BizNews Radio

In this edition of the BizNews Power Hour one of South Africa's best-performing fund managers John Biccard shares his view on the macroeconomic environment and stock selection within the NinetyOne value fund; SA's prestigious Kirstenbosch Gardens has been forced to pull out of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show; Paul Hoffman says any new anti-corruption agency must be designated a Chapter 9 institution.

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News headlines:

*The Federated Hospitality Association of Southern Africa (Fedhasa) has urged the government to remove the compulsory PCR test required for inbound international and returning SA travellers who are fully vaccinated.

*Suspended ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule’s bid to have his ‘step-aside’ order retracted has failed, with the Supreme Court of Appeals dismissing his application.

*The Automobile Association has repeated its call for a full review of South Africa’s petrol price, following yet another significant hike for February.

Accountability Now's Adv Paul Hoffman says that any truly independent and protected anti-corruption body must be designated a Chapter 9 institution if it is to survive taking on politicians and the like in South Africa. Hoffman draws attention to an error he's picked up in the first of three reports released by the State Capture Inquiry and explains why its remedy is significant.

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South Africa's prestigious Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden has been forced to pull out of the world's premier horticultural event, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Ironically, the overall show in London, will this year be sponsored by SA entrepreneur Koos Bekker and his wife Karen Roos. SA gardening guru Keith Kirsten says it would only require around R1.5m for the Cape Town botanical treasure to once again bid for a gold medal, and host, as it regularly does, the British royal family.

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One of South Africa’s best-performing fund managers over the past 20 years, John Biccard shares his view on the macroeconomic environment and stock selection within the NinetyOne value fund, which has returned more than 17% per annum over the past two decades. Biccard’s investment philosophy is simple, he targets companies that are out of favour. As a value-oriented manager, he uses a bottom-up, fundamental approach to take advantage of opportunities. Biccard is concerned about general global valuations and has positioned the fund accordingly, taking positions in more defensive counters. Some of value fund’s largest counters, including AngloGold Ashanti, Tiger Brands, Brait and Spar are discussed at length as investment propositions. Biccard’s reputation as a fund manager is unparalleled given his immense outperformance since the beginning of the millennium and his decision-making and investment philosophy is truly unique, which makes for an interesting conversation.

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In 2012, South Africa was ranked 69 out of 176 countries in Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index. Karam Singh, Executive Director of Corruption Watch, says almost a decade later and the country has dropped one place in rank to 70 out of the now 180 countries. South Africa is emerging from the so-called state capture years under former President Jacob Zuma, to the "new dawn" of Cyril Ramaphosa. A dawn that has delivered change at a tectonically slow pace.

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A few years ago, BizNews challenged its readers to submit stories about their dream for South Africa. There was one resident from Mossel Bay who responded with his dream of fixing South Africa’s education system. He is Pieter Steenekamp who soon realised that you can’t fix tertiary education without doing something about primary and secondary education, so he shifted his focus to that, and opened a school called the Novel Academy for all ages in Mossel Bay. Steenekamp told Linda Van Tilburg that his school is based on the principles of an Indian education scientist, Sugar Mitra known for his TED talks who supports self-teaching and its does not rely on teachers.

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In this episode of the BizNews Power Hour, our partners at the FT speak to the head of the world's largest sovereign wealth fund about the longevity of the inflationary cycle; BizNews London correspondent Linda van Tilburg speaks to Springs local Warren Pala about a US company's R1bn bid to have biltong take on jerky; South African Informal Traders' Association is calling on government to halt "vigilante political parties" from stoking xenophobic tensions; Corruption Watch explains that very little has changed in South Africa's anti-corruption efforts since 2012.

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News headlines:

*ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba and distinguished education professor Jonathan Jansen had social media in a mess on Sunday with a fiery exchange about foreigners allegedly being employed by the education department.

*Jacob Zuma is in a final push to stay corruption charges against him by appealing an October 2021 ruling that dismissed his attempts at getting the lead prosecutor of his corruption case removed.

*A new report from president Cyril Ramaphosa’s advisory council has been leaked, showing strong support for a basic income grant in the country.

The South African Informal Traders Association (SAITA) says it's "alarmed and disappointed by the renewed harassment by political vigilantes" of foreigners operating in the informal sector. Political parties - like the EFF and PA - have taken it up themselves to conduct employment-ratio inspections at businesses and confiscate expired goods at stores. SAITA says the harassment by "political opportunists is both sad and concerning".

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