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Security analyst Willem Els tells Chris Steyn that the collapsed plea deal behind Cat Matlala's unsigned 25-page statement, which throws former deputy national commissioner Shadrack Sibiya and former police minister Bheki Cele under the bus, hands investigators a money trail even if it can no longer be used in evidence. Alec Hogg tells the BizNews Premium community what stood out from his Enoch Godongwana interview: Transnet's private rail lines, Eskom's turn, and the push to fix South Africa's exploration record. Pick n Pay's Sean Summers hits back at talk of slowing momentum. Plus Boeing's worst day in 18 months.

In this interview with Chris Steyn, Willem Els of the Security Initiative for Africa (SIA), comments on the R2,7-million legal bill racked up by special leave Police Minister Senzo Mchunu and President Cyril Ramaphosa’s continued failure to sack him. “He was supposed to be the saviour of the ANC and gather a lot of support in the province (KZN). And I think that is one of the reasons why it’s very difficult for the president to let him go.” With former President Jacob Zuma’s MKP predicted to triumph in the upcoming LGEs in KZN, Els describes how Zuma used intelligence apparatus to further his political ends during his tenure - amid current court revelations that he even had State Security Agents (SSA) agents infiltrate and spy on EFF leadership. As for allegations in an affidavit by tenderpreneur Cat Matlala of payments to former Deputy National Commissioner General Shadrack Sibiya, Els says: “That just tells you how valuable General Sibiya was for the syndicates...I think his legal woes and his problems have only started.” Lastly, Els shares good news in the fight against drug trafficking. “It is very interesting that a lot of these seizures …happened after the Madlanga Commission started to expose the political protection and also the operational protection of these syndicates.”

Pick n Pay CEO Sean Summers tells Alec Hogg the consumer is stretched by fuel, electricity and rent, and defends pushing break-even to 2029: you cannot wish for profit first and sales second. He has closed almost 200 stores in three years while the main rival opened 800. City Power whistleblower Stephanus Fourie tells Chris Steyn Johannesburg is practically bankrupt, questions where two bailouts are going, and says nothing changes until looters are jailed and their assets recovered. Dr Carla Mitchell on Africa's first moon mission, delivered for under half a million dollars. Plus Anthropic's IPO filing lifts Wall Street.

Three years ago, Sean Summers said, the talk at South African braais was whether Pick n Pay would survive at all. On results day, with the supermarket business still losing R516 million in six months and break-even pushed out to 2029, he told Alec Hogg why he wasn't in a hurry. He explained how the five-month stand-off with SACCAWU ended in a deal rather than retrenchments, what he said finally brought "seriousness into the room", and why he believed Pick n Pay was now outgrowing rivals that have opened hundreds more stores. He also took on the hard questions: whether being CEO of Pick n Pay and chair of Boxer is a conflict, why the market values the group at less than its Boxer stake, and what Spencer Sonn inherits when he arrives in February. His message to investors was blunt: it's not if, but when.

In this interview with Chris Steyn, City of Johannesburg whistleblower Stephanus Fourie warns that a new administration will not be able to root out entrenched mismanagement and corruption without drastic action. “Unless you catch the criminals and you lock them up and you take back everything that they've taken from the ratepayers, nothing will change.” Fourie believes that any person who steals from the government should be found guilty of terrorism, sent to prison without a term, given hard labour to earn back money to refund the taxpayer, and get released only “once every cent that you stole has been recovered”. Meanwhile, Fourie takes viewers behind the scenes at City Power where he was fired after he discovered “that there were anomalies that were non-consistent with the MFMA (the Municipal Financing Management Act)...And the biggest one was that they wanted to outsource sourcing. And not only outsource sourcing, the whole warehouse.” He has been reinstated following a court order, but City Power is still resisting his return. “One of the senior managers made a comment to say if he kept his mouth shut - referring to me - he would have been back at work…In front of witnesses.”