BizNews Radio

For someone who slept less than two hours last night, new Nelson Mandela Bay executive mayor Retief Odendaal was surprisingly gipper in this interview, one of the first interviews from his new office. After a fractious council meeting that ended at 3:30am this morning, he was confirmed as the leader of a 10-party coalition that put their city ahead of egos and ejected a disastrous ANC/EFF combine which has driven the metro beyond the point of disaster. In this interview with Alec Hogg of BizNews, the DA's newest mayor explains what happened in NMB, what lies ahead - and what he will be doing to ensure the fragile coalition doesn't collapse like the previous DA-led one did in 2018. Odendaal's group carry a huge responsibility - what happens in NMB will be closely monitored as a test case on whether coalition government is a workable option after the 2024 National Election.

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With the average age of first-time home buyers rising in many countries, co-living has become increasingly popular. For most people it may sound like student digs, but communal living blocks are designed for millennials and young professionals. Occupants or ‘guests’ have a micro flat or apartment and access to luxury communal spaces that could include swimming-pools, gardens and in some, even a chicken coop. The units are also built to be ‘green’, for less of an impact on the environment. Global real estate investment platform, Wealth Migrate has teamed up with Australian co-living developer BNTO, formerly known as Six C, to offer co-living investments as a new asset class. Scott Picken from Wealth Migrate told BizNews that co-living has been one of the most resilient asset classes during the pandemic. Added to this, said Riaan van der Vyver, occupancy rates and yield per square metre is high for co-living investments. Jason Eggleton from BNTO told BizNews Australia is an ideal destination for co-living investments, as Brisbane and Sydney are experiencing a shortfall - and says it’s going to take decades for this to change. – Linda van Tilburg

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After his controversial speech at BNC#4, Rob Hersov answers questions from BizNews founder Alec Hogg and members of the BizNews community. 

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Since Covid-19 became part of our everyday lives, the polarisation of scientists, doctors, families and countless formerly united fraternities has become a staple of ‘the new normal’. Frontline doctors who have served their communities and delivered appropriate medical treatment, always following the all-important principle “first, do no harm” have been sidelined as rogue, even dangerous loose cannons – simply for doing their jobs. Dr Jackie Stone, a veteran primary care physician in Zimbabwe with a profound success rate treating Covid-19, has been put through the wringer for simply doing her job excellently. BizNews spoke to Dr Stone about her stellar track record relating to the early, solution-based treatment of Covid-19 and the consequences she has had to face as a result of diverting from the globally recommended treatment protocol. Dr Stone’s story is nothing short of inspiring, but also shocking.

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In this riveting talk at the fourth BizNews conference, mayor of uMngeni Chris Pappas, speaks about the process of being elected, the incredible things going on in the municipality as well as what they've managed to accomplish in the short time he’s been in office.

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President Cyril Ramaphosa flew back early after Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in London to deal with the Eskom crisis, but judging from his weekly letter to the nation, he is not announcing anything new to solve the crisis destroying our economy. He reiterates how necessary it is to solve Eskom’s problems to realise the potential of his ambitious investment drive, saying, “We will remain seized with this issue until it is resolved.” This is not what businesses and citizens whose gatvol meters are running into the red want to hear: they want action, immediately. Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen’s solution to Eskom’s myriad problems that has plunged the country into Stage 6 loadshedding is immediate expert outside help. In a YouTube address, Steenhuisen called on the president to “immediately dissolve the National Energy Crisis Committee, and appoint in its place an outside industry expert to oversee the implementation of the Energy Response Plan.” This expert, he said, should be apolitical and an expert in the energy field. Ministers Gwede Mantashe and Pravin Gordhan should be kept as far away from the Energy Response Plan as possible, he said. – Linda van Tilburg

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Two year old ActionSA continues to gather momentum, helped by a laser-like focus on a mission to eject the ANC from ruling South Africa in 2024 - and for it to have no role whatsoever in deciding the country's future path. During this in-depth interview with Alec Hogg of BizNews, ActionSA's leader, former business Herman Mashaba, shares his party's belief that the country's salvation lies in convincing dystopian citizens to regain hope and to participate in the democratic process. To this end it has 180 full-time volunteers pounding the pavements and signing up previously unregistered voters. In this must-listen interview with the man who is among the leader contenders to become SA's president after 2024 national election, Mashaba addresses the Eskom disaster, Knysna, DA "propaganda", being shocked by Carte Blanche's expose' of Agricultural Schools, and more.

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Fourteen years almost to the day after Paul O'Sullivan orchestrated the arrest of South Africa's then corrupt head of police Jackie Selebi, he has repeated this unlikely achievement. This morning, the SAPS's former Commissioner Kgomotso Phahlane was arrested at his luxury home on charges of siphoning R54m of public money to a "business" associate, one Inbanathan Kistiah, who was arrested last night. In this interview the ace forensic investigator tells Alec Hogg of BizNews that he has been on Phahlane's trail for almost seven years, but has paid a high personal price for exposing the crooked cop.

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In this fascinating talk from money manager Piet Viljoen at BNC#4, he suggests methods and principles to think about while managing your money, whether you’re an individual investor or allocating assets to a fund. This talk leads up to his debate with Cy Jacobs of 36ONE.

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When Covid-19 came onto the scene, Dr Peter Breggin, known as the “Conscience of Psychiatry” for fifty years, turned his attention to the pandemic and the misuse of science around it. After an illustrious career challenging the field of psychiatry itself, Dr Breggin and his wife Ginger Breggin, another lifelong reformer, co-authored Covid-19 and the Global Predators: We Are the Prey, a book which Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,  the author of The Real Anthony Fauci, endorsed as “the single most comprehensive analysis of the coalition of global predators behind Covid-19”. To discuss the Breggins’ bestseller, BizNews spoke to Dr Breggin, who concisely unpacked each of the four parts in the book. Breggins' grasp of the corruption and systematic strategising of ‘the global predators’ leading up to Covid-19 is truly distressing.

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