Sinejabulo Sibeko
This week on Kaya Biz with Gugulethu Mfuphi, the focus was largely on South Africa’s youth consumer class, an increasingly influential demographic shaping economic trends.
In the wake of Youth Day on 16 June, we unpacked how young South Africans are navigating financial realities: from managing debt, purchasing homes and vehicles, to taking their first steps into long-term investing.
We also interrogated one of the country’s most debated statistics: South Africa’s unemployment rate. Two influential voices, Capitec CEO Gerrie Fourie and Stats SA’s Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke gave conflicting but compelling views on what that number should actually be.
Highlight stories of the week:
1. Capitec CEO: Rethinking SA’s true unemployment picture.
GUEST – Gerrie Fourie, CEO of Capitec
Capitec CEO Gerrie Fourie argues that South Africa’s unemployment rate may be significantly overstated. With access to trillions of data points from 24 million clients, Fourie says the country is undercounting millions of informal workers, especially in the township economy. He believes that if the informal sector were properly measured, SA’s real unemployment rate could be as low as 10%.
2. Stats SA Responds: How the informal sector is captured in labour data.
GUEST – Risenga Maluleke, Statistician-General of South Africa
Following Fourie’s bold claims, Risenga Maluleke joins the show to clarify how Stats SA calculates unemployment—and why they stand by the 32.9% figure. He unpacks how the informal sector is defined, the international benchmarks applied, and why anecdotal economic activity shouldn’t be confused with formal employment.
3. New Frontiers in credit scoring: TransUnion x MTN
GUEST – Lee Naik, CEO of TransUnion Africa
A new partnership between TransUnion and MTN could change credit access forever. Lee Naik breaks down the Telco Data Score a new model that uses mobile usage patterns to assess creditworthiness. For millions of South Africans outside the formal credit system, this innovation could be a game changer.
4. Pick n Pay and Virgin Active store closures explained.
GUEST – John Jack, CEO of Galetti Corporate Real Estate
Pick n Pay is closing over 100 underperforming stores, Virgin Active is exiting malls, and the message is clear: SA’s retail geography is changing fast. John Jack explains how this shift is forcing mall owners and retailers to adapt to evolving consumer habits, with smaller formats and data-led strategies.
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