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Welcome to BizNews Radio where we interview top thought leaders and business people from South Africa and across the globe.
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Ahead of his keynote to the BizNews Conference in London, GoSolr CEO and co-founder Andrew Middleton shares some unappreciated good news on South Africa’s energy front. With 75MW in rooftop solar of its initial target 500MW already installed, GoSolr is part of a surge in private sector electricity provision. Middleton agrees with money manager John Biccard who reckons the worst of SA’s load-shedding is behind us - a view which has huge implications for JSE-listed stock prices which continue to discount the very worst on this front. He spoke to Alec Hogg of BizNews.
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Lauren Eventhia Bernardo, the founder of the Organic Humanity Movement (OHM) Party, advocates a political system that will remove political parties - and in which only independents will run for public office. In this interview with BizNews, she says that will enable the voter to vote directly for all of their public representatives, including the President of South Africa. "And we believe this will completely transform our country. We also want to implement a mechanism that votes public representatives out if they're not doing their jobs.” She says a vote for a small party is not a wasted vote - and tells voters that South Africa can be on a “completely different trajectory” if those who do not vote decide to go and vote for any party not in the top three.
BizNews editor Alec Hogg drew upon the great investment guru Howard Marks for inspiration in his address this morning to a packed room of Third Age University members in Hermanus. Among the hallmarks of Marks’ approach to investing (and life) is accepting that rational conclusions require ‘deep, complex and convoluted’ thought. Hogg uses this foundation to delve beyond the ‘First Level’ narrative that dominates so much of the South African discourse, using examples from politics, society and business to support his case.
The DA’s shadow minister of labour Michael Bagraim says his party will fight the ANC-driven proposal that will force thousands of South African estate agents to hand over to new owners or close down their businesses. In this vibrant interview with BizNews editor Alec Hogg, Bagraim also discusses suggestions that the party’s weakening in the polls is directly correlated to a refusal to rule out a coalition with the ANC (as a ‘least worst’ option for SA after May 29.)
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In the monthly update of investment markets, Corion’s David Bacher takes us through the highlights for April where South African equities outperformed - and quarterly results lent fresh volatility to Wall Street’s Magnificent Seven. Bacher explains the reasons for the past month’s performance of various investment markets - and looks ahead to what we can expect in May. He spoke to BizNews editor Alec Hogg.
BizNews will be taking its successful conference format to London on May 15, sharing insights with SA expats a fortnight before the watershed 2024 Election. Among the seven keynote speakers are SA informal market specialists GG Alcock and Warren Wheatley - one a rurally raised white zulu; the other a highly educated chartered accountant - offering a similar tale of a nation with huge potential and abundant hope. They shared a taster of their messages with BizNews editor Alec Hogg, who will be hosting the landmark May 15 event.
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In this powerful interview, Sakeliga’s CEO Piet le Roux unpacks his organisation’s fightback against the ‘third wave’ of BEE typified in efforts to make it compulsory for SA’s 40 000 estate agencies. Despite Pretoria’s growing legislative encroachment, Le Roux is upbeat about South Africa’s future: ‘State-proofing’ is being rapidly adopted by businesses and is laying the foundation for growth in the collective power of businesses to counter a weakening and increasingly ineffective central government. He told BizNews editor Alec Hogg that the next decade will be turbulent, but is confident the nation will emerge a lot stronger.
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A controversial gas tender awarded to a man who was named 176 times in the Mpati Commission report into malfeasance at the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) should be terminated with immediate effect. That is the call from Kevin Mileham, the Democratic Alliance's (DA’s) Shadow Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy following earlier warnings by his party that Equator Holdings “run, owned, and managed” by Lawrence Mulaudzi does not have the money and technical skills to fulfil the tender requirement of rebuilding PetroSA’s critical gas infrastructure - and is now “shopping around” for potential funders and technical partners for the project. “PetroSA is a failing State-owned entity. And you don't fix that by giving tenders to cronies,” Mileham says. Meanwhile Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe “is very, very quiet about this whole issue” - and is “more interested in campaigning right now than in dealing with the issues in the entities that are under his control”.
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In a wide-ranging, pre-election preview, United Independent Movement (UIM) President Neil de Beer torpedoes rumours of a Multi-Party Charter (MPC) collapse; gives his take on the daggers flying in former President Jacob Zuma’s MK party; and hails Patriotic Alliance (PA) President Gayton McKenzie’s combat strategy, saying the “Green Machine” is moving down to the Cape like an “oil slick” and has left the Democratic Alliance (DA) overwhelmed by the Brown Child Revolution. He discusses a post-election three-faction scenario comprising the MPC, the RET (Radical Economic Transformation), and the African National Congress (ANC). “And the question is, whom of those three are going to have coffee with whom, except I know they already having coffee.” However, De Beer vows that his UIM party would never form a government with the ANC or the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). “Then we go it alone. We cannot sit with this country's fiscal, economical enemy.”
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Patriotic Alliance (PA) President Gayton McKenzie has declared all-out war on the Democratic Alliance (DA) after his recent olive branch to the opposition party “expired”. Speaking to BizNews after another two by-election victories, he says: “It's war. It's full-out war. We are not playing. I extended the olive branch because I do think that the Western Cape will not be best served with the ANC (African National Congress) coming back…And they then answered that by insulting me…” McKenzie says the PA has been winning 80% of the by-elections it has fought, and he doesn’t think the DA will get 35 per cent of the vote in the Western Cape. Meanwhile, he says Economic Freedom Fighter (EFF) leader Julius Malema understands that the upcoming election is a match between the EFF and the PA. “So I'm saying that if you are a white person, it's no longer time to vote for your normal parties… Let's keep Malema out. I'm the only guy that can stand up to that fool. I'm the only one that can stand up to that mafia. South Africa doesn't deserve a guy like Malema.”
South Africa’s mining investment guru Peter Major has come out all guns blazing against Australian BHP’s “opportunistic” bid for Anglo American. In this powerful interview with BizNews editor Alec Hogg, Major calls on SA’s president and mining minister to step in quickly and promise to reverse legislative mistakes which chased away global investors. Doing so, he says, will save Anglo from BHP’s clutches and turbo-charge the country’s moribund mining sector. Major believes it’s easy to fix - but requires humility and realism from Pretoria. Starting with appeals to an alienated global investment community to stop Wall Street desk jockeys killing SA’s 107 year-old Golden Goose.
Wonderbag was a company established in 2008 methods as a solution to South Africa’s energy crisis providing families with a means to continue cooking daily meals during power outages. Resembling a colourful bag reminiscent of a pumpkin, Wonderbag employs ancient heat retention cooking technology, providing employment and income opportunities to entrepreneurs across the developing world. In South Africa, manufacturing is outsourced to 2000 entrepreneurs, primarily women, providing them with vital income. Founder of Wonderbag, Sarah Collins told Biznews in an interview about the business model she pioneered, her high-profile carbon clients including Sasol, Anglo American and Nandos. She also highlighted South Africa’s role in crafting legislation to bolster carbon credit projects.
President Cyril Ramaphosa does not even know where the Guptas are. That is the riposte from Glynnis Breytenbach, the Democratic Alliance's Shadow Minister of Justice, to the National Prosecuting Authority (NP) calling in the help of the President to try and fast track the extradition from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of the Guptas. As for the few billion of State Capture loot recovered so far by the NPA, Breytenbach says “it's not even a drop in the ocean of the trillions and trillions and trillions of rands that we were robbed of - and that government officials and cabinet members assisted crooks to steal from us”. She calls the close to 700 government officials thus far convicted of corruption “petty thieves” - and says “we need to see people at the top of the scale who stole at a breathtaking pace, held to account”. She also gives an update on the proposed establishment of DA-driven Anti Corruption Commission where prosecutors will have “no fear that their work will be undone by a bunch of politicians who don't like being held accountable”.
*This content is brought to you by Jaltech
In a recent webinar, BizNews' Alec Hogg and Jaltech's Jonty Sacks dissected the Section 12B solar investment incentive and unveiled Jaltech's latest venture in this arena. Investors were presented with an opportunity, with the potential to recoup up to 90% of their investment within the first year through SARS refunds and cash inflows. The investment was touted for its promise of dependable cash flows over its term, leveraging electricity sales to reputable commercial and industrial energy consumers in South Africa. Attendees gained invaluable insights into a venture poised to redefine solar investment strategies and capitalise on emerging market trends.
For more information: https://www.biznews.com/jaltech-solar-investment-taxes.
Australian mining group BHP has launched a R650bn takeover bid for SA’s 107-year-old one-time global giant Anglo American – a company now worth just a quarter of BHP’s value. If successful, the deal would merely be “material” rather than “game-changing” for BHP, which is attracted by its rival’s South American copper mines. A key part of the BHP bid is that Anglo must first unbundle its major South African assets Kumba Iron Ore and Anglo Platinum, which the Aussies don’t want any part of. Veteran asset manager Piet Viljoen explains that this is an opening salvo in what could be a lengthy process. He says the bid illustrates SA’s wealth-destructive political governance, practically reflecting the impact of deteriorating national infrastructure and unfriendly business legislation. He spoke to Alec Hogg of BizNews.
South Africa is a tinderbox waiting for a trigger to explode into violence and destruction. That is the warning from retired General Roland de Vries, the former Deputy Chief of the South African Army. In this interview with BizNews, he shares his in-depth assessment of the threat environment - and lists the possible trigger events for anarchy in election year. The general warns that the ruling African National Congress (ANC) government does not have the capability to protect its citizens adequately – and that it is up to the broader community to protect itself. He also gives his take on coalitions - and expresses concern that "we are going to see political infighting happening as never before and this will cause major political instability in our country". Meanwhile, General De Vries has, over the past seven years, helped over 80 communities develop their own community safety plans to empower themselves.
Leading political scientist RW Johnson explains what led him to investigate a Zuma-supporting, Kremlin-funded media operation - and wonders at Ramaphosa’s inability to accept the reality of Putin’s double play and the ANC’s sharp decline in the polls. Sobering and scary, Johnson’s analysis reinforces the view that SA’s elections on May 29 are shaking up as a make-or-break for the young democracy. He spoke to Alec Hogg of BizNews.
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Crime fighter Ian Cameron of the Democratic Alliance (DA) exposes the horrific working conditions in the South African Police Services (SAPS) as yet another member is shot dead on duty with his own gun - this time after the retention cord from the State-issued holster broke. In this interview with BizNews, Cameron reveals a litany of operational issues following the killing: those in the Air Wing helicopter had no proper radio communication with police on the ground; the police drones took over four hours to arrive on the crime scene; most of the cops searching for the police officer’s killer didn’t have torches; there was no Joint Operations Centre or even an operational plan; and the incident commander sent away specialised units because there were “too many people”. Last year (2023), in just three months from July to September, a total of 35 cops were killed - more than 10 a month. Cameron urges South Africans to honour the “large majority” of police officers “still willing to offer their lives for us at any given moment”.
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During a Q&A session at BNC#6 in Hermanus, BizNews founder Alec Hogg and Mavuso Msimang engaged in a candid discussion covering historical parallels between Brazil and South Africa, education reform, affirmative action, political leadership, and Ubuntu philosophy. Msimang emphasised the need for improved education, accountability in governance, and ethical leadership. Their conversation explored strategies for societal progress amidst challenges, with a call for more effective engagement and reform within political structures.
During a Q&A session at BNC#6 in Hermanus, Peregrine Capital Executive Chairman David Fraser discussed various topics including the hedge fund environment, small-cap investments, and South Africa's state-owned entities. Fraser noted increased hedge fund marketing and traction, particularly with lower volatility and higher returns. He delved into specific investments and challenges facing South Africa, such as load shedding and the future of the JSE. Fraser emphasised a pragmatic approach to investments, seeing potential short-term opportunities in South Africa and long-term potential in tech.
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Libertarian scares me. Liz Truss and Kwarsi Karteng call themselves 'libertarians'. Look how they are trying to destroy the UK economy!!