Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers. BusinessLIVE publishes fresh and insightful business news and analysis updated continually every day with original, online-only content as well as the best articles from Business Day, the Financial Mail, the Sunday Times's Business Times and Investors Monthly.
Within BusinessLIVE you'll also find the complete Business Day and Financial Mail websites.
Much of BusinessLIVE is free to read, but BusinessLIVE Premium subscribers have access to all our exclusive news articles, columns and commentary, along with daily content from our international news partners and ProfileData financial data.
BusinessLIVE Premium Plus subscribers get all the benefits above along with full digital access to the Sunday Times and TimesLIVE Premium (a daily digital edition of in-depth news) and e-editions (digital replicas of the print editions) of Business Day, the Financial Mail and the Sunday Times.
Below you'll first find information and frequently asked questions (FAQs) about our digital subscription packages, including digital and print combinations. Following that is a section for those who subscribe only to the print edition or e-edition of Business Day or the Financial Mail.
A. Subscribe online to BusinessLIVE Premium
BusinessLIVE Premium – for R129 per month, and only R30 for the first month – gives you full access to all content on BusinessLIVE, with top columnists, in-depth analysis and the latest business coverage, including Business Day, the Financial Mail, the Sunday Times’s Business Times, and ProfileData financial tools and data.
BusinessLIVE Premium Plus – for R369 per month, also R40 for the first month – gives you all the above plus full digital access to the Sunday Times and TimesLIVE Premium (a daily digital edition of in-depth news) and e-editions (digital replicas of the print editions) of Business Day, the Financial Mail and the Sunday Times.
There are also other options, including print and digital combinations.
View all subscription packages and subscribe online.
To find out more, contact us on Tel: 0860 52 52 00 or helpdesk@businesslive.co.za. The best time to phone is 6am–3.30pm SA time (GMT +2) on weekdays or 7am–12pm on Sundays.
BusinessLIVE subscription FAQs
Why are you charging for this content when other websites are free?
Great journalism is expensive to produce. While newspaper publishers depend heavily on advertising revenue, that is not enough to let us bring you all the trustworthy, quality reporting you need. We’ve worked hard to give you lots of value through a BusinessLIVE subscription, and your support means we’ll keep bringing you South Africa’s best business writing – and even expand what we do.
How do I know if your offers are good value?
Individual subscriptions to the Sunday Times, our international news partners and ProfileData (not available as a single subscription in South Africa) would cost you more than R1,000 a month, so our bundle of these international partners alongside the best of our own business brands offers compelling value at between R129 and R369 a month.
How do I register or sign in and out?
Registration is free, quick and easy. Once you’ve registered, you can comment on our articles and sign up for a range of useful email newsletters. You can also then manage your own newsletter subscriptions.
Click here to register, then follow the instructions to provide your email address, name, surname and password. You’ll then receive an email to welcome you to BusinessLIVE.
We will also send you a short email with a link to click to verify your email address. If you have not yet verified your address, we'll remind you of that later.
To sign in, click on the “Sign in” button at the top of the website and enter your details. Once you’ve signed in, your name and surname will appear at the top of the site. To sign out, click on the “Sign out” button at the top of the site.
If you’re on your mobile phone, click on the menu bar at the top right and choose the “Sign in” option at the top of the list that appears. To sign out, click on the menu bar again and click on “Sign out”.
You can also use your BusinessLIVE details to sign in on TimesLIVE, SowetanLIVE and other websites in the group, though any paid subscription applies only to the websites included in your package.
How do I subscribe to BusinessLIVE?
Click here to start the subscription process and choose the package to which you would like to subscribe. A BusinessLIVE subscription includes access to Business Day, the Financial Mail and more.
You'll be asked to register on the site (if you haven't done so before) or to sign in, and thereafter you'll be able to pay for your subscription.
Why should I subscribe to BusinessLIVE Premium?
Great journalism is expensive to produce. While newspaper publishers depend heavily on advertising revenue, that is not enough to let us bring you all the trustworthy, quality reporting you need. We’ve worked hard to give you lots of value through a BusinessLIVE subscription, and your support means we’re able to keep bringing you SA’s best business writing – and even expand what we do.
We’ve also added plenty of content and data from our international news partners and our data partner, ProfileData, into our subscription packages to offer you even more value alongside our top-notch local content.
BL Premium Plus subscribers also enjoy full digital access to the Sunday Times and TimesLIVE Premium (a daily digital edition of in-depth news) and receive the Business Day, Financial Mail and Sunday Times e-editions (digital replicas of the print editions).
Individual subscriptions to all these international would cost you more than R1,000 a month, yet our packages cost only R129 or R369 a month.
I already have a personal Business Day or Financial Mail print subscription. Do I get access to BusinessLIVE?
Yes, you do. All print subscribers get access to our BusinessLIVE Premium package, which means they can read all our articles on BusinessLIVE, Business Day and the Financial Mail, along with daily international news partner articles and ProfileData financial data.
To gain access, please register online (see above for details) using the same email address you supplied when subscribing to the print edition. That allows us to link your subscription correctly.
If you’ve already registered online using a different email address, you can either register again with your other email address, which will automatically pick up your print subscription, or contact us at Tel: 0860 52 52 00 or helpdesk@businesslive.co.za to change your print subscription details to match your online registration.
I already have Business Day or the Financial Mail delivered to my office via a corporate subscription. Do I get access to BusinessLIVE?
Please contact our call centre at Tel: 0860 52 52 00 or helpdesk@businesslive.co.za so we can link your BusinessLIVE account to your corporate subscription.
Does my Sunday Times subscription give me access to BusinessLIVE?
A Sunday Times subscription includes access to the Business Times section on the Sunday Times website. BusinessLIVE Premium and Premium Plus subscribers get the Business Times via BusinessLIVE. However, Sunday Times subscribers don’t have automatic access to BusinessLIVE Premium, and BusinessLIVE Premium subscribers don’t have access to the full Sunday Times.
What ProfileData data do I get as a subscriber?
All BusinessLIVE users have access to our general market indicators – JSE, foreign exchange, commodities, international indices etc; the JSE’s SENS feed; stock price quotes in articles; JSE stock reports; and our business calendar of upcoming events such as results announcements.
BL Premium and BL Premium Plus users also have access to more advanced ProfileData financial information and profiles, all of which should prove useful to serious investors.
I live outside South Africa. Can I subscribe?
Yes, you can. We can take payment via your credit card.
Can I buy a BusinessLIVE subscription as a gift for someone else?
Yes, you can buy one-, six- or 12-month subscriptions as a gift. You pay once and the recipient can redeem the gift via a voucher code that is emailed to you. Click here to see the voucher gift options.
If you have received a voucher code as a gift, click here to redeem the voucher.
How do I change my subscription package to another one?
You can upgrade or downgrade to another package at any time. Contact our call centre at Tel: 0860 52 52 00 or helpdesk@businesslive.co.za for help.
How do I change my name, surname or email address on BusinessLIVE?
Once you’ve registered and signed in, your name and surname will appear at the top right of the website. Hover the mouse over your name and click the “Profile” button. (On your mobile phone, click on the menu bar at the top right to find the “Profile” option.)
On your profile, you can edit your name and surname or manage your email newsletter subscriptions.
Unfortunately you cannot change your email address via your profile page. If you’re a registered user but haven’t subscribed, please sign out and register again using your new email address.
If you’ve already subscribed to one of our BL Premium packages, please sign out and register again using your new email address. Then contact our call centre at Tel: 0860 52 52 00 or helpdesk@businesslive.co.za to connect your subscription to your new account.
I have subscribed but I can’t access subscriber-only articles.
Please check that you’ve signed in – your name and surname should appear at the top right of the website if you’re on a desktop computer. On mobile, if you click on the menu bar at the top right of the screen, you’ll see the “Sign in” option if you’re not signed in yet.
If you still can’t proceed, please contact our call centre at Tel: 0860 52 52 00 or helpdesk@businesslive.co.za.
Why can't I pay for a single article or a single edition?
BusinessLIVE and its member websites are updated continuously with online-only content all day long by our expert newsroom. There is therefore no single digital “edition” at any given time.
At this time we are unfortunately also unable to offer per-article payments – also called pay per view or micropayments – but we believe our BL Premium package for R129 per month is an affordable deal offering you far more value than a small selection of individual articles. This may be an option at a later time.
With how many devices can I access BusinessLIVE with one subscription?
You’re allowed three device connections for each BL Premium subscription you hold.
B. Subscribe to print or e-edition only
The Business Day print edition is delivered to you every weekday, as is the Business Day e-edition – an exact digital replica of the day’s print newspaper via a service called PressReader (for more information on this service, please click here). The Financial Mail print magazine and e-edition are published weekly.
To subscribe or to find out more, contact us on Tel: 0860 52 52 00 or helpdesk@businesslive.co.za. The best time to phone is 6am–3.30pm SA time (GMT +2) on weekdays (email support until 8pm; 4pm on Fridays) or 6am–2pm on weekends.
Print home delivery is offered in all major metropolitan areas. If you’re on an existing delivery route, your newspaper should be delivered to your door by 6.30am, Monday to Friday.
We can only deliver to addresses that we can access straight away (freestanding homes or complexes with security). We cannot use access codes or entry keys. To ask about delivery routes in your area, contact us on the details provided above.
Print and e-edition subscription FAQs
My newspaper or magazine didn't arrive. What should I do?
Contact us at the details provided above.
I subscribed but have not yet received a copy.
Please allow up to two weeks for delivery of your first copy. If you have still not received your first issue, contact us at the details provided above.
My copies are arriving late, damaged or not at all. What should I do?
Contact us at the details provided above.
I am moving house. How do I change my address?
Contact us at the details provided above. We require one week’s notice to guarantee that your address can be changed in time for your move date and to verify that you are moving to an area we service within our delivery network.
What is the minimum subscription term?
The minimum subscription term is six months.
When does my subscription expire?
If you pay by EFT, credit card or debit card, you will find your subscription end date on the letter confirming your subscription as well as on your renewal letters.
Can I buy a gift subscription?
Yes, you can buy a subscription as a gift. You can do this by contacting us at the details provided above.
When will the first edition of my gift subscription be delivered?
Please allow up to two weeks for delivery of your first copy. If you have still not received your first issue, contact us at the details provided above.
Why are you writing to me before my subscription has ended?
If you pay by credit card, debit card or EFT, we will send you renewal notifications. To ensure that you are able to renew your subscription in time to guarantee an uninterrupted service, we will send these renewal letters to you before the end of your subscription.
If you do not wish to receive these letters, why not consider renewing by direct debit? Your payment will be taken monthly and your subscription will simply continue until you tell us to stop sending you copies of the newspaper. To activate a direct monthly debit payment plan, contact us at the details provided above.
How do I renew my subscription?
If you pay by credit card, debit card or EFT, we will send you advice and renewal prices ahead of the end of your subscription.
I want to cancel my subscription or enquire about the balance. What should I do?
You may cancel at any time by providing notice to us in writing. Cancellation is subject to a reasonable cancellation fee. Contact us on Tel: 0860 52 52 00 or email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za and we will gladly assist you.
I am going away. Can my subscription be suspended?
Delivery of the printed newspaper can be suspended while you are away. Contact us on Tel: 0860 52 52 00 or email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za, and please allow at least one week's notice. You’ll need your subscriber number. You can also have your newspapers redirected to a temporary address, as long as it is within the same country and to an area where we deliver. Although delivery of the print paper will be paused, your subscription will remain active, and you can access your news digitally via our websites and e-edition apps (click on the e-edition tab on the newspaper web page for access and instructions on how to download these).
I already subscribe to the print edition. How do I swap to the e-edition or add the e-edition to my subscription?
Contact us at the details provided above. We will gladly switch your delivery channel or add a delivery channel.
Is my online payment secure?
Information security is critical to our business. Our payment partner, PayU, provides payment technology to online merchants in 18 countries. Its servers are PCI-DSS compliant, which keeps your card information safe. Your card details are never exposed to the merchant. PayU also protects your information during transmission by using 128-bit Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption. Read more about PayU's security measures.
Why do you need my e-mail address?
Your email address is our unique identifier for your subscription. If, for example, you choose later on to add digital access to BusinessLIVE to your subscription, it will be easy for us to locate your current subscription package.
Is the print edition of the Financial Mail or Business Day only accessible to people living in South Africa?
If you live outside South Africa, you can subscribe to our e-edition.
How many people can access an e-edition using my subscription?
Two users may access the e-edition at a time.