed with his counterpart in Abu Dhabi. SA announced visa reforms aimed at luring investment and tourists to help lift the economy out of recession. Home affairs minister Malusi Gigaba unveiled a raft of regulations allowing frequent visitors and foreign business travellers to have longterm multiple-entry visas of up to 10 years. The rules will take effect from next month. THE number of employed South Africans fell by 69,000 in the second quarter, driven largely by a huge fall in the community services sector, data from the Quarterly Employment Survey released by Stats SA showed. The mining and manufacturing sectors also bled jobs, the report said. The losses were prompted by a weak growth environment and structural constraints in the economy, said FNB chief economist Mamello Matikinca.

PORTFOLIO investments into the South African economy fell sharply in the second quarter as investor risk aversion towards emerging markets rose, Reserve Bank data showed. Inward investment into bonds and equities shrank to R16.6bn from R89.4bn in the first quarter.

CHOPPIES’s share price fell as much as 85% after the Botswana food retailer said it would miss a deadline to publish its results for the year to June.