BizNews Radio (OLD)
Welcome to BizNews Radio where we interview top thought leaders and business people from South Africa and across the globe.
Welcome to the future: How Discovery helped DNA mapping move from sci-fi to reality
Marketers love taking about win-win deals. Here’s one that is for real. South Africa’s Discovery Health has become the first company to sign a bulk DNA analysis deal with world famous scientist J. Craig Venter, who “discovered” how to map the human genome. Venter’s well-funded young company Human Longevity Inc…
Belvedere Ponzi latest - Officially confirmed R4bn stolen from investors is tip of iceberg
At Biznews, 2015 will be remembered as the year of the Belvedere Ponzi scheme - a global network of financial fraud and deceit masterminded by South Africans Cobus Kellermann and David Cosgrove. On March 17, when David Marchant of Offshore Alert claimed Belvedere was a massive criminal enterprise, we did…
Paul Semple: Renewable projects helped reduce loadshedding, created jobs
A government initiative with a long-winded title (Department of Energy’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme aka REIPPPP) is not only seeking to ease the load of more traditional energy sources, but is actually successfully doing so. By agreeing to buy energy from co-funded renewables projects and placing it…
Sandton Ecomobility: Migrate users to public transport – 30% target
Lisa Seftel executive for Transport at the City of Joburg says October has been set aside to migrate Sandton motorists to public transport. The city hopes to get 30% of drivers using public transport. Seftel says the city has planned park-and-rides, and built infrastructure for cycle lanes and pedestrian walkways…
Mathole Motshekga: Homo Naledi, human ancestry link is offensive - should be rejected
Founder of the Kara Institute, Mathole Motshekga, says Lee Berger and other paleoanthropologists who linked the recently discovered fossils to human ancestry are wrong because they failed to consider indigenous knowledge in their conclusions. He referred to the fossils of Homo Naledi as being those of baboons or monkeys, and…
SADTU's Mugwena Maluleke: Education hampered by bureaucracy
SADTU General Secretary Mugwena Maluleke says unions will resist the government’s intentions to go ahead with Annual National Assessments, the same way they fought against apartheid. He says the department of education is beholden to corrupt service providers who stand to make money out the assessments at the expense of…
Themba Baloyi: only 36% of road cars insured, 5,000 lives lost since April
The Executive Director of Discovery Insure Themba Baloyi spoke to Tim Modise about the high fatality rates in South Africa. Over 5,000 lives have been lost on South African roads since April. Baloyi says taxis, who transport 65 per cent of road users, contribute 15% of the fatalities compared to…
Masterclass with Kenton Fine, founder, chairman of 45 000 employee Servest
Kenton Fine is the London-based executive chairman and founder of Servest, a R10bn turnover, 45 000 employee multinational group. In 1998, at the tender age of 29, Fine listed the company on the JSE - and four years later had to fight off a hostile takeover attack from Brian Joffe's…
The Credo Story: How SA-expat Roy Ettlinger built R35bn London-based group
Over the past month in London, I've sought out successful South Africans, those who left their homeland to test their skills in one of the biggest cities on earth. Most of them operate under the public radar, shying away from publicity, simply focusing on doing their best. Roy Ettlinger, co-founder…
Douw Steyn's UK business CEO - Disrupting insurance paves way for R6.5bn Mega City
Elon Musk, Mark Shuttleworth some of the well known South African entrepreneurs who've made waves globally. And they've been recognised for it as well. On the back of this the Biznews team has spent September in London searching for other success stories, and Alec's had some scintillating discussions off the…
Master retailer Sean Summers: Pick n Pay’s loss has been Steinhoff’s gain
After a couple of years in the oil business, a youthful Sean Summers was lining up a move into computers with IBM before fate intervened. A chance discussion with his parents’ dinner guests launched him into a career with Raymond Ackerman’s then embryonic Pick n Pay, a journey which ended…
Antjie Krog: Apartheid compensation - Nationalise land to fast-track redistribution
Author and poet Antjie Krog tells Tim Modise that the attitude of forgiveness by Black to the White community following the demise of apartheid was not properly compensated for. She says the Truth and Reconciliation process missed an opportunity to determine what the apartheid compensation should be. She says South…
Most new businesses fail: Annie McWalter - avoiding the pitfalls
Most new businesses fail - and that's just as true in the United States as it is in South Africa. The difference is that in the US, failure is not regarded as something to be ashamed of. That may be slowly changing in South Africa. What is clear is that…
Bernard Kantor: The Investec story - a long way from Mooi St to St Paul's
Here's an interview I've wanted to do for some years. It has been a privilege to have a front row seat to Investec's development, watching it develop into a multinational powerhouse from a tiny start 35 years ago. Co-founder Bernard Kantor works in the block the group's offices occupy near…
Vavi on SA: 'A kleptocracy led by thieves' - corruption cost R700b in 20yrs
Zwelinzima Vavi tells Tim Modise that corruption poses the biggest threat to South Africa’s democracy. In a scathing interview, Vavi says the current rate of corruption and the disregard for the Public Protector’s findings on Nkandla show that South Africa is on a march to ‘kleptocracy led by thieves’. He…
The Capitalist Crusader - Herman Mashaba going legal on Labour Laws
Prominent businessman Herman Mashaba says South Africa should do away with race based transformation to allow the economy to grow. Mashaba argues that the country should pursue free market policies to create opportunities for the majority of black South Africans. He says the current policies pursued by the government promote…
Obed Bapela on Dual Citizenship, ‘Imperialism’ & why the ANC's not naive
Obed Bapela, Deputy Minister in the SA Presidency tells Tim Modise that Israel is an apartheid state that oppresses the Palestinians. He says this is why South Africa discourages dual citizenship of the local Jewish community. Bapela says the ANC is opposed to the imperialist agenda of the US and…
What is credit as an asset class?
The South African credit market is a growing and vibrant part of the resource allocation process within asset management as well as private and governmental funding. More and more entities are looking for funding which requires a level of expertise on the part of the funder to assess the potential…
South African Infrastructure Spend - who drives the process?
Infrastructure spend can be a big driver of economic development and growth in any country. Most emerging markets have understood the importance of this driver and have used it to their advantage in recent times. South Africa, however is sadly lacking which is a frustrating situation to be as we…
Rick Samans, World Economic Forum
Rick Samans, World Economic Forum by Biznews.com