Articles
Real stories from South Africans about selling gold, jewellery, and precious metals.
-
The Mandela auction that never happened, and what it taught us about provenance
A Manhattan auction house was about to sell seventy items from Nelson Mandela's life. The sale was suspended days before it opened, but the prices it had already attached to those objects revealed something specific about how heritage prices a household possession.
Read article
-
Black Coffee and the rise of the DJ-economy fortune
A KwaZulu-Natal-born DJ sells out Madison Square Garden, holds a residency in Ibiza, and lives in a Clifton villa reported at R157 million. The shape of that wealth says something specific about how a new generation of South African fortunes is being built.
Read article
-
Trevor Noah and the export economy of a South African name
A comedian from Soweto became one of the highest-paid hosts in American late-night television, then bought property in Bel-Air and Manhattan. The shape of his wealth says something specific about what it means to earn in dollars and live abroad.
Read article
-
R9 300 nationally, R11 635 in the Cape: what your rent says about your metro
The rental index moved 5 per cent nationally and 7 per cent in the Cape. The prime rate dropped 150 basis points in twelve months. Both numbers matter to your monthly outflow.
Read article
-
Pick n Pay versus Shoprite versus Checkers: the R500 basket, line by line
The same basket. The same brands. Three receipts. The gap between them is smaller than the marketing claims, larger than most shoppers realise, and concentrated on three line items.
Read article
-
R128 462 for Grade R: the SA school-fee curve every parent should know
Independent school fees moved 5 to 8 per cent. The top fee tier now starts a Grade R year above what most households earn in three months. The rest of the curve is the bigger story.
Read article
-
Johann Rupert, Cartier and what SA's luxury king tells us about jewellery
The richest man in South Africa makes his money selling the watches and jewellery the wealthy keep buying. The way Richemont reports its earnings is also a free education in what holds value in a household safe, and what does not.
Read article
-
The April hike: what Discovery's 7,2 per cent really costs a family of four
One scheme gave members a three-month reprieve. The other did not. The arithmetic underneath both decisions is the same: medical inflation is still printing well above CPI.
Read article
-
R17 144 in your pocket, R5 452 at the till: the SA take-home pay squeeze, in numbers
The pay slip says one number. The till says another. The gap between them is the cost-of-living story most household budgets are now organised around.
Read article
-
Patrice Motsepe and the gold-anchored fortune
South Africa's first Black billionaire built his wealth on the same metal sitting quietly in millions of household jewellery boxes. The story of how he did it is also a story about how gold actually becomes a fortune.
Read article
-
R100 in 2021 vs R100 now: the SA food basket, line by line
Five years of food-price moves, item by item. Where your money still goes the distance, and where it stops short.
Read article
-
NERSA's 2026 electricity hike: what it actually adds to your bill, in rand
The headline percentage is one number. The structural change in how Homepower bills are now built is the bigger one. What it means at 350, 600, and 900 kWh a month.
Read article
-
50 cents at the pump = R75 a month: the petrol-price math every SA driver should know
What the per-litre headline means at your tank size, your refill frequency, and the inland-coastal price gap. With the calculator.
Read article