The Small Business Index · State of South African Business
November 2026
The economy, what South African business news covered, what the directory holds and what people looked for — counted, not estimated. This month is still running: figures are month to date.
Download the data: CSV · JSON — free to use with attribution.
1. The economy
| Indicator | Latest | Before | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Repo rate | 7.25% | 7% | from 25 Sep 2026 | South African Reserve Bank |
| Prime lending rate | 10.75% | 10.5% | from 25 Sep 2026 | South African Reserve Bank |
| Inflation (CPI) | 4.4% | 4.3% | August 2026 | Stats SA |
| Petrol 95 (inland) | R30.25/l | R26.92/l | October 2026 | Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources |
| Unemployment | 33.6% | 32.7% | Q2 2026 | Stats SA |
| GDP growth | -0.2% | 0.4% | Q2 2026 | Stats SA |
| Rand / US dollar | R16.61 | R16.69 | 03 Nov 2026 | ExchangeRate-API |
| Rand / euro | R18.60 | R18.63 | 03 Nov 2026 | ExchangeRate-API |
| Rand / pound | R22.28 | R22.35 | 03 Nov 2026 | ExchangeRate-API |
2. What the news covered
217 stories from 10 South African publishers so far this month. Each headline and teaser was read for the industries it concerns and the companies and institutions it names.
Industries and services most covered
- Property11 stories · 3 publishers
- Investments10 stories · 5 publishers
- Government9 stories · 5 publishers
- Infrastructure8 stories · 4 publishers
- Retail6 stories · 3 publishers
- Awards5 stories · 2 publishers
- Retail5 stories · 3 publishers
- Energy4 stories · 2 publishers
- Medical4 stories · 3 publishers
- Construction4 stories · 4 publishers
- Education4 stories · 2 publishers
- Energy4 stories · 2 publishers
Our news desk began reading on 1 October 2026, so this month is not compared with the one before.
Most named companies, institutions and places
AI 24Agoa 9ICT 5Durban 5Cape Town 4Johannesburg 3Eskom 3European 3
Recurring subjects
3. The directory
9 483 businesses listed, across 9 provinces. 4 were listed by their owners so far this month (17 the month before), and 0 owners asked to claim a listing built from public sources.
By province
- Gauteng4 858
- Western Cape2 558
- KwaZulu-Natal793
- Eastern Cape235
- Free State110
- Limpopo110
- North West106
- Mpumalanga106
- Northern Cape36
Largest industries
- Marketing3 090
- Media2 148
- Design1 217
- Information Technology976
- Construction845
- Retail660
- Education538
- Lifestyle472
- Manufacturing459
- Tourism438
4. What people looked for
9 searches, 0 questions put to the pros and 0 answers so far this month.
Fewer than three searches named any one trade — too few to report.
5. Hiring
0 jobs posted by 0 employers, advertising 0 open positions so far this month. 0 businesses are hiring right now.
Provinces and pay are shown once at least three employers (five for pay) have posted — too few so far to report.
6. Business activity and funding
4 businesses were claimed by their owners so far this month (15 the month before), and 387 carry the ✓ Checked mark. 0 partnership opportunities were posted; 0 businesses are open to working together. Funding made 7 headlines and 0 questions on Ask the pros.
Method and sources
- Economic indicators are reproduced from the South African Reserve Bank, Statistics South Africa, the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources and ExchangeRate-API, as named on each row.
- News counts cover the headlines and RSS teasers of the publishers on our news page; a topic is counted when it appears in at least three stories from two publishers.
- Directory counts are businesses listed on Business.co.za, excluding quarantined listings. Listings built from public sources are not counted as new in any month.
- Search demand is counted only where a search names a trade and three or more searches were made.
- Hiring counts are jobs posted on Business.co.za; provinces need at least three employers and pay at least five. Pay is the median of advertised ranges, never estimated.
- Checked businesses are run by their owners, verified or on the companies register in business, and contactable. Business activity counts exclude quarantined and held listings.
Business.co.za (2026). The Small Business Index — State of South African Business, November 2026. https://www.business.co.za/report/2026-11 (accessed 3 November 2026).Licence CC BY 4.0. The underlying data: open data.