Here’s a comparison of online brokerage charges in South Africa, which was done in February 2015.

Monthly fees Brokerage fees on shares Brokerage on R20,000 trade
(incl VAT)
https://www.24forex.co.za/ R200 per quarter, excl VAT (waived if 3 trades in a quarter) Brokerage = 0.30% (minimum R100) excl VAT 0.57%
LESS for bigger trades
https://www.forex-brokers.co.za/ R60 per month (waived if 3 trades in a month); not mentioned if it includes VAT Brokerage = 0.50% (minimum R60) excl VAT 0.57%
https://www.forex-trading.co.nz/ R58 per month, excluding VAT (waived for discretionary clients) Brokerage = 0.50% (minimum R100) excl VAT 0.57%
https://www.forexaus.com/ R66.66 per month (including VAT)
Waived for remainder of year once you have traded at least 5 times in the previous calendar year.		 Brokerage = 0.4% (R120 minimum) excl VAT 0.684%
LESS for bigger trades
https://www.forexbonus.co.za/ R75 per month (excluding VAT) Brokerage = 0.6% (R80 minimum), excluding VAT 0.684%
https://www.onlinetradingza.com/ (R65 per month)
R195 per quarter (VAT not mentioned)		 Brokerage = 0.50% (minimum R125) excl VAT 0.713%
https://www.syntheticindices.com/ (R50 per month)
Administration fee: R150 per quarter (VAT not mentioned)		 Online Sliding Scale:

Deal Consideration
Trading as an online client
Brokerage Rate
Up to R250,000 0.70%
R250,000-R750,000 0.50%
R750,000-R1,000,000 0.45%
R1,000,000 and above 0.35%
Minimum charge per deal R70
0.798%
day trader
(superior data services)		 R57 per month (incl VAT).
(waived if brokerage comes to more than R300 per month)		 R0 to R500,000 = R75 + 0.50%
R500,001 to R1m = 0.4%
Above R1m = 0.35%		 0.998%
https://www.forexbrokerscanada.ca R40 per month (VAT not mentioned)
Consideration Online Scale
Minimum R98
Below R25, 000 0.9%
R25,000 – R99,999 0.85%
R100,000 – R249,999 0.75%
R250,000 – R999,9990 0.5%
R1,000,000+ Negotiable

Excluding VAT

 1.14%
Imara (R20.83 per month) (excluding VAT)
R250 per year (excluding VAT)		 R0 to R250,000 0.7%
R250,000 to R1m 0.55%
R1m to R1.5m 0.40%
R1.5m to R3m 0.25%
Above R3m 0.2%
R85 in addition
Excluding VAT		 1.283%
FNB Share Builder Admin: R19 per month (no mention of VAT) Brokerage =2% (R50 minimum), excluding VAT 2.28%

Note that over and above stock brokerage, the following costs are incurred when trading:

Day Trading Strategies

 

  • STRATE settlement costs of 0.005459% of the what is the best trading platform uk, with a minimum charge of R10.92 per broker’s note on deals up to R200 000, and a maximum charge of R54.59 per broker’s note for deals in excess of R1 million.
  • An Investor Protection Levy of 0.0002% of the value of shares traded.
  • VAT (Value Added Tax) of 14% is payable on the brokerage, the STRATE charge and Investor Protection Levy
  • STT (Securities Transfer Tax) is charged at 0.25% on the value of share traded, but is levied only on share purchases, not sales.
An example :
Ruling price * quantity traded R 20 000.00
Brokerage : R 120.00
Strate Settlement Charge: R 10.92
Investor Protection Levy: R 0.04
VAT: R 18.33
STT: R 50.00
Total estimated cost: R 199.29

Beware of market orders

Trading using market orders (best price orders) are risky, especially in low liquidity stocks.