These 10 South African companies rank among the world’s most trusted

South Africa is home to some of the biggest companies on the continent, and a number of familiar names have now received international recognition for their levels of trust.

Newsweek’s 2026 World’s Most Trustworthy Companies ranking features 10 companies headquartered in South Africa, spanning sectors including retail, banking, healthcare, mining and industrial equipment.

The ranking covers 1 000 companies globally and is based on feedback from consumers, employees, job seekers and investors.

According to information accompanying the 2026 ranking, Newsweek and Statista analysed around 200 000 company evaluations from more than 65 000 people across 20 countries, alongside an analysis of more than 320 000 media mentions.

Woolworths leads SA retailers

Woolworths Holdings is the highest-ranked South African retailer on the list, coming in at 15th globally in the retail category.

The Cape Town-headquartered group has previously appeared in Newsweek’s trust rankings, including being recognised for the second consecutive year in 2024.

Woolworths is joined by three other South African retailers in the global top 50.

Dis-Chem ranks 21st in retail, followed by Clicks Group in 27th and Cashbuild in 47th.

That means four South African retail names feature among the top 50 companies in the global retail category.

The 10 South African companies on the list

Here are the South African companies shown in Newsweek’s 2026 ranking:

Industry rank	Company	Industry	Headquarters
15	Woolworths	Retail	Cape Town
18	Bell	Machines & Industrial Equipment	Richards Bay
20	Sibanye-Stillwater	Materials & Chemicals	Johannesburg
21	Dis-Chem	Retail	Midrand
22	TFG	Textiles, Clothing & Luxury Goods	Cape Town
27	Clicks Group	Retail	Cape Town
35	FirstRand	Banks	Sandton
40	Standard Bank Group	Banks	Johannesburg
43	Netcare	Health Care & Life Sciences	Sandton
47	Cashbuild	Retail	Johannesburg

The ranking shown by Newsweek is organised by industry, meaning the numbers represent each company’s position within its particular global industry category rather than a simple 1-to-10 ranking of South African companies.

The retail sector stands out among the South African entries, with Woolworths, Dis-Chem, Clicks and Cashbuild all appearing within the global top 50 for their industry.

The other six companies cover a notably broad spread of the South African economy.

Bell, headquartered in Richards Bay, operates in machines and industrial equipment, while mining company Sibanye-Stillwater appears in the materials and chemicals category.

TFG, whose brands include a range of South African fashion and lifestyle retailers, is ranked 22nd in textiles, clothing and luxury goods.

The financial sector is represented by FirstRand and Standard Bank Group, while healthcare company Netcare rounds out the list.

Standard Bank was also recognised by Newsweek in 2025, when it was named among the World’s Most Trustworthy Companies for the third consecutive year.