QUICK READ Consumers

FNB’s card data shows that consumer spending is recovering better than expected in most categories, with eased lockdown likely to boost it further. The bank says spending by customers who hold debit, credit, and Fusion cards increased 19.2% year-on-year. Entertainment saw a 52.5% year-on-year increase while grocery spend increased by 5.6% year-on-year, on top of a 12.7% increase in 2020. Travel and holiday spend increased by 28.5% year-on-year but is still down 46% from pre-Covid times. FNB’s retail chief executive, Raj Makanjee, says: “The overall trend is that consumers are gradually regaining economic participation, but some sectors are still lagging in recovering their usual share.”

Cryptocurrency

Following consultation with the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), the cryptocurrency platform Binance Group says it will no longer offer its clients in South Africa access to some of its services and products. The restrictions include opening of any new accounts to trade derivatives and closing all existing accounts currently trading derivatives. Last month the FSCA issued a public warning against the group for suspected contraventions of financial sector laws. Binance Group is not domiciled in South Africa nor authorised to conduct financial services business in the country. It confirmed that, effective October 8, it will stop South Africans from trading in derivatives on its platform.

Marriage

The Department of Home Affairs has begun public consultations on its Green Paper on Marriages in South Africa. The department said the consultations, which will take place at workshops throughout the country, follow the submission of public comments earlier this year. The Green Paper proposes a new Single Marriage Bill, which will align the country’s marriage regimes with the constitutional principle of equality. “The legislation that currently regulates marriages in South Africa has been developed without an overarching policy based on constitutional values and an understanding of modern social dynamics. This has led to the recognition of different marriage rituals without any harmonisation,” the department said.