BizNews Radio
Welcome to BizNews Radio where we interview top thought leaders and business people from South Africa and across the globe.
Mboweni master plan to save SA; Eskom R450bn plant sale; strikes hammer Sibanye; Moyo-Manuel battle latest
Tito Mboweni has unveiled an economic rescue plan for South Africa. Late on Tuesday, the National Treasury released a massive policy document aimed at boosting economic growth by between 2-3% and creating 1 million additional jobs. In a statement along with the release of that document, Minister of Finance Mboweni…
ANC shock over Watson death; Bell Pottinger man dies; SA tax revolt risk; Northam profit soars; Naspers’ Prosus worth $100bn
The ANC has expressed shock at the death of corruption-accused Bosasa CEO Gavin Watson, who died in a car accident near OR Tambo International Airport on Monday. A case of culpable homicide has been opened by the police, reports News24. Lord Tim Bell, the spin doctor linked to the Gupta…
RMB helps funnel global investment of $650m into African infrastructure
RMB transactor Lwandile Nene unpack's the bank's role in assisting the Africa Finance Corporation to close $650m Eurobond debt issue at an attractive interest rate. As a result of interest generated ahead of the issue, demand was so strong that the interest rate was cut from an indicative 4.75% to…
Eskom split in 3-5 years; Trade contracts further; Pensioners fight prescribed assets; Naspers targets machine learning
Eskom says it will take three to five years to fully effect a proposed split into three units after which its sole monopoly will be managing the national transmission infrastructure. The CPB World Trade Monitor compiled by the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis reports that world trade volumes contracted…
Personal finance: How to grow wealth from small investments in ETFs
In this BizNews Personal Finance podcast with Jackie Cameron, a leading Johannesburg investment specialist shares how Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are a useful vehicle to grow wealth. Dawn Ridler, of Kerenga Wealth Ecology, explains the key characteristics of ETFS, how they differ from collective investment schemes like unit trusts or…
Meet James Styan, author of SA's new bestseller The Bosasa Billions
Part-time bureaucrat James Styan's fourth book is his best selling yet, with the initial print run sold out within days of The Bosasa Billions hitting the shelves. On Rational Radio this week he shared the back story of researching a tale that has made household names of the now bankrupt…
Old Mutual fires Moyo - again! Mr Price plunges, Italtile shines; Mboweni tightens belts; France Brexit blow for Boris; KPMG in Hong Kong protest scan..
Old Mutual has fired its CEO Peter Moyo - again. Moyo has been involved in a bitter dispute with Old Mutual chairman Trevor Manuel in connection with private business dealings that were declared when Moyo first took up his role at the helm of the life assurer. Moyo was suspended…
View from London: Even with half current debt, Eskom not sustainable
The global head of credit research at Debtwire, Nick Saville-Smith, joined us on Rational Radio this week to provide a City of London perspective on the latest financials released by Eskom. The good news is that it could have been a lot worse had Cyril Ramaphosa not gotten the nod…
Ram Ottapathu: Embattled Choppies founder reckons he'll be proven right
Ram Ottapathu, founder of Botswana's leading retailer Choppies, has been under heavy attack of late after a forensic and legal audit into the JSE-listed company accused him of malfeasance. But Ottapathu admits that although governance was slack, no money is missing and no fraud was committed. He intends setting the…
GG Alcock: Time to recognise millions in SA's flourishing informal economy
GG Alcock's unique background - raised by anti-apartheid activists who lived their values by relocating to SA's poorest area to live like locals - provided him with a very different thought process to his fellows. And he has put it to good use by researching and writing about the country's…
Inflation slows; JSE, Rand gain; Sars IT head suspended; Arms deal ruling white-washed; Growth could see outages
In today's business headlines: South Africa’s headline consumer inflation slowed to 4% year-on-year in July; The inflation figures helped a recovery on the JSE and in the value of the Rand; SARS has suspended its controversial IT chief Mmamathe Makhekhe-Mokhuane following serious allegations of misconduct; South Africa’s High Court has…
David Shapiro: Homework, not blind faith required with fallen angels like DSY, ASP, SOL
In this week's edition of Rational Radio, SA's favourite market commentator David Shapiro wades into the investment market controversies surrounding Discovery, Sasol, Blue Label and Aspen. His advice: the shares may look really cheap, but before knowing that for sure, you'll need to do your homework - and wait to…
Mike Wylie on WBHO's secret sauce: Five attributes his leaders must possess
Nowadays few employees consider lifetime employment. But back in 1974, things were very different as outgoing WBHO chairman Mike Wylie tells us in this fascinating interview on Rational Radio. Wylie has been intimately involved in the growth of a tiny Cape-based startup business that is today SA's dominant construction company…
Steinhoff hits 87c; Shoprite falls; Gwede on Eskom, Unions; IMF scare to spur action; Copyright Bill backlash
In today's business headlines: Steinhoff shares fall to an all time low of R0.87 a share on the JSE; Shoprite shares dropped by more than 9% after losses in the rest of Africa leads to a full year trading loss of R265m; Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe says he sees unions…
Rein in government spending and ship can be turned around - Rhandzo Mukansi
In the $100trn global bond market, it appears to be hard to find a good investment. With Germany announcing that it will sell an ultra-long bond at 0% for the first time this week, there is talk of Germany being in danger of Japanification. If investors put their money into…
Fidentia curators coin it, widows weep; EU braces for hard Brexit; Discovery, Blue Label, Resilient
It was another rough day on the JSE for medical scheme provider Discovery, which lost 8%, and Aspen, which shed more than 4%. Blue Label Telecoms also took a knock, losing more than 3% of its value after announcing a delay in the release of its financial results. It expects…
Personal finance: How NHI law will hit your tax, savings, medical cover
The National Health Insurance (NHI) bill sent shock waves across the Johannesburg stock exchange earlier this month, hammering darlings like Discovery and hospital companies. But the damage to your share portfolio was just the start of NHI-induced financial pain. Expect big taxes to cover a government department that will be…
Jooste won't repay R850m; 1.7m protest in HK; Capitec and Sasol shares slump.
Former Steinhoff CEO Markus Jooste, who has been accused of fraudulently inflating the company’s profit numbers over the past decade, is refusing to repay Steinhoff the R850m in salary and bonuses he received since 2009. Pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong yesterday held one of their biggest rallies as activism stretched…
Emigration fuelling tax concerns but Azar Jammine sees a ray of light
The mood in South Africa is particularly gloomy at the moment as the New Dawn that President Cyril Ramaphosa promised, remains a tiny glimmer of light on the horizon. Ramaphosa is distracted by in-fighting in his own party, using the Public Protector to attack him and restricted by policies adopted…
Land expropriation debate is deterring investment - IRR's Terence Corrigan
The debate on land reform is heating up as a cross-party Parliamentary committee begins to look at how the Constitution can be changed to allow for the expropriation of land without compensation. This is after the Presidential Panel concluded its report and suggested a watered down version of the original…