Denker Capital’s banking oracle Kokkie Kooyman is the go to man when it comes to the financial services industry, on a day that South Africa’s fifth largest bank by market capitalisation Nedbank released its interim results. Nedbank, along with all the major banks, have enjoyed a great run over the last twelve months or so as one of the industries most affected by the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Business and consumer confidence has recovered somewhat, but Kooyman believes this is key to enable the banks to continue the momentum of the past year despite the lenders being ‘cheap’ on a fundamental basis. BizNews founder Alec Hogg and Kokkie also touch on Quilter’s interim results (ex-Old Mutual Asset Management) and the new talking point within the South African financial services space, Michael Jordaan’s baby - Bank Zero.

The Southern African Faith Communities' Environment Institute (SAFCEI) sent an open letter to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation earlier this week because the industrial scale approach to food production, which is championed and funded by Gates throughout Africa, is having seriously destructive and unintended consequences. "We write out of grave concern that the Gates Foundation’s support for the expansion of intensive industrial scale agriculture is deepening the humanitarian crisis," the letter reads. Francesca de Gasparis of SAFCEI joins the BizNews Power Hour to shed some light on the NGO's concerns. "Our message is, can you just pause for a minute and have a conversation with us? Can you actually listen to us who are witnessing what's happening on this continent and happening to farmers so that you can actually take stock of the system that's working?"

Dr Leon Schreiber is the DA Shadow Minister of Public Service and Administration. He joined the BizNews Power Hour to discuss cadre deployment - a hot topic that's on the lips of many, including the Zondo Commission. President Cyril Ramaphosa has been testifying at the commission, with Schreiber telling BizNews that "what happened today, essentially, is that the Zondo Commission acceded to a request that the DA had submitted at the beginning of the year, where we asked the commission to obtain minutes and records of decisions taken by the cadre deployment committee. Our reasoning was that if you really want to test the influence of this committee on the appointment of various individuals, then you really have to look and see what was discussed. That way, you can cross reference it to what President Ramaphosa - who was the former chairperson of this committee - says during testimony."

Regular BizNews co-host and Brenthurst Wealth Management co-founder Magnus Heystek joins Alec Hogg to talk all things topical on this Wednesday, namely Cape Independence, chaos at Medupi and Cadre deployment. The main topic of conversation centred around Magnus' 10-day trip to the Western Cape, which he says is a new country in itself. Magnus says that the rest of the country should take a page out of the Western Cape's book with the Stellenbosch, Franschhoek and Paarl triangle becoming the new area of growth and prosperity for the region.

In this episode of the BizNews Power Hour, Alec Hogg is joined by co-host Magnus Heystek; energy expert Ted Blom on Medupi blast; DA's Leon Schreiber on ANC's cadre deployment policy; Denker Capital's Kokkie Kooyman talks Nedbank, Quilter and Bank Zero and the BizNews Power Hour team.

Following an 18 month period during which South Africa sorely needed a reliable and incorruptible leader at the helm of our National Department of Health, now former Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has been exposed as having been intricately linked to a corruption saga involving communications firm Digital Vibes. In May, news broke of a scandal involving a R150m contract awarded to Digital Vibes by the SA Health Department - upon which Mkhize’s once-revered reputation as ‘one of the good guys’ in the ANC started to splinter. An affidavit by Rajendra Chunilall, a Principal Forensic Investigator and the Lead Investigator in the Special Investigating Unit’s investigation into the scandal, officially eradicates the remaining embers of hope we may have been holding onto regarding Mkhize’s involvement in the corruption scandal. BizNews Founder Alec Hogg spoke to ace forensic investigator Paul O'Sullivan to unpack the details set out in the affidavit.

Ted Blom has been following the Eskom saga intensively for the last 14 years. In light of the recent explosion at the Medupi Power Station, Blom joined the BizNews Power Hour to discuss how the blast occurred. The Power Station - which was delayed and launched very recently - has sustained notable damage. The setback will not only be expensive (and take time to fix) but also has the potential to push SA into record-high load-shedding. Blom and BizNews founder Alec Hogg weigh in on the subject.

Over half a million new businesses were registered in 2020, an increase of more than 30% from the previous year, according to Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) reports. This seems counterintuitive given the economic destruction that has been caused as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. John Dludlu, chief executive officer of the Small Business Institute talks about the hardships and pain experienced by many in the Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMME) sectors in South Africa following the data released by the CIPC. Dludlu explains that many of these businesses are being opened due to pure desperation as many look to regain their livelihoods. Dludlu unpacks the tough operating environment experienced by SMMEs over the past twelve to eighteen months, with availability of funding and lack of government support a headwind for the sector.

News headlines:

*South Africa faces a record year for power outages after an explosion damaged one of the state-owned electricity utility’s newest coal-fired generation units.

*South African business confidence fell to a nine-month low in July, after a week of deadly riots, looting and arson cost the economy R50 billion in lost output and imperiled at least 150,000 jobs.

*Former Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has effectively swapped places with her replacement, Thandi Modise, with the ANC putting her name forward to take over as speaker of parliament.

In my opvolg gesprek met Etienne Roux van Truffle Batebestuur verduidelik hy hoekom hulle van Cashbuild hou.