BizNews Radio
Welcome to BizNews Radio where we interview top thought leaders and business people from South Africa and across the globe.
Tongaat shareholder revolt - activist Woollam demands board resign; management be replaced; shares to keep trading
Chartered accountant and former banker turned shareholder activist David Woollam has stopped 'playing nice' with Tongaat after years of polite and deaf rebuffs. He reckons 'enough is enough' after today's announcement by the company admitting it cannot satisfiy auditors that is a going concern - and as a result cannot…
Perfect partnership linking hiking trails in Cape Winelands is saving lives – Trails SA's Reghard Goussard
What started as an initiative by Trails SA, a non-profit organisation connecting mountain biking trails in the Cape Winelands, has developed into a project that not only benefits cyclists but all the communities in the area, especially the school children who have to brave dangerous roads to get to school…
BBB Ep14 - More pain for Rand; SA 'Failed State' getting closer; US bank quarterlies disappoint, hits US market
Exchange rates and the first set of US quarterly results in the global focus this morning - while in SA the smashing of resources stocks continues and analysts fret about the country's slide towards becoming a Failed State. Those topics dominate this morning's episode of the BizNews Breakfast Briefing, where…
A-Plus Show - Ep 11 - Cyril must go, state-proofing communities, solving loadshedding, rand collapses
BizNews A-Plus Show duo Alec Hogg and Michael Appel are back with episode 11 of their weekly round-up of business, investments, news and politics banter you need to know. In focus this episode: AfriForum working to "state-proof communities"; ANC veteran Mavuso Msimang says Ramaphosa must step down; mass small-scale power…
SA on slippery slope towards failed state, barring urgent action - report
South Africa’s future hangs in the balance because of a vacuum of ethical and courageous leadership, coupled with stunted GDP growth, political uncertainty and fragile social cohesion. The Institute for Risk Management South Africa’s 2022 Risk Report highlights several pitfalls bedevilling the country and informing three possible scenarios likely to…
BBB Ep 13 - US inflation hits 9.1%, markets shudder then recover; Msimang on why Cyril must go; Afriforum crime-fighting force
This episode of the BizNews Breakfast Briefing is dominated by the news that US inflation hit a 30 year record in June - but after an immediate shock, investment markets are already looking ahead to better days. There's an excerpt from Mavuso Msimang, ANC veteran and 10-year long chair of…
In conversation with Mavuso Msimang - Ramaphosa's unlikely internal critic who thinks losing power may fix the ANC
Mavuso Msimang (80) is among a thinning group of ANC veterans who left SA in their youth to self-exile during Apartheid. In his case, working in Tanzania for the armed wing Mkonto we Sizwe after a year's training in Moscow studying how to create home-made bombs. The career public servant,…
BBB Ep 12 - Markets nervy on US inflation numbers; How to fix Loadshedding - Connie Mulder and Geordin Hill-Lewis; Biden enters lion's den
In this episode of the BizNews Breakfast Briefing, highlights of interviews by the team with two well-researched thinkers promoting practical plans to fix loadshedding. Both conclude that with the ANC lacking political will to address archaic rules and policies over procurement and supply of electricity, it's up to society to…
AfriForum working to "state-proof communities" as government crumbles
Civil society organisation AfriForum is working together - albeit on an ad hoc basis - with law enforcement authorities and even the SANDF, on several initiatives aimed at creating robust civilian safety structures. The organisation has 155 neighbourhood and farm watch structures around South Africa encompassing 10,000 trained volunteers. It…
Rand at weakest level in two years - Arno von Helden of Shyft provides a prognosis
The Rand has taken a sharp fall and broken the R17 mark to the US Dollar, seeing it hovering at its lowest levels in two years. In this interview Arno von Helden of Shyft explains the likely local and global factors that have affected the tumble, and what educated information…
CT set to buy electricity from businesses, households - CT's energetic mayor using Level 6 crisis to achieve energy independence
The City of Cape Town is poised to use SA's electricity crisis to abrogate power over electricity supply long centralised in Pretoria - and intends to soon be buying solar panel-generated electricity from businesses and households. Its 35-year-old mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, who campaigned ahead of last year's local elections on…
Scaling investments in renewable energy...at the right price – Nedbank CIB's Amith Singh
As the expansion of renewable energy generation requires large investments, a sound understanding of the costs and benefits of RE technologies is necessary to effectively decarbonise the power sector on an efficient path. Bronwyn Nielsen spoke to Amith Singh, Head of Energy Finance at Nedbank CIB, about scaling investments in…
Magnus Heystek - Rand's collapse rewarding smart money that listened, punishing amateurs who didn't - and may not be over
Independent financial advisor Magnus Heystek, a long-time advocate of offshore investing, is back in top form after his clients' portfolios have rocketed over the past few weeks as the South African Rand fell sharply. In this podcasted interview with Alec Hogg of BizNews.com, the founder of Brenthurst Wealth unpacks reasons…
BBB Ep 11 - Markets hit hard; Rand above R17/$; Eskom; Mandatory vaccine madness; UK PM frontrunners
With June's inflation data set for release tomorrow, nerves jangled in US stock markets overnight. Sharp declines were recorded as investors fretted about the Fed's ability to engineer a soft landing for the economy while taming inflation with higher interest rates. Bad news, too, out of China this morning. No…
Upcycling masks into sanitary pads – GoDiva’s Maria Horn
Coronavirus waste has become a new form of pollution as personal protective equipment floods our oceans and rivers. It has prompted the World Economic Forum to ask governments to ensure a green recovery that incentivises sustainability. The South African non-profit-organisation, GoDiva, started a project to upcycle masks into sanitary pads,…
Eskom grid ‘unreliable and unpredictable’ - De Ruyter
South Africa faces yet another crippling week of intermittent power supply with Eskom announcing it is unable to match peak demand. Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter hosted a press briefing updating the nation on the electricity crisis. Meanwhile, President Cyril Ramaphosa wrote in his newsletter that a comprehensive set of…
Big Pharma is far too cosy with medical schools, researchers, professors – Dr EV Rapiti
While Dr EV Rapiti is largely known as a family physician, over four decades of frontline healthcare experience and his insatiable drive to keep up to date with medical advancements have made him a uniquely qualified medical generalist. Over the last two-and-a-half years, Dr Rapiti personally treated approximately 3,000 Covid-19…
Mandatory vaccine firings - NEASA CEO says corporates like Standard Bank, Discovery "fighting a dead cause"
NEASA's combative CEO Gerhard Papenfus comes out with all guns firing in this feisty conversation on Standard Bank's refusal to back down on its mandatory Covid vaccine policy - an approach which has seen it locking horns with the banking trade union. SASBO has demanded the bank drops its policy,…
Dr Brett Lyndall Singh: rejected by SA only to rise to Forbes Africa’s 30 under 30 list
Some people are fortunate enough to realise their life purpose at a very young age. Dr Brett Lyndall Singh knew he wanted to be a healer when he was in primary school. His failure to resuscitate his ill grandmother during adolescence cemented his drive to acquire the necessary skills to…
BBB Ep 10: Musk dumps Twitter; Rand hits R17; Warnings to SA corporates on remote work and hiring foreigners.
Elon Musk's formal dumping of Twitter on Friday evening may spark a legal battle that could last years - meanwhile the share price has dropped to just over half the level of Musk's proposed takeover offer. Insights on the on-off-off deal from our partners at the Financial Times. Also in…