BizNews Radio (OLD)
Welcome to BizNews Radio where we interview top thought leaders and business people from South Africa and across the globe.
Meet Jerry Selwane: Bringing moral progress to the nation through animal care
Mahatma Ghandi advocated that the greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. Jerry Selwane, founder of the Soweto Animal Rescue and Advisory Centre (SARAC), is providing the means for our youth to carry out this legacy. During his 18…
Johan van Loggerenberg: Tito's right - SARS needs "intrusive" investigative units
A policeman by experience and lawyer by training, Johann van Loggerenberg is best known for heading the ill-fated SA Revenue Services Investigative Unit. As he wrote in his co-authored book "Rogue", miscreants got the unit closed down through the combination of a fake news campaign and a dodgy KPMG report…
'Dark kitchens' - a new force to be reckoned with in SA take-away delivery market
Ghost or so-called dark or virtual kitchens are a well-known concept in many overseas destinations. A Cape Town based start-up is pioneering the concept in South Africa and have announced the launch of Darth Kitchen. The company has secured seed capital in excess of R5m to date with a further R30m…
ANC controls Joburg again; Private sector activity shrinks; RBM shuttered; Mining charter in court
In today's business headlines: The ANC is back in power in Johannesburg, the country’s economic hub after Geoff Makhubo was elected as the city’s mayor. Activity in the private sector in South Africa shrank for the seventh consecutive month due to reduced output, less new orders and a contraction…
Tracey Davies takes us into Sasol's feisty AGM where activists roared
Environmental activist investor Tracey Davies of JustShare helped turn Sasol's AGM last week into a feisty affair. In the latest episode of Rational Radio, she reports back on the meeting, and explains her beef with SA's second largest polluter. The day after the Sasol slugfest, Davies went along to a…
Duncan Artus on Allan Gray's poor performance, the Sasol disaster and buying Naspers
Once in a while, the country's biggest investors lift the veil on their strategy, sharing ideas on how they intend applying the hundreds of billions entrusted to them. That's exactly what Allan Gray director and portfolio manager Duncan Artus did for us in the latest episode of Rational Radio where…
SA recession risk rises; SAA close to collapse; Zimbabwe starvation crisis; PIC demands Steinhoff reports
In today's headlines: SA is staring down a recession, says Bloomberg. South Africa’s economy contracted for a second quarter this year economy hasn’t expanded at more than 2% annually since 2013. SAA is on the brink of collapse. Its bosses are trying to buy more time by asking all the…
Chris Logan: Where Tongaat has gone, Hulamin, Nampak are following.
Back in 2014, independent money manager Chris Logan spoke out publicly against the strategy being followed by KZN's leading company, Tongaat Hulett. He urged the board and executives to drop their approach of selling off prime commercial real estate to pump the cash into the sugar sector - an area…
David Shapiro: Making sense of Adrian Gore's R1.4bn share transaction
In the latest episode of Rational Radio, South Africa's favourite market commentator David Shapiro unpacked the massive (and complex) put and call options entered into this week by Discovery founder and CEO Adrian Gore. The trades reported on the Stock Exchange News Service relate to Gore's decision to borrow money…
MTN, Vodacom ordered to slash data prices; Worse than Eskom: SA water crisis looms; manufacturing slumps
In the headlines today: President Cyril Ramaphosa has warned that South Africa faces a grave water crisis. In his weekly letter to citizens, he says: “Unless we take drastic measures to conserve water sources and promote efficient use, water insecurity will become the biggest developmental and economic challenge facing this…
Azar Jammine: IMF's shout out to Ramaphosa - bring Alliance onside. Quick.
A bit like a multinational Stokvel, the Washington-based International Monetary Fund acts as the banker of last resort for member countries which get themselves into difficulties. To prepare itself, the IMF has a regular programme of sending surveillance teams to assess its potential exposure - and where it finds problems,…
Companies losing faith in SAA; Inflated Tongaat Hulett profits; Zuma’s date with justice; tweeting for Africa
In today's business headlines: Companies are starting to lose faith that South African Airways can and will be saved. Sanlam Travel Insurance Consultants said it would exclude SAA from its insolvency cover and Flight Centre has stopped selling SAA tickets. An investigation into alleged wrongdoing at Tongaat Hulett found that…
Hennie Bezuidenhoudt: How Orbvest hedges risk when investing in US medical properties
There's no business on earth which doesn't carry risk, says Orbvest chairman and co-founder Hennie Bezuidenhoudt. But after scouring the global property landscape for suitable offshore investment opportunities, Bezuidenhoudt and his Orbvest colleagues specialised in the US medical property market for good reason. In this insightful interview he explains why…
Eskom’s surprising profit; Govt finances will worsen; Ramaphosa pulls Chairman's convo plug; KPMG, Steinhoff
In today's business headlines: Eskom has posted a surprising R1.3bn profit in the six months through September, which is almost double that of the previous year thanks to higher tariffs. The Reserve Bank says there's a high likelihood that the South African government’s finances would deteriorate further posing a risk…
Piet Viljoen: Investors AWOL so many managers run companies for themselves
Piet Viljoen, top money manager and founder of RECM, linked up with old pal Alec Hogg in this week's episode of Rational Radio to talk about his alma maters Allan Gray and the recently renamed Ninety One (Investec Asset Management). He offers some scathing opinions on Tiger Brands - a…
Business confidence uptick; SAA sends red flare; Junk could see $8bn bond sell-off; Zuma tax returns; Brait overhauls New Look
In today's business headlines: South African business confidence improved in the fourth quarter for the first time in almost two years owing to a recovery in residential activity and expectations of a good Christmas shopping season. The Rand Merchant Bank business confidence Index rose to 26 for the fourth quarter…
SA wealth report; SA female board representation up; survival secrets of dogs, humans; JSE, Rand
In today's headlines: How many wealthy people are there in South Africa? A new report suggests that there are just over 2,000 individuals with net assets of $10m (R150m) and more and just under 40,000 South Africans with net assets of about $1m (R15m) or more. In his weekly newsletter…
Determined Kayamandi student, Aphelele Mvamva scoops fast track wine career opportunity.
21 year old Aphelele Mvamva lives with her sister in the Kayamandi township just outside Stellenbosch. It means “nice place” in iXhosa but the hostel that she lives in, is anything but. As a little girl, she was shuttled between the Eastern Cape and Stellenbosch where her mother Nokalothi was…
The astonishing tale of how Absa helped Eskom man steal R66m: Paul O'Sullivan joins the dots
Absa, one of South Africa's biggest banks, turned a blind eye to money laundering. That's abundantly clear from the evidence Forensics for Justice founder Paul O'Sullivan has pieced together. Absa is hiding behind technicalities to avoid explaining its role in state capture and corruption at Eskom, which is the state…
Shareholder activist Tracey Davies targets this week's Sasol, FirstRand AGMs
Fireworks are likely when two of South Africa's top companies host shareholders at their annual general meetings this week. Tracey Davies, an environmental lawyer turned shareholder activist (LLB at UCT, LLM at NYU), intends peppering questions at the directors of Sasol (Wednesday) and FirstRand (Thursday). In the latest episode of…