BizNews Radio
Welcome to BizNews Radio where we interview top thought leaders and business people from South Africa and across the globe.
Paul Hoffman: Firing another two barrels at PP Busisiwe Mkhwebane
On Rational Radio this week, founder of Accountability Now Paul Hoffman revisits his nuclear attack on South Africa's embattled Public Protector. After launching an application at the Legal Practice Council to have the PP disbarred, Hoffman explains that this could take some months - so he has opened the attack…
The birthing of iThokazi - new four-into-one BEE renewable energy player
In this special podcast, RMB Infrastructure Transactor Sindisiwe Mbuli takes us into the deal which combined four previously independent BEE entities into iThokazi, a 100% black owned renewable energy company. iThokazi owns six solar PV projects and two wind farms which together generate 300MW of much needed electricity for South…
Bank stocks dive, strike chaos looms; Eskom Mr Fixit lacks 'wow' factor - BUSA; Steinhoff insider trading
Banks are taking strain, with the weight of bad news about the economy knocking JSE listed shares. Bloomberg reports that the index has dropped 15% since President Cyril Ramaphosa pledged a relentless focus on growth in his June 20 State of the Nation address. South Africa's biggest financial union is…
Invest in raw materials for coming electric age - resources researcher
I learnt just the other night from a geologist family friend that most of the world’s very finite lithium deposits lie in the salt pans of Bolivia - and that he’s spent years prospecting for rock-based lithium deposits just north of Upington while employed by a major parastatal. It’s pretty…
Johnny Rabie: LX Living close to sold out, more Lisbon projects beckon
Over the past four decades, Cape Town property icon Johnny Rabie has built a solid reputation in his hometown - culminating with the development of the 250ha Century City project. After being approached by his new Portuguese partner, Rabie is now applying skills learned in South Africa into the LX…
Not only two Scoops for ice cream queen Amanda Maidman
When a woman locates herself with her daughter to South Africa after a successful career opening gastropubs and Wagamamas in London; she is bound not to sit still for long. She is Amanda Maidman who found herself in Ballito looking for an idea for a business when her daughter suggested…
SAX bailout scandal; SA pvt sector shrinks; trade war rattles financial markets; JSE gold stocks glisten
Another government entity is at the centre of a money scandal - this time SA Express, which has sucked up more than R1.5bn in taxpayers' funds to cover losses. The Free Market Foundation crunches numbers that will make your eyes water. President Cyril Ramaphosa and his team have more work…
Now for some good news. PPGI shows Business and Govt CAN pull together
For centuries, it seems, South African culture has divided public and private sectors into "us" and "them". Partly for historic reasons, but also because of disrespect for the other side, mostly born from ignorance. It doesn't have to be that way, as countless examples from elsewhere in the world has…
There are NO angels in tobacco industry: just bag snatchers, robbers - Van Loggerenberg
Growing up, I never thought I’d be a smoker. My parents were smokers, one of my grandmothers died of a smoking-related cancer and I hated the haze of passive smoke that hovered throughout our home. But, at Rhodes University, I found myself sampling free Benson & Hedges at various university-hosted…
Buffett buys Berkshire shares; Huawei booms in China; Multichoice competitor folds.
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway disclosed over the weekend that it bought back $440m worth of its own shares in the three months to end June. The world’s number two smartphone maker Huawei Technologies is reaping an unexpected benefit from continued attacks by US president Donald Trump and his allies. In…
Big banks threatened by fintech, smaller nimble banks - Kokkie Kooyman
It is a fact of modern life all over the world that the days when you actually go in to a bank for transactions are officially over, apart from those big moments for a mortgage or a big loan which requires a branch manager and even that is a maybe…
Unilever whistleblower on terrible cost he has borne for speaking out
It's an understatement to say whistleblower Juan Lerena has borne a terrible cost for exposing abusive practices by his former employer Sime Darby and fellow multinational Unilever. Forced into defending himself in a court action where top legal firm ENS represented Sime Darby, the judgment against Lerena (which we published…
Rand battered by Powell; BAT smoking hot; Woolies takes Aussie hit; Discovery blocks Liberty; Post Office CEO quits
In today's business headlines The Rand has been battered by the dollar after the US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell ruled out extending the cycle of rate cuts; British American Tobacco shares jumped by more than 8% as smoking alternatives cushioned the decline in cigarette sales; Woolworths has taken a…
Magnus Heystek: Tips, traps on property investment in Mauritius
I love the idea of owning a small place overlooking the ocean - perhaps a mobile home or a little flat. But when would I get to use it? Not often, I suspect, because I wouldn't be able to take enough time off from work. That means the property would…
David Shapiro: Why I'm backing Old Mutual in its fight with CEO Moyo
David Shapiro has earned his title as South Africa's favourite market commentator through his forthright contributions. And on Rational Radio this week he didn't disappoint when asked to unpack the public ruckus between financial services giant Old Mutual and its former CEO Peter Moyo. Even though Moyo won a court…
Govt yields climb; Glencore copper production falls; Moyo in the OM building; Eskom’s new restructuring boss; PP, Ramaphosa in court
In today's business headlines: South African government yields climbed after the National Treasury said it will increase the amount of debt sold at weekly bond auctions. Glencore has reported a 2% fall in second-quarter copper production. Shares in UK property companies have plunged. There was stand-off between axed CEO Peter…
SA jobless rate soars; Nedbank sheds jobs; social grant fraud hurts taxpayers; Shoprite profit plummets; losses hammer Massmart; Brexit plagues pound
South Africa’s latest unemployment figures make for grim reading. The unemployment rate has jumped in the past three months by about 2% to 29%. Highlighting the challenges facing South African employers, Nedbank Group has confirmed it is in talks with about 1,500 employees over potential job cuts in retail and…
Booming demand from SA investors brings pressure onto Orbvest's US property acquisitors
South Africans who are actively seeking offshore portfolio diversification have warmed to the niche-focused entrepreneurs who are building Orbvest into a billion dollar powerhouse. They are taking experiences learned in the specialised SA's medical property sector and applying them in the US market, with CEO Martin Freeman having relocated there…
Unpacking the motives (and failures) of legal attacks on Pravin Gordhan
Former SARS spokesman Adrian Lackay has been driving the strategic communications strategy for his former boss, public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan. Lackay shares his insights from a front row seat, unpacking what has happened at his alma mater - "the legacy of Tom Moyane" - and the motive behind legal…
Paul Hoffman: SA must throw overboard its PP, "loose cannon" Mkhwebane
Accountability Now's founder Paul Hoffman, who in 2006 left the bar after 26 years, is gunning for fellow advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane. He describes her as a "loose cannon" who is rolling around the deck of the ship of state and needs to be "thrown overboard". In this podcast Hoffman explains…