BizNews Radio

SA's longest-serving political columnist, William Saunderson-Meyer, expands on his recent op-ed where he argued that Eskom-related power cuts are a sideshow compared with his homeland's ever-escalating crime rate. The reason for surging malfeasance, he believes, is obvious: the criminal justice system - from policing to the courts through to prisons - is an ocean of incompetence with zero consequences. Fixing it will be a long-term project, and a lot more difficult than simply replicating the Western Cape LEAP system (as Gauteng has been discovering of late....). WSM spoke to Alec Hogg of BizNews.

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Purple Capital, the JSE listed 70% owner of East Equities, reported a R50m bottom line reverse in the half year to end February - and also dropped the surprise of a R150m capital raising exercise. However, the news was absorbed well enough by an already cautious investment market - the shares are down by half in the past year - offset perhaps by the excitement of the group's venture into the Philippines. CEO Charles Savage shares the latest on SA's exponentially growing company (830k active clients, +24%) with Alec Hogg of BizNews.

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Muslim academic Professor Hussein Solomon reveals the extent of terrorist financing, training, and activity on South African soil. He describes the relationship between the extortion of big businesses, kidnappings, and terror financing. He states that the Government does not have the ability, the capacity, or the political will to deal with the growing threat. And he warns that the country is not immune to a big terror attack.

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Chair of the Democratic Alliance's federal executive, Helen Zille, has been publicly blamed for torpedoing an anti-ANC alliance's opportunity on Friday to take back governance of SA's richest metro. But just like at the BizNews Conference in March, Zille answers her critics with a powerful comeback - arguing that this was the third time Gayton MacKenzie's 'kingmaking' Patriotic Alliance let down Moonshot Pact partners. Zille points to the MacKenzie party's support of the ANC in Friday's crucial vote as evidence that her fellow opposition partners were once again "played". Nevertheless, she reckons the Moonshot Pact is alive and well - and its existence will prevent a similar disappointment in SA's watershed 2024 National Election. Zille spoke to Alec Hogg of BizNews.

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Dr Patrick Moore, the co-founder of Greenpeace, shares how he came to join the fledgling group that founded Greenpeace, the bold endeavours and significant victories obtained by the young organisation during its early years, and the details behind his decision to walk away from the organisation after 15 years of devoted involvement. Moore's comprehensive understanding of the geologic time scale – the "calendar" for events in Earth's history – is extraordinary, allowing him to contextualise climate change, CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere and extreme weather events, among others, in a way that is brilliant yet simple enough for the layman to understand. A true environmentalist, Moore is a rare example of someone who placed his principles above all else.

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After intense behind-the-scenes negotiations to find an agreement between coalition parties in the Johannesburg metro on the following executive mayor for Johannesburg, talks have collapsed, leaving the door open for the ANC/EFF, who have patched up their differences to take control of the council. Action SA issued a statement on Twitter stating that all former coalition members, ActionSA, the IFP Plus, ACDP, UIM, and the Patriotic Alliance, confirmed their willingness to support Funzi Ngobeni from Action SA for Mayor, but the Democratic Alliance refused. An incensed Action SA President Herman Mashaba told BizNews that the coalition group initially offered the DA the mayorship of Johannesburg but tanked the possibility of an agreement by insisting that the PA withdraws all support for the ANC in all the municipalities throughout the country. – Linda van Tilburg

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A month after DA leader John Steenhuisen proclaimed a Moonshot Pact to sweep the ANC from power next year, the coalition has collapsed at a relatively low first hurdle. Although they had the numbers to eject the ANC alliance from power in the Johannesburg Metro, opposition politicians could not agree on some key issues. Steenhuisen is "unavailable," but an official DA statement's reference to "former" coalition partners speaks volumes. Political scientist Dr Frans Cronje, who has been closely involved in the negotiation process, admits things "loop kak" - i.e. discussions are going very badly. But the head of the Social Research Foundation says the turbulence is not unexpected when seen in perspective. He says not all participants appreciate the "epochal change" occurring in SA politics. So mindsets will require time before adjusting to a very different future, which contrasts starkly with an effective one-party state for virtually all of South Africa's past four centuries. Cronje spoke to Alec Hogg of BizNews.

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South Africa is known for exporting raw minerals, fruit and wine, but what is probably not that well-known is that it has a thriving space industry that supplies satellite components and services globally. South African space products are incorporated into a multitude of international satellites. Exports generated by the country’s space industry amounted to around R200 million in 2022. Stellenbosch space technology solutions provider, Dragonfly Aerospace is building on that history and has provided ‘eyes in the sky’ for several missions in space. CEO and Founder of Dragonfly Aerospace, Bryan Dean told BizNews that the company’s technology has been built on the technology that has been developed in Stellenbosch since the 90s. Dragonfly Aerospace has a camera that has been flown to an asteroid and in January 2023 they launched the first of a seven-satellite constellation in low earth, called the EOS SAT-1 from Cape Canaveral on a Space X rocket to monitor agriculture. 

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The DA's James Lorimer believes South Africa is on the cusp of hitting a natural resources jackpot transformative as the discovery of diamonds in 1867 and the Witwatersrand gold basin twenty years later. In this uplifting interview, the Shadow Minister of Minerals and Energy explains how the offshore Orange Basin, which extends from southern Namibia to beyond Cape Town, has 10x the oil and gas potential of Total's vaunted gas discovery off the southern Cape. Lorimer adds that after a tortuous process, revised legislation before Parliament will, finally, be aligned with global norms and thus acceptable to multinational oil majors. He reckons that given the prospective nature of the geography and this year's rich strikes in Namibia, once the legislation is passed, the oil majors are likely to invest heavily in exploration. With each well costing around R500m and the nation pocketing roughly 60% of all revenue generated from oil and gas produced, Lorimer advocates making it possible to adopt an approach of "drill, baby, drill" by Shell, Total and their peers - not just off SA's West Coast but also to exploit the Karoo's shale gas potential. Lorimer shared the excellent news with Alec Hogg of BizNews.

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SA Treasury has reacted to the flood of private capital legally leaving the country with a sneaky regulation change announced immediately before the May long weekend. Restrictive new compliance criteria for financial emigration and the R10m per taxpayer that can be invested offshore annually takes these options off the table. In future, South Africans wanting to invest offshore will essentially be restricted to the R1m a year no-questions-asked allowance. In this interview, Brenthurst Wealth founder Magnus Heystek explains how he picked up the shock changes and how, among other consequences, this is likely to accelerate the exporting of well-educated young South Africans - sent abroad on the urging of their families before they become registered taxpayers. He spoke to Alec Hogg of Biznews.

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