For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Halima Frost.

Making headlines: South Africa's trade with China surges after duty-free deal; Ramaphosa urges business to prioritise youth potential over experience; And, South African police investigate killing of foreign national by crowd

South Africa's trade with China surges after duty-free deal

South Africa's trade with China has surged this year since Beijing introduced a zero-tariff scheme for qualifying African exports in May.

Chinese ambassador Wu Peng said at an event in Pretoria that South Africa's exports were up nearly 25% year-on-year between May and August, while South Africa's imports from China were up 23%.

South Africa has been seeking to rebalance its trade with China, its largest trading partner. In 2025, South Africa exported about R222-billion of goods to China, and imported nearly twice that much, said Trade Minister Parks Tau.

South Africa's exports to China include agricultural products as well as minerals and manufactured goods.

Ambassador Peng said he had heard South Africa's demand to balance its trade and that he was confident "more and more South African high value-added products will enter the Chinese market in the future".

Ramaphosa urges business to prioritise youth potential over experience

President Cyril Ramaphosa has made a direct appeal to the South African business community to fundamentally change their recruitment habits, urging employers to stop treating a lack of work experience as a lack of capability.

Speaking in Johannesburg today at the SA National Leadership Convening on Youth Employment, the President stressed that the country could no longer exclude young people out of the economy based on “rigid structural demands”.

Addressing delegates, the President framed youth unemployment as an existential human and social crisis that struck at the core of South Africa's future stability.

Rather than viewing the integration of young workers as an act of corporate charity, Ramaphosa challenged executives to see it as a strategic investment in the longevity of the economy.

He urged companies to look beyond formal qualifications and historical resumes, adopting instead recruitment models that identified talent, aptitude, determination, and a willingness to learn wherever it was found.

And, South African police investigate killing of foreign national by crowd

South African police said today they were investigating the killing of a foreign national by a crowd of about 50 people in the city of Durban.

The South African Police Service said in a post on X that the victim, thought to be in his late 30s or early 40s, was beaten by the crowd and declared dead at the scene.

A group of people had been marching in central Durban when two men appeared to break away and approach the victim, after which he was assaulted by about 50 people, police said.

Police did not give the victim's nationality and said the motive for the killing was unknown.

The incident follows months of anti-migrant protests in South Africa, some of which have turned violent and drawn international criticism, prompting thousands of migrants from elsewhere in Africa to flee affected communities.

Earlier this month, anti-migrant protests in Durban and Johannesburg's Soweto township turned violent, with foreign-owned businesses looted and vehicles set alight after demonstrations against the processing of asylum applications at a refugee reception centre.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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