Both Sides | 19 March 2026 | Israel Skosana скачать в хорошем качестве

Both Sides | 19 March 2026 | Israel Skosana

Payments are easy to ignore until they fail, cost too much, or leave people behind. In this episode of Both Sides, Randall Abrahams sits down with Israel Skosana to unpack a part of the economy that touches almost every South African, yet rarely gets examined closely: the system that moves money. The conversation begins with a simple but powerful idea: payments are the lifeblood of the economy. If money does not move efficiently, securely and quickly, commerce slows down and opportunity narrows. From there, the episode lands on one of its most striking points: cash may feel familiar and immediate, but it comes at a massive national cost. Skosana points to the figure of R30 billion a year to manage cash in South Africa, raising a bigger question about what becomes possible if even part of that cost is reduced through more efficient digital systems. But this is not just a systems conversation. It is a human one. South Africa may have high bank-account penetration, but the real issue is how those accounts are used. The discussion explores the gap between being formally banked and being meaningfully included in a way that is affordable, secure and useful in daily life. If sending a small amount of money costs too much, then access exists on paper, but not in practice. The episode also turns to small business reality. For merchants and SMEs, especially in local communities, faster settlement is not just a convenience feature. It can directly affect stock, cash flow and survival. The future of payments sounds technical. This conversation makes it clear that it is really about participation, affordability and who gets to move with the economy instead of waiting outside it.