As 2025 unfolds, South African businesses are navigating a fast-shifting communications landscape shaped by market volatility, regulatory scrutiny, media consolidation and rapidly evolving stakeholder expectations. At Decusatio Investor Communications, we continuously analyse local data, media behaviour, and engagement patterns to help executives, investor relations teams and PR professionals stay ahead of emerging trends.
In this month’s update, we unpack the key Investor Communications and PR trends shaping the South African market in November 2025—insights designed to support better decision-making, strengthen corporate messaging, and ensure your strategy remains relevant, compliant and locally effective.
What our digital channels reveal about PR and Investor Communications trends
As a data-driven advisory business, we monitor our digital ecosystem—including Google Search Console and website analytics—to understand what themes and questions are drawing local attention. Over the past 30 days, these keyword clusters have shown notably higher search volumes:
- Fabricio Bloisi
- Impact Reporting / “What is an impact report?”
- Heartwood Properties
- Media relations
These trends mirror what we observed in October, suggesting two factors at play:
- High keyword density on our site due to past commentary, and
- Consistent interest in impact reporting, executive communication, and emerging leaders driving narratives in South Africa’s investment landscape.
The JSE navigates two significant legal battles
As South Africa’s primary exchange and one of its most influential regulators, any legal pressure on the JSE influences the broader capital markets environment. In the past month, two developments have caught our attention:
1. The Competition Commission vs A2X
A2X has brought a Competition Commission matter against the JSE, alleging exclusionary conduct—an action that could lead to a penalty of up to 10% of annual revenue.
2. Mantengu Mining accuses the JSE of cartel behaviour
Mantengu Mining has taken the rare step of using sponsored content in Business Day to outline its accusations of price manipulation and cartel activity.
The investigative team at amaBhungane has produced an extensive piece unpacking the players, dynamics and implications.
Both matters raise important questions about competition, transparency and governance—key themes for IR teams preparing stakeholder updates.
Read more about the amaBhungane write up.
Competition Commission records a “win” over global tech giants—sort of
A major topic in South African media this month has been the dominance of global tech platforms—Google, Meta, WhatsApp, TikTok, X and YouTube—and their impact on the sustainability of local newsrooms.
The Competition Commission’s inquiry into digital platforms has resulted in considerable focus on Alphabet/Google’s commitment to invest over R600 million into South Africa’s media ecosystem.
While widely celebrated, commentary from analysts—including Rebecca Davis at Daily Maverick—reminds us that “the devil is in the detail.”
How this funding is allocated will determine whether it strengthens independent journalism or merely exists as a symbolic gesture.
This is an important theme for corporate communicators who rely on a healthy media landscape to share credible narratives.
A white knight steps in to save Financial Mail
In October, local business media was shaken by news that Financial Mail, one of South Africa’s most respected business publications, would cease operations and merge under Business Day.
Investor Charles Pettit, through his investment firm Apex, has stepped in to save the title, preserving a critical voice in South Africa’s financial journalism ecosystem. For corporate communicators, the continuity of FM matters—its analysis often informs institutional investor sentiment.
PwC releases its annual Entertainment & Media report
PwC’s latest Entertainment & Media Outlook offers important insights for South African marketers, PR teams and investor communicators.
A key takeaway:
“By 2028, the advertising industry will reach the digital tipping point for consumer magazines, with digital ad revenue surpassing print ad revenue for the first time.”
This aligns with what we see in practice:
- shrinking print inventory,
- increased digital spending,
- and a shift towards performance-driven campaigns supported by analytics.
PwC also highlights growth opportunities across digital advertising, streaming, gaming, and technology-driven media consumption.
You can download the full report here.
Looking for a PR and Communications partner?
If your business is looking to upgrade its PR strategy, strengthen investor messaging, or position executives as credible industry thought leaders, our team is here to help.
Decusatio Investor Communications works with financial services firms, technology companies and professional services businesses across South Africa.
We support clients with:
- press releases and media engagement,
- thought leadership articles,
- impact reporting,
- B2B communications strategies,
- and stakeholder messaging frameworks.
Our Johannesburg-based team is ready to collaborate with you.
For more information or to set up a meeting, please contact us.