BizNews Radio

Workers from multi-national corporations are flocking to Cape Town instead of London and New York. BizNews gets an update on the latest trends from Paul Keursten, the CEO and co-founder of Workshop17.

South Africans are firing up their braais, stacking their fridges, and getting ready for the Rugby World Cup in France. On social media, we have been fed a constant diet of the Springboks as they get ready to take on the world's rugby titans. Nelson Mandela saw sport, and especially rugby, as a way to bring South Africans together in 1994. The moment has been immortalised in books and the movie Invictus. And, once again, we are pinning our hopes not only on a rugby win for the Boks, but also that it will lift the gloom of a troubled country. In this interview with Biznews, Dr Greyling Viljoen, a sport psychologist from Pretoria who is a former Springbok canoeist and has also won the Berg River Marathon, delves into the psychology of winning, why sport uplifts us and has some suggestions for how the Boks can manage social media comments, deal with the pressure of being the defending champions, and cope with the weight of a nation's expectations.

Welcome to the Fantasy Fund Manager podcast, where financial experts and everyday investors converge to explore the intriguing world of fantasy trading. In this episode, we journey into week 19 of the competition with our hosts, Stuart Lowman from BizNews, and our distinguished guests, Gareth Montana, Director at Corion Capital, and Darren Grusin, General Manager at SA Precious Metals. Amidst the ever-shifting landscape of financial markets, we uncover valuable insights, from navigating volatility to adapting strategies for success. Discover how this innovative game fosters community and financial education, making investing more accessible. Join us as we delve into the exciting realm of Fantasy Fund Manager. Remember, each dawn of Monday is your chance to pitch your winning stocks. With enticing prizes awaiting, the game is on. Rally your comrades and head over to www.fantasyfundmanager.co.za to register—gratitude to our platinum sponsors, Sharenet, Terebinth Capital, ClucasGray Asset Management, and Money Better. And mark your calendars: Subscribe now to our podcast to keep pulse with every riveting episode. Rest assured, the stock prices discussed remain spot-on from the time of the podcast's riveting recording.

Jan Oberholzer has left the dark days of Eskom behind him and joined the race for renewable energy. In this interview, he maps out the future of power supply in South Africa. He speaks to BizNews following his appointment as the non-executive chairperson of Mulilo Energy. Oberholzer - who was not short of job offers from across the world - reveals why he chose to stay in South Africa and join Mulilo. He gives details of the many projects in the pipeline at the independent renewable energy developer. He says Mulilo has "quite an aggressive goal" to add five to six gigawatts of electricity to South Africa in the public and private sectors. "So it is then for me to provide the necessary leadership to guide, support, and give whatever direction is required to assist them." Oberholzer also looks into the future and how the role of ESKOM in the power supply industry will likely change over the years. - Chris Steyn

Dr. Theuns Eloff, former Executive Director of the FW de Klerk Foundation, former vice-chancellor of North-West University, and a renowned negotiator, is perhaps best known for being the first Afrikaans "dominee" (minister) to negotiate with the ANC in Dakar during their exile. He subsequently led the secretariat at the multi-party negotiations in Kempton Park that preceded the 1994 elections. In this interview with Biznews, he reflects on the ANC's 30 years in power, asserting that the ruling party has 'basically buggered it up' and is incapable of self-correction. While acknowledging that some voters still support the ANC due to the 'Gogo-effect,' he notes that black South Africans increasingly realise the ANC's inability to fulfil its promises. Dr. Eloff predicts that the ANC will secure between 48% and 52% of the vote in the 2024 election, allowing them to maintain power with support from minority parties in Parliament if they fall below the 50% threshold. He predicts a gradual three-phase transition away from ANC rule, believing it would be better for stability where power seeps away in Gauteng and Kwazulu-Natal to the opposition which would limit the ruling party’s ability for patronage. He also comments on the Multi-Party Charter and says he believes they could collectively garner 40% of the vote in 2024. Dr. Eloff criticised business and religious leaders for being just too scared to oppose ANC policies in public and called for a federation, similar to the UDF of the past, to take South Africa across the ANC Rubicon

African National Congress (ANC) Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula has been slammed for his rhetorical utterances following ZANU-PF’s election victory in Zimbabwe’s “chaotic” election. Ringisai Chicohomero, a political analyst with The Institute for Security Studies (ISS), who was in Zimbabwe for the election, tells BizNews that Mbalula’s celebratory statements are deflecting from the real issues. And he warned that it is “very much likely” than many more illegal and legal migrants will be flocking to South Africa, to Botswana, to Zambia and other Southern African Development Country (SADC) countries. He says South Africa cannot be trusted to be an independent or neutral arbiter as the Southern African region sits with the “headache” of deciding how to respond to the South African Development Community (SADC) denouncement of the electoral process. “…most of the Southern African countries, like any country, have shortcomings when it comes to elections. So this is a direct implication on the next round of elections. So whatever they do now can be precedent-setting. So they have to be treading very carefully.”

There is outrage over parole being dished out to sex attackers who got life sentences and should be dying in prison. Among those paroled recently are Frans du Toit and Theuns Kruger who attacked Alison Botha. They were sentenced to life imprisonment in 1995, but served less than 30 years, as well as child killer Norman Simons, a.k.a The Station Strangler, who served only 28 years of his life sentence. BizNews speaks to Glynnis Breytenbach, the Democratic Alliance's (DA’s) Shadow Minister for Justice and Constitutional Services who calls it “an absolute, absolute disgrace”. She says it just confirms again that the African National Congress (ANC) and Justice Minister Ronald Lamola “do not care”. And she warns the Minister that the granting of these paroles could have tragic consequences - and that he will be held liable in his personal capacity “because he should have foreseen that this type of thing can go wrong, horribly wrong”. She also slams the Criminal Justice Cluster’s handling of the escape of Thabo Bester who was himself on parole when he raped two women. - Chris Steyn

This is an interview in two parts with former Joburg Metro mayor and Action SA leader Herman Mashaba expressing his frustration in equal measure. First we discuss the tragic fire at 80 Albert Street in Marshalltown, once the commercial hub of the African continent, which killed 77 of those who lived in the decrepit building. Mashaba revisits a successful mayoral project designed to reclaim hundreds of hijacked CBD buildings - but which was reversed into criminality after his ejection by what he claims was an unholy alliance between the ANC and his own party at the time, the DA. Mashaba then shares duplicity that is bedevilling a potentially promising project by opposition parties, the Multi Party Charter of SA - and explains why, despite this, Action SA hasn't left the pact. The guileless entrepreneur opens a rare window into how the games politicians love playing are hurting the people they have promised to help. - Alec Hogg

Larry Diamond is one of the world's most renowned scholars of democracy. In an interview with Biznews, the senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and the Mosbacher Senior Fellow in Global Democracy at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI) highlighted the perils democracy currently faces. Prof Diamond warned that a potential victory for Donald Trump in the 2024 US presidential election would not only be a catastrophe for the United States but also have profound global implications. He expressed concerns about Trump's admiration for authoritarian leaders and his contempt for Africa. Shifting his focus to South African politics, Prof Diamond, who had recently visited Cape Town, stressed the essential role of improved governance in attracting domestic and foreign investment to create jobs. He believed that South Africa's energy crisis could be resolved through renewable energy solutions and a new generation of battery and nuclear technology. Prof Diamond also voiced disappointment regarding the Democratic Alliance's (DA) inability to progress towards a multiracial leadership. He said South Africa has enormous talent across the board and needs leadership to make the strategic decisions that will harness that talent.

Corrupt officials in the City of Johannesburg register fake NGOs to claim buildings so that they can be “hijacked” for rentals. That is according to Mpho Dagada, the President of a new political party, Arise SA. Dagada was a Fourth Industrial Revolution commissioner in the Presidency. He tells BizNews why he believes that elected officials in the City of Johannesburg should be held accountable for the deaths of 77 people who died in a fire that gutted a building in Marshalltown last week. Dagada describes in detail the alleged modus operandi of the slum syndicates - and urges voters to remember the victims of the building fire when they go to the polls.