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Trading

Share trading costs on the JSE

Commission is one line. The spread, statutory charges and custody sit beside it. A market order and a limit order do different jobs.

Reviewed 29 October 2026 by the WiT Money editorial team. This is general information, not a recommendation from a named adviser.

Key points

  • A market order takes the price available. A limit order waits for your price and may not trade.
  • The bid-offer spread is a cost even when commission is advertised as zero.
  • This page does not publish a broker's current tariff.

You place an order with a broker who can access the exchange. A market order deals at the best price then available, which can move while you click. A limit order deals only at your price or better, and it might not deal at all. Neither order removes the risk that the share falls after you own it.

The cost is the commission schedule, plus any minimum, plus securities transfer tax where it applies, plus investor-protection or exchange levies the contract lists, plus the spread if you cross it. Custody or an account fee can apply even in a month you do not trade. Read the schedule. Do not type a missing fee as zero and call the total complete.

An illustration of the spread

If a share is bid at R100.00 and offered at R100.20, a buyer who crosses the spread pays R100.20. The 20 cents is gone before the share moves. On a small trade that can matter more than a low commission. This is an illustration, not a live price.

Tax

A long-term holding may produce dividends and a capital gain. Frequent buying and selling can be taxed as income. The dividends and capital gains guide sets out the figures in the tax file. It does not classify you as an investor or a trader.

Questions readers ask

Is a zero-commission account free?

Only if the schedule really has no other charge. Spreads, conversion and custody still count.

Related

Sources

Page updated 29 October 2026. A source date is the day WiT Money checked that page, not a promise the institution has not changed it since.