BizNews Radio

In this Director’s Cut, Dr Theo de Jager, chair of the Southern African Agri Initiative (SAAI), tells Alec Hogg how the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease has laid bare the collapse of South Africa’s agricultural command systems. Once tightly managed through roadblocks, military coordination, and traceability controls, the state has now “lost all command and control,” says de Jager. He explains how the disease spread from the Kruger Park to the Western Cape, devastating farmers, crippling exports, and driving up meat prices — all while the government imports outdated vaccines from Botswana and fails to produce its own. De Jager’s warning is blunt: “If the state doesn’t act, the disease will. And when that happens, it’s not just farmers who pay — it’s every South African at the supermarket till.”

Millions of South Africans fear that they will be disarmed and left defenseless in crime-ridden South Africa by possible new legislation. But in his latest interview with Chris Steyn, a defiant Ian Cameron, the Democratic Alliance's Spokesperson on Police and Chairperson of Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Police, issues this challenge: “I want to see them disarm lawfully armed and law abiding citizens in this country because they are going to fail dismally. That is a fight they should not pick. It's a fight that I would advise them not to even try. We are going to protect our communities. We're going to protect ourselves and our families. And there's no way that we're going to allow them to arbitrarily take that away.” Cameron believes the disarmament agenda is a "way of gaining more control” as “the more control you lose as a government, especially one with the ideological, let's call them challenges, that the ANC has brought upon us over the years, the more you try and centralise certain things.” That level of “draconian control” could mean “only an elite few…are able to be supposedly kept safe - and that they would use State coffers to do so through… abusing police and whoever else the armed forces have at their disposal.” Cameron outlines the DA’s fight-back strategy.

South Africa is grappling with its worst foot-and-mouth outbreak in decades, threatening farmers’ livelihoods, pushing up food risks, and triggering export bans from countries like China and Zimbabwe. In today’s BizNews Briefing, Alec Hogg speaks with agricultural leader Dr Theo de Jager about how state failure, slow intervention, and a collapsed early-warning system allowed the virus to spread - and what must happen next to contain an escalating national crisis.

Welcome to BizNews Radio where we interview top thought leaders and business people from South Africa and across the globe.

Welcome to BizNews Radio where we interview top thought leaders and business people from South Africa and across the globe.

In this edition of the NdB Sunday Show, Safe Citizen Founder Jonathan Deal talks to Chris Steyn about police- and political capture by cartels, corruption, cadre deployment - martyred whistleblowers. He warns that the country’s is on a knife's edge - and that public revolt over the rot is “a distinct possibility if it is not brought under control and if steps are not taken at high level in public by the Government of National Unity to get control of these issues and actually start holding the people that are complicit in all of this to account…We saw how quickly an Arab Spring arose up on the back of social media and how quickly the public, once they have decided to go ahead with it, dealt with the leaders that had for decades and years disadvantaged them and treated them badly.” Deal adds that South Africa has crossed a “grim threshold” to become a country “where corruption is no longer a crime that happens inside the State, but it appears to have become the very business model of the State itself”. He says he has watched “step-by step the devolution of this country at an increasingly rapid pace and literally seen how law and order are being auctioned off and how the safety of entire communities is becoming collateral damage for a self-sustaining feeding frenzy.” Deals goes on to reveal plans for the launch of a national campaign next week to stop proposed legislative moves that could result in the disarmament of millions of legal firearm owners.

South African-born Wall Street veteran Anthony Ginsberg, founder of GinsGlobal, unpacks what Trump’s new trade team really thinks of South Africa, BRICS, and AGOA. From behind-closed-doors insights at the YPO Summit in Los Angeles, Ginsberg tells Alec Hogg why SA’s missing ambassador, misunderstood BEE policies, and Washington’s anti-China pivot could make or break our next US trade deal. A front-row view of Trump-era commercial diplomacy—where business, politics, and power collide.

Rangers are fighting an uphill battle against rhino poaching in South Africa’s Kruger National Park. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, poaching is expected to spike, as it did in 2024. Despite dehorning programmes and stronger arrests, convictions, and prosecutions, 35 rhinos were lost in the first weeks of 2025 alone. The pursuit by transnational syndicates remains relentless. To strengthen its response, SANParks has partnered with the Tracker Academy to retrain field rangers in advanced man‑tracking and bushcraft skills. Manager Alex van den Heever told BizNews the initiative is groundbreaking. The focus, he explained, is not on chasing poachers but on tracking the rhinos themselves and proactively protecting them before syndicates strike. It’s an approach that has been used before, but the Tracker Academy aims to embed it permanently in Kruger, a park whose rhino population has been decimated by poaching from 12,000 a decade ago to just 2,000 today.

In this Director’s Cut, Alec Hogg sits down with EasyEquities CEO Charles Savage to unpack how South Africa is turning a corner — and how his fintech powerhouse is leading the charge. Savage explains why he’s “overwhelmed with optimism” about the economy, reveals EasyEquities’ breakthrough to one million active investors, and shares how AI is transforming the way South Africans invest. From global expansion into Kenya and the Philippines to bold plans for a South African stablecoin, Savage lays out a vision for building wealth, innovation, and confidence in a country rediscovering its momentum.

From hopes of turning South Africa into “Africa’s Switzerland” to fears over China’s mega mine in Guinea, mining veteran Peter Major joins Alec Hogg for a fiery Miningweb Weekly. They unpack how the Reserve Bank’s bold 3% inflation target could reshape mining, why Eskom and Transnet remain the industry’s biggest shackles, and how China’s iron ore play may threaten Kumba and South Africa’s competitiveness. Major doesn’t hold back — calling out bad policy, corruption, and missed opportunities holding the sector hostage.

In today’s BizNews Briefing, Alec Hogg speaks with Charles Savage, founder and CEO of Purple Group - the force behind EasyEquities. From humble beginnings with just R2 million in seed capital 11 years ago, the platform has grown into a R4.5 billion success story. Savage shares the X factor behind EasyEquities’ meteoric rise, his vision for the future, and how artificial intelligence is shaping the company’s next chapter.

More jaw-dropping details are emerging of the links between underworld boss “Cat” Matlala and law enforcement officers. In her latest interview with BizNews, Juanita Du Preez of Action Society tells Chris Steyn that she felt sure he looked so grim in court the past week because “he thought he knows who the person is that wants to be the next ANC President and then the country's President. And that's why he played his cards in that way. And now that hope has crashed. So he doesn't have that protection.” Du Preez also comments on the police revelations today that a close associate of suspended Deputy Police Commissioner Shadrack Sibiya has 29 cases against him - and that a SAPS employee had accessed the Criminal Records system to make adjustments to his records. “I am so happy that the connection he had…who fiddled with his record, wasn't smart enough to change it on the back end as well, because that is where the information is now coming from. It's still on there. So you can delete it in the front, but it stays in the back. Now we can pinpoint, this person was the one pressing the button.” As for the excuses NPA Chief Shamila Batohi came up with before the Ad Hoc Committee for not yet bringing the Guptas to justice, Du Preez charges: “These are the people who stole South Africa to the brink of poverty and created a culture for other people to follow in their footsteps. And it's not urgent for you.”

Welcome to BizNews Radio where we interview top thought leaders and business people from South Africa and across the globe.

Welcome to BizNews Radio where we interview top thought leaders and business people from South Africa and across the globe.

BizNews founder Alec Hogg unpacks the Medium-Term Budget’s surprisingly upbeat message. With the Government of National Unity presenting a unified front, Treasury reported a R20 billion revenue overrun, a narrowing deficit, and no need for a VAT increase. SARS’ new AI-driven systems are delivering results, Eskom’s reliability is improving, and even Transnet is showing early signs of recovery — proof that South Africa’s finances may finally be turning the corner.

In his latest interview with BizNews, Ian Cameron, the Chairperson of Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Police and the Democratic Alliance’s Police Spokesperson, talks to Chris Steyn about the Madlanga Commission and Parliament Ad Hoc Committee hearings and some of the key players, including former Police Minister Senzo Mchunu and suspended Deputy National Commissioner Shadrack Sibiya. As for tenderpreneurs like Cat Matlala and Hangwani Maumela, Cameron states: “The only way for organised crimes and these types of persons or entities to flourish is when the State is involved at a very senior level… It worries me that some people implicated are still in their positions or mentioned or continuing to work.” Cameron also details the horror findings on his recent oversight visit to Nelson Mandela Bay where the Flying Squad only has one vehicle, a single cab bakkie with over 300,000 kilometers. As for irregular expenditure of over R650 million in SAPS in the past financial year, Cameron says it “points to a much more deeply rooted corruption-and-fraud network that has been built in supply chain management and procurement”. He charges that “all of these things” add up to a picture of “leadership collapse- and urges: “…if we don't replace a large number of the so-called leaders, nothing can change on the ground”.

Listen to the full recording of the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement press conference.

Welcome to BizNews Radio where we interview top thought leaders and business people from South Africa and across the globe.

From the lock-up in Parliament, I share why this may be the first genuinely good-news budget in years.

In his latest interview with BizNews, KZN Public Works and Infrastructure MEC Martin Meyer gives Chris Steyn an update on major developments in his department. He confirms talks with KZN Provincial Police Commissioner General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi on a strategy to reclaim 300 hijacked houses and properties that have become havens for KZN's notorious hitmen. He also describes how the department has dealt with a contractor who had caused a five-year-delay on a 20-month hospital project. Meyer recalls how when he first took on the Construction Mafia, his security had to be increased. “On two separate occasions, bullets were found as a warning, once in my vehicle and another time at the front door of my office. But since then, things have quieted down. Those were intimidation tactics. I think they learned quite quickly that this laatie is not being intimidated and I'm not going anywhere and I'm not gonna stop because we have to fight for what is right…it's now almost nine months that none of our sites have been disrupted by armed guards.”