Although the first quarter’s further improvement of confidence and activity in the other services sector are welcome developments, bar property sales, these indicators remained at deeply depressed levels. The absence of international tourists, as well as read more

Although the first quarter’s further improvement of confidence and activity in the other services sector are welcome developments, bar property sales, these indicators remained at deeply depressed levels. The absence of international tourists, as well as COVID-related restrictions (such as the permitted number of people at gatherings) and anxiety, are hurting the hospitality, conferencing, exhibition and passenger transport industry in particular. A stronger, sustainable recovery in these industries is only likely to start in 2022 once vaccinations have been rolled out more widely and international travel resumes. Growth in freight transport, property management and business services is likely to be pedestrian until the recovery of the rest of the economy gains further traction.

Other services confidence jumped from 17 in the third quarter to 27 in the final quarter of 2020. Although the 10-point jump is encouraging, the poor performance of especially hotels, restaurants and business services indicates that conditions were still far read more

Other services confidence jumped from 17 in the third quarter to 27 in the final quarter of 2020. Although the 10-point jump is encouraging, the poor performance of especially hotels, restaurants and business services indicates that conditions were still far from favourable in the other services sector.

Other services confidence jumped from 17 in the third quarter to 27 in the final quarter of 2020. Although the 10-point jump is encouraging, the poor performance of especially hotels, restaurants and business services indicates that conditions were still far read more

Other services confidence jumped from 17 in the third quarter to 27 in the final quarter of 2020. Although the 10-point jump is encouraging, the poor performance of especially hotels, restaurants and business services indicates that conditions were still far from favourable in the other services sector. From the perspective of preserving livelihoods, the prolonged reduction in employment at hotels, restaurants and business services is most worrisome.

Other services bounced back on the lifting of lockdown restrictions. Confidence in the other services sector bounced back from 7 to 17 in the third quarter. While the Q2 survey took place during alert level 4, level 2 applied at the time of the Q3 survey. The read more

Other services bounced back on the lifting of lockdown restrictions. Confidence in the other services sector bounced back from 7 to 17 in the third quarter. While the Q2 survey took place during alert level 4, level 2 applied at the time of the Q3 survey. The performance of the respective sub-sectors related closely to the lifting of the lockdown restrictions. It was too early to estimate the impact of the lifting of the inter-provincial leisure travel ban on hotels. Activity in restaurants remained weak. Property sales bounced back, but property management struggled. Business services contracted at the same rate than previously. Since the completion of the survey, South Africa moved to alert level 1. The other services sector will benefit from the lifting of these restrictions, but the road to full recovery and the return to pre-lockdown levels is likely to be slow and bumpy.

The second-quarter results of a long-running internal BER survey (made public for the first time), once again confirmed the devastating economic fallout of the phased lockdown restrictions imposed to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The latest results of read more

The second-quarter results of a long-running internal BER survey (made public for the first time), once again confirmed the devastating economic fallout of the phased lockdown restrictions imposed to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The latest results of the BER’s other services survey showed that business confidence in the sector plummeted from an already-low level of 17 in the first quarter to a meagre 7 in the second quarter. This is a record low in the 15-year history of the survey.