The JSE 100 000 points milestone that broke our market table

Daily Maverick

3 days ago

Unfortunately, automating the market table that goes into the Business Maverick morning newsletter was not the best idea, because technology is not immune to error when history is made. We apologise and have overengineered a solution to make sure it doesn't happen again.
Remember Y2K? The Business Maverick team certainly does now. As eagle-eyed readers might have noticed, there was something wonky (sorry, it was just wrong) with the market report in our newsletter this morning.
The FTSE/JSE All Share Index (ALSI) was showing as a rather pedestrian 179.80 points instead of its actual, history-making 100,179.80 points.
The Yahoo Finance API that feeds our market data threw a digital tantrum when the JSE ALSI crossed the 100,000-point threshold for the first time in its 65-year history on Wednesday, 23 July 2025. Like those infamous millennium computers that couldn't cope with the year 2000, our system essentially 'reset' when faced with numbers it had never seen before.
It's a fitting technological hiccup for what is genuinely a historic moment.
Against all odds
Over that journey, the ALSI has delivered annualised returns of more than 11% – not too shabby for a market that's weathered apartheid, sanctions, global financial crises and more commodity cycles than a mining engineer's nightmares.
'This milestone reflects the resilience, innovation and operational excellence of companies listed on the JSE,' Leila Fourie, group CEO of the JSE said in a statement, clearly having a better day than our data systems. And she has every right to crow. In 2025, the JSE has positioned itself among the best-performing markets globally in both dollar and rand terms.
The ALSI now represents 125 listed companies with a combined market capitalisation of R21-trillion, capturing 99% of the eligible market capitalisation on the JSE Main Board. It's a trusted benchmark that has shown robust long-term growth since 2002, when it was redefined through a partnership with the FTSE.
But before we get too carried away with the champagne and celebration, it's worth noting that this milestone comes against a backdrop of some serious structural challenges. The JSE may be hitting record highs, but it's doing so with significantly fewer players on the field. By June last year there were fewer than 300 listed companies.
The competition conundrum
Kearabilwe Nonyana, head of Scope Prime Africa for B2B, highlighted the drop in listings in an interview with Daily Maverick this week and he is quick to point out flaws in the JSE's competitive landscape.
'There's a lack of competition locally in terms of access specifically to local markets and our local exchange,' he says, referencing the execution costs that are 'quite exorbitant' for retail investors who have 'always gotten the shorter end of that stick'.
The technological lag is particularly painful. Nonyana recounts instances where South African brokerages, comfortable in their monopoly over the industry, made clients trade over an Excel spreadsheet.
The listing requirements themselves have become the ultimate barriers to entry for new businesses, often pushing companies to remain private and diverting potential listings to private equity.
In 2022, the exchange did make moves to change listing requirements in an effort to encourage more listings.
Now in 2025, the JSE is playing catch-up in innovative spaces like cryptocurrency ETFs, where Nonyana says it needs to come to the party and lead rather than follow.
'South Africa's relatively small population of 60-odd million people also creates challenges in achieving the economies of scale that larger markets enjoy.' It's hard to compete on cost when your addressable market is a fraction of what Brazil or other emerging markets can offer.
Spread the good news
Before you start planning the JSE's funeral, consider this: the exchange has some genuine competitive advantages that shouldn't be underestimated.
The resurgence in dual-listed companies is creating interesting opportunities. 'These listings allow South African institutions to access international businesses on local boards without using their foreign investment allowance, while giving global investors access to African assets,' Nonyana explains.
When the London Stock Exchange is open and the JSE is closed, trading can continue – a neat trick that extends market hours naturally.
The global reach of South African companies is often overlooked. 'JSE-listed companies have tentacles worldwide – gold miners with operations in Canada and Papua New Guinea, Naspers/Prosus with stakes in Tencent and European assets,' he says.
South African Breweries grew from a local player into a global giant before being acquired by AB InBev. These aren't provincial companies; they're global players that happen to call Johannesburg home.
Then there are the 'crown jewels' – Nonyana is referring to South Africa's natural resources. Gold, platinum (still in supply deficit) and copper (the 'AI metal' with a projected supply deficit by 2035) remain compelling draws. Add significant energy resources from natural gas and oil explorations off both coasts, and you have a resource base that most countries would kill for.
The bottom line
The JSE's journey to 100,000 points is remarkable – a thousand-fold increase over 65 years that reflects genuine economic value creation and corporate resilience. Yes, there are fewer listed companies than before, and yes, the competitive environment has challenges that need addressing urgently.
But dismissing the JSE because of the exodus misses the bigger picture. This is still the largest stock exchange in Africa, operating for 137 years and ranked among the top 20 globally by market capitalisation. The companies that remain are often global players with diversified operations and strong fundamentals.