BizNews Radio

One of the best things about being at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos is you never know who you'll bump into. Sometimes, as Alec Hogg shares here, a really special someone like the "done great" daughter of a good friend. Pretoria lass Bryonie Guthrie is managing the Ice Village at Davos 2023 - and in this interview explains what she is doing here; life as a WEF staffer; how she deals with misguided critics of her employer; and, even though her role is global, how she is doing her part in helping her homeland tackle its toughest biggest challenges (Hint: if you thought education was expensive, try ignorance).

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With the World Economic Forum set to commence in Davos, Switzerland on Monday, 16 January, Bronwyn Nielsen checks in with Iain Williamson, CEO of Old Mutual, to discuss the expectations for South Africa and Africa from Davos, 2023. In focus: energy.

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SA’s energy resources regulator Dr Phindile Masangane says the Petrloeum Agency SA will soon be sharing its updated models of the Karoo Shale Gas reserves with the scientific community - and is storngly recommending a drilling programme to confirm the exciting findings. PASA’s model puts the SA’s shale gas reserves at a massive 200tcf which for context is 66 times the total gas feedstock for Sasol; and is just under a third of the reserves which have transformed the energy equation in the US, the world’s biggest economy. A chemistry PhD from Imperial College, London (with a Wits MBA), in this interview Dr Masangane applies science to address concerns articulated on BizNews earlier this week by Graaff Reinet attorney Derek Light, who represents hundreds of sceptical Karoo landowners including business tycoon Johann Rupert. The regulator’s model, conclusions and recommendations supports a thesis proposed by outspoken entrepreneur Rob Hersov, which sparked Light’s response. Dr Masangane, who has considerable experience with energy projects from development to feasibility, spoke to Alec Hogg of BizNews.

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Graaff-Reinet attorney Derek Light, who has been intimately involved in the Karoo Shale Gas saga since 2009, dispels what he refers to as “myths” that Rob Hersov is so excited about. Light reckons popular assumptions around the size and value of the alleged gas deposits in central South Africa are massively exaggerated - and those like Hersov who are lobbying for their rapid exploitation are irresponsible. He spoke to Alec Hogg of BizNews.

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Good rankings across the board in 2022's performance tables by Fairtree and PSG illustrates once more how money managers are not all equal. In this review of the year that's just past, Corion's David Bacher explains how these two houses were able to buck what for most investors was one of the worst years on record - particularly for those those who piled into offshore stocks and specifically Big Tech. He also looks ahead the the challenges that lie ahead in 2023. Bacher spoke to Alec Hogg of BizNews.

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A comment under an RW Johnson contribution to BizNews describes South Africa's former Oxford Don as "the most astute political analyst we have". Johnson's level-headed, rational assessment of SA politics is evident in this fascinating discussion on two of his articles recently published on the website - the first on the ANC Conference; the second about Eskom. Johnson's conclusion: both are examples of chaos which is accompanying the ending of the ANC's "catastropic" era - together with hope that its replacement will herald a significant improvement for the country's citizens. He spoke to Alec Hogg of BizNews.

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Rob Hersov has a habit of saying the unfashionable truths that others lack the courage to voice. He did so at BNC#2 and again at BNC#4 when calling out timid South African business leaders, unleashing a torrent after addressing politically-correct. Hersov has started the new year in a similar vein, standing 'shoulder-to-shoulder' with SA's much criticised energy minister Gwede Mantashe, encouraging him to double down against the foreign promoted Green Agenda. He urges Mantashe and his boss, SA president Cyril Ramaphosa, to reject the hypocritical Western agenda that demands SA ignores its endowed fossil fuel assets while the EU's imports of those same resources are up 400% in the past year. The way Hersov sees it, SA has been stopped by self-interested "Colonialists" from using massive shale and offshore gas reserves whose exploitation would transform the energy situation, directly create over a million new jobs and turbo-charge the economy. He spoke to Alec Hogg of BizNews.

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As South Africans are increasingly faced with loadshedding, potholes and the deterioration of so many services; the penny has dropped that it is no use waiting for the government to fix it. In his New Year’s message, Gift of the Givers, Dr Imtiaz Sooliman said he believed that fixing the country does not belong to the government, but to all of us. Well, this is exactly what South Africans are doing as they start providing their own electricity, while communities are coming together to fix potholes and clean streets. Frans Rautenbach, a labour lawyer from Cape Town, believes that the process of helping ourselves can be taken a step further. He has written the book, Help Yourself South Africa. Rautenbach told Biznews about his blueprint to fix education, health, housing and other functions of government and suggests that some of the labour laws in the country could be challenged constitutionally. He looks at where regulation was shackling South Africans and suggests a way around them. Rautenbach even has ideas about a new currency and hopes his ideas will be tested in a model 'dorpie'. – Linda van Tilburg

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2022 was a decidedly volatile year in the field of psychiatry. In July, a study led by Dr Joanna Moncrieff found that there was no convincing evidence that depression is connected with low serotonin, let alone caused by it. In November, while the psychiatric profession and, perhaps more significantly, the millions of people taking antidepressants were still reeling from Moncrieff’s findings, a study co-authored by Dr David Erritzoe was published which provided the first direct evidence that serotonin release is blunted in the brains of people with depression. BizNews spoke to Erritzoe who explained the findings of the brain imaging study which is sparking debate within psychiatry about the so-called serotonin hypothesis of depression and challenging the findings of Moncrieff’s controversial study. Erritzoe, who is the Clinical Director in Centre for Psychedelic Research and Clinical Senior Lecturer in Psychiatry at Imperial College London, also provided fascinating insight into Imperial’s novel studies investigating the brain mechanisms and therapeutic potential of MDMA, ketamine and classic psychedelics.

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The local currency, banking stocks and local sovereign bonds gained after the re-election of President Cyril Ramaphosa was confirmed. The outlook for South Africa, says Nezo Sobekwa, African risk analyst at S& P Global Market Intelligence, is “cautiously optimistic”, but he did not foresee that things were going to turn around in the short term. Electricity, water shortages, reliance on imported fuel and Transnet remain a concern. Energy policy inconsistency is also likely to remain in the short term. Sobekwa said he expected that President Ramaphosa will, with his new mandate, start tightening the screws on corruption, but it remains to be seen “if the buffalo can gain some momentum”. – Linda van Tilburg

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