BizNews Radio

So often, we hear of the harmful effects of processed foods and sugar, but most of us do not listen. BizNews spoke to Dr Robert Lustig, a Professor of Paediatric Endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco, who has become a leading public health authority on the impact sugar has on fuelling the diabetes, obesity and metabolic syndrome epidemics, and on addressing changes in the food environment to reverse these chronic diseases. The two time New York Times bestselling author shared fascinating and, more importantly, crucial insight into the current obesity and chronic disease pandemic and the extent to which Big Food, Big Pharma and Big Government have led us to this pandemic.

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In this morning's Breakfast Briefing we hear how asset prices recovered from an early knock after Fed chairman Jay Powell warned that taming inflation through higher interest rates is his top priority. Also in this episode, highlights of Mike Appel's interview with the Wits academic who reckons the banks were wrong in the way they handled Gupta bank accounts; Alec Hogg chats to a couple of feisty restauranteurs who are 'gatvol with bureaucrats, Eskom and the government; plus the FT reports that on the Revlon bankruptcy and how Chinese stocks are set to close their best month since 2020.

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Ocean Basket CEO Grace Harding and award-winning independent restauranteur Forti Mazzone share the frustrations that bedevil SA's hospitality sector. Harding, a pistol of note, bemoans the poor response from the targets of her well read Open Letter to Landlords, while Mazzone tempers the cussing which marks his regular social media outbursts. Bottom line: SA's bureaucracy went AWOL during the Covid crisis - and is still missing in action. Workers unable to draw unemployment benefits, forced instead to rely on the generosity of already hard-pressed employers,

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You may have noticed poles around Gauteng with grey domes attached and cameras poking out. These belong to Vumacam, a company which approaches security in a different way, by providing cameras in key points around the city and allowing security companies to sign up to access the footage. In this interview, BizNews' Ross Sinclair speaks to the CEO of Vumacam, Ricky Crook, about how the business runs.

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Dr Lumkile Mondi from the Wits School of Economics and Finance says it remains "shocking and very disappointing" that three of the four CEOs of major banks bowed to political pressure and went to meetings at the ANC's Luthuli House. This after being summoned to explain their Gupta bank account closures in mid-2016. The so-called Big Four - Standard Bank, Nedbank, FNB and Absa - unbanked the Gupta family and their business entities citing reputational risk. Chief Justice Raymond Zondo's report dealing with the matter has made interesting recommendations about financial institutions' ability to drop a person or business as a client without due consideration. BizNews editor Michael Appel spoke to Mondi about Zondo's recommendation for a change in banking legislation to ensure "a requirement of fairness". Also, Mondi says our current Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has a lot to answer for regarding his conduct at the time.

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In this morning's episode of the BizNews Briefing, we hear about why US stock markets dropped sharply last night taking the S&P500 Index towards its worst first half of any year since 1970; Piet Viljoen explains why the Naspers rally will fizzle out; Mike Appel provides an explainer on the Gupta-initiated Estina Dairy scandal; and from the FT, Congressmen hear how Donald Trump tried to commandeer the presidential limo to join the January 6 protesters at the Capitol.

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Bronwyn Nielsen spoke to Arvana Singh, Head of Sustainable Finance Solutions at Nedbank CIB, about Nedbank's move towards the prioritisation of climate and sustainability. These are key on its agenda and recognising the need to move forward with sustainability through main stream finance is where the bank is setting its resources, focus and expertise.

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The man whose money management prowess has put him at the top of SA's three- and five- year performance tables, reckons JSE-listed shares will continue to outperform those on Wall Street for some time to come. In this interview with Alec Hogg of BizNews.com, he explains the reasons why in some detail. Viljoen also offers thoughts on the big Naspers deal ('could have done better') and today's new SA additions to the BizNews model portfolio ABSA ('likes') and Transaction Capital ('warming to it again').

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An IT guy with no dairy farming experience was the face of a Gupta company - Estina - that had less than R20 in its account when it got its first prepayment of R30m from Free State coffers. Estina - through its frontman Kamal Vasram - a guy who worked retail for the Guptas’ Sahara Computers, was paid R280m in eight payments between July 2012 and May 2016 to run a dairy farm in the eastern Free State town of Vrede. The project was a disaster and little more than a money laundering opportunity for the Guptas. Michael Appel breaks down the findings from Zondo's latest report.

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For Cemair founder Miles van der Molen, today’s reality was unthinkable when the independent airline launched 15 years ago. In addition to numerous other routes, the company now has five flights daily from Johannesburg to Cape Town - and is the country’s third largest airline, moving more passengers than (slimmed down) SAA. With the ending of subsidies that benefitted subsidies the SA aviation market’s two biggest players, van der Molen’s entrepreneurial approach positions his airline for strong growth. He explains why in this interview with Alec Hogg of BizNews.com. https://www.flycemair.co.za/

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