BizNews Radio

The DA's Joburg leader Dr Mpho Phalatse has gone from medic to politician and from leading the opposition in SA's biggest city to becoming its Mayor - and then being controversially deposed after an ally with 8 seats in the 270 seat Council switched sides. In this frank interview with Alec Hogg of BizNews, the reluctant politician explains why she is now fighting tooth and nail to prevent a return of the 'corrupt' ANC to its old ways, but fears the plundering of Joburg has already started. Phalatse unpacks events of a turbulent year and explains that she's still working behind the scenes to get back the Mayoral chains. In the process, she also provides insights into the kind of challenges SA is likely to face after the 2024 National Election when political coalitions will become the norm.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

OUTA’s latest oversight report finds parliament continues to flounder in its responsibilities to hold the executive to account or to properly scrutinise how taxpayers’ money is spent or, in many cases wasted. The report titled ‘Kicking the can down the road’ – the fourth annual report of its kind from OUTA – paints a grim picture of an institution that has not sought to revamp its tattered reputation in the wake of state capture. In his state capture report, Chief Justice Raymond Zondo pointed fingers at parliament for utterly failing in its duties to perform oversight and haul before it those members of the executive who are doing the bidding of the Guptas. BizNews correspondent Michael Appel approached OUTA’s Parliamentary Engagement and Research Manager, Rachel Fischer, for some insight into parliament’s continued malaise.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Following a public outcry after the discovery that President Cyril Ramaphosa was about to give cabinet members and its deputies unlimited free electricity and water plus a couple of extra aides when he amended the Ministerial Handbook, the president has made a U-turn and withdrew the amendments. The Democratic Alliance has claimed it as a victory for the party and people. The DA’s Dr Leon Schreiber told BizNews it is a promising sign that the DA and public can force the hand of the president on wasteful expenditure and corruption. – Linda van Tilburg

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former President Zuma continues to employ his infamous Stalingrad legal strategy, using every available avenue to stall the start of his arms deal corruption trial. Whether it’s seeking to privately prosecute state prosecutor Adv. Billy Downer or News24’s legal writer Karyn Maughan, it is clear Zuma will stop at nothing to thwart facing a litany of bribery, fraud, money-laundering and corruption charges. BizNews correspondent Michael Appel sat down with Accountability Now’s Adv. Paul Hoffman to peer – ever so cautiously – into the crystal ball, only to find the likelihood of even more appeals from Zuma brewing on the horizon. This while he’s currently appealing to the highest court in the land, the Constitutional Court, for a lifeline in his attempts to have Downer removed as the prosecutor on his impending case.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a decade in the wilderness, South African banking shares are coming back into their own with positive winds now filling their sails. In this podcast, world class financial services analyst Kokkie Kooyman shares his best ideas - offering strong recommendations for three JSE-listed banking stocks and some even cheaper names from Europe, including a wild card from Greece. He also addresses concerns about the impact of SA's potential grey-listing. He spoke to Alec Hogg of BizNews.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The ideology behind the ANC's 'Developmental State' fantasy is in tatters as another of the State monopolies - this time over South African ports - has been horribly exposed by the current Transnet strike. Justin Mudge, chairman of the umbrella body for SA's berry producers, says his industry's 40 000 jobs are on a knife edge with the Transnet strike hitting at the height of the blueberry picking season. With SA's ports closed because the State monopoly has zero contingency plan for perishable exports, the producers' only economically viable route to their global customers has been shut. He spoke to Alec Hogg of BizNews.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

South African farmers are pleading for intervention as products destined for the export market are rotting at ports besieged by Transnet’s incompetence and a continuing wage dispute. BizNews correspondent Michael Appel spoke to the former president of the World Farmers’ Organisation, Dr Theo de Jager, about the current state of the country’s agri sector in light of the war in Ukraine and the mounting pressure on input costs such as diesel and fertiliser. In terms of land reform, De Jager says what usually takes “six weeks in the private sector takes more than six years in government” with every layer created by the state that “wants a bribe, who wants a cut of the pie”. The land reform agenda continues to be scuppered by the very party – the government – meant to implement it. De Jager adds that while we may have land beneficiaries, we don’t have enough black farmers in the country. He also touches on the insidious ‘kill the farmer, kill the boer’ song that was ruled not to constitute hate speech by the High Court in Johannesburg. This judgment is being appealed by AfriForum.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

South Africa holds the majority of the world’s rhino and it is the country hardest hit by poaching, with more than 200 rhinos killed each year between 2013 and 2017. That is according to Save the Rhino. In 2021, 451 rhinos were killed in South Africa. Rhino population in key strongholds like the Kruger National Park have fallen dramatically with a drop of 59% since 2013. Save the Rhino believes that a mix of tools, including: trained and well-equipped rangers, education in areas where rhinos live and in Asia where consumer demand for rhino horn is highest, making sure that communities living near rhino habitats feel the benefit of conversation and captive breeding, are the solutions to prevent the species dying out. There are however private game farmers like South African John Hume who are pushing for legal trade in live rhinos and horns. Businessman and conservationist, Jonathan Oppenheimer has weighed in on this debate and in an interview with BizNews, said he would like to have an honest debate on whether rhinos would not be better protected “if farmers can create value out of rhinos.” - Linda van Tilburg

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When local businesses in a small community at the foot of the Drakensberg mountains in KwaZulu-Natal called Nottingham Road realised that some members of their communities could not feed their families during lockdown, they jumped in and started a feeding scheme. But it did not stop there: it grew into a non-profit company called LOVE NOTTIES, that is involved in adult education and environmental projects while maintaining its primary humanitarian function. Missy Hughes from Love Notties told BizNews that the July riots, in which some members of their community participated, was a blow for their organisation as it resulted in some businesses withdrawing support, but they are slowly mending relations again. – Linda van Tilburg

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A common trait among successful entrepreneurs is their good fortune in having started early. Few, however, kicked off as five year olds - the age at which Nthabiseng Sejake began helping in her mother's spaza shop and tavern. Sejake honed used skills acquired as a pre-teen to develop B Evolusion, a fast-growing 'backroom' renting business in Soweto. She was identified by informal economy guru GG Alcock as epitomising this much misunderstood R20bn area which succeeds despite being starved of capital by SA's formal banking sector. In this interview with Alec Hogg of BizNews, the budding property mogul shares her story - and dreams - and how, in four years, she has built a portfolio with dozens of quality apartments on three sites in Soweto. An inspirational story of a woman for whom the sky is surely the limit once scales lift from the collective eyes of SA's financial institutions.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices