The Editor's Desk - Wed 18 Feb 2026: South Africa's shifting middle class and the "Republic of no consequences"

In today’s edition, Alec Hogg explores a significant demographic milestone: new data reveals that African and white households are now level-pegging in South Africa’s upper-middle-class income bracket. We delve into the implications of this shift, the migration of taxpayers from Johannesburg to Cape Town, and a critical look at Cyril Ramaphosa’s presidency—a leadership defined by well-intentioned instructions that are rarely implemented in what has become a "Republic of no consequences"..Don't miss out on future episodes of The Editor's Desk. Subscribe to BizNews Premium and get the podcast delivered to your inbox daily..Listen here.Edited transcript of today's Editor's Desk episode.This is the Editor’s Desk: exclusive analysis for our premium members. It's Wednesday, the 18th of February, 2026. Let's take a look behind the curtain. I can't quite believe that we are halfway through the second month of the year already. I know that because my colleague, Stuart Lowman, sent me a reminder yesterday of our business investment webinar. It’s the last Tuesday of the month, and would you believe it's just around the corner? Because February is a short month, next Tuesday will be the last Tuesday of the month. And then we're into March already, which means the business conference from the 10th to the 12th. My goodness, hasn't this year flown? If you haven't signed up for the webinar yet, please look at the premium newsletter. We’ve got a seat booked for you, but you do have to sign up to get the registration link. We also have the business conference coming up in three weeks in Hermanus. If you’ve never been to Hermanus before, it’s a good reason to come. There will be lots of interesting things happening, and I can assure you, you will leave knowing a heck of a lot more than when you arrived. It’s what happens to me every day. I get up early, look at the news headlines from our partners around the world, and prepare for the BizNews Daybreak. At half-past six, it’s published on all our channels for the tribe to listen to and prepare for the day. That way, when you go to your office, you know what you need to know and can participate in conversations that perhaps made you feel uncomfortable in the past. My work involves scanning our partnerships and our own production to decide what we publish on BizNews. We don’t publish everything because we know your time is precious; we hone in very closely on what we think you will enjoy. Make sure you get into BizNews at least once a day to pick up information we weren’t able to publish at five in the morning. Today, we have two stories that qualify. One comes from my former colleague, Monique Vanek. Monique is now very senior at Bloomberg in Johannesburg. She has written a piece based on a survey by the University of Cape Town’s Liberty Institute of Strategic Marketing. In 2012, 61% of households earning more than R75,000 a month were white. According to the most recent figures from 2024, that number has dropped to 41%. Meanwhile, African households in that same bracket have gone from 29% in 2012 to 41% now—it’s level pegging. Indians and coloureds have gone from 10% to 18%. This provides excellent background to the interview Gabriel Crouse had with Moeletsi Mbeki on the Common Sense media platform. Mbeki argues that the transition in 1994 was essentially a transfer of power from the Afrikaner middle class to the black middle class. This group now runs South Africa and has been very successful over the last 30 years, as Monique’s data shows. Another interesting data point from SARS shows that Cape Town now has more registered taxpayers than Johannesburg. In 2024, there were 975,000 taxpayers in Cape Town compared to 970,000 in Johannesburg. This confirms the migration of those who can afford it to the Western Cape. As my colleague Chris Steyn discussed in a recent interview with Stephen Moore, water is becoming the "next load-shedding" issue in Joburg, which explains why taxpayers are moving south to a well-managed province. Finally, there is an excellent piece by John Matisonn regarding Cyril Ramaphosa’s legacy. He explains why the President may have a poor legacy despite appearing to do the right things. Matisonn concludes that report-back mechanisms simply don't exist. Instructions are given—like those regarding lifestyle audits or military visits to Iran—but they are rarely followed up on or implemented. We are in a "Republic of no consequences," led by a well-intentioned man who never follows up. What a country we live in. Thank you for trusting us with your time. Until tomorrow, cheerio.

The Editor's Desk - Wed 18 Feb 2026: South Africa's shifting middle class and the "Republic of no consequences"

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