One hour before the inauguration of President Cyril Ramaphosa for a second five-year term as head of state, South Africa’s currency had broken through the R18 level against the US dollar for the first time in almost a year, trading at R17.94.

South Africa’s manufacturing sector sales performance continues to reach new record high levels, with a cumulative figure of R1.1 trillion achieved between January and April. It is the second successive year that manufacturing sales breached the R1 trillion level within merely four months.

Statistics SA has released the GDP figures for the first quarter of 2024, once more confirming that economic growth remains in place, albeit at a snail’s pace. According to Statistics SA, the year-on-year real growth rate in the country’s GDP amounted to 0.5% in the first quarter of 2024, following an increase in total production of 1.4% in the fourth quarter of 2023.

May has been a positive month for South Africa's tourism industry, highlighted by significant improvements in the Travel & Tourism Development Index (TTDI) and impressive rankings in the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) global conference popularity rankings. After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ICCA resumed its rankings based on in-person meetings, with South Africa placing 41st among 180 countries and Cape Town ranking 63rd out of over 1,200 cities, surpassing cities like Rio de Janeiro, Washington, and Los Angeles.