BizNews Radio

Herman Mashaba, entrepreneur and leader of ActionSA, joins BizNews founder Alec Hogg to discuss the emergence of the new political party. Mashaba is confident ActionSA will contest nationally in the 2024 elections saying, “We are now going to participate in all by-elections, not only in the six municipalities. We have got to start building our capacity towards 2024. We’ve got strong structures. We’ve got a very strong ethical voter base.” Leading up to the 19 November press conference, Mashaba assures South Africans ActionSA is not a pushover and that it intends only to operate in the best interest of the country. “We’re going to put South Africa first and our political party second.”

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Banking analyst Kokkie Kooyman looks forward to the South African Reserve Bank’s (SARB) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decision on interest rates. Central bankers globally have lowered interest rates to unprecedented low levels in response to the devastating effects of the pandemic on the economy. The low interest rate environment has been a tailwind for business and consumer confidence but, coupled with supply constraints and quantitative easing in many parts of the world, has led to inflationary pressures. This is causing a reaction in many central banks, including the South African Reserve Bank, which – according to Bloomberg – is expected to hike rates 25 basis points. This means the repo rate will increase from 3.5% to 3.75%. Kooyman analyses the net-positive effect this will have for many of the local banks. He says the banks’ shares look attractive at these levels, given the higher interest rate environment forecasted over the next three to five years. 

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An in-depth interview with Herman Mashaba features in this episode of the BizNews Power Hour, as the ActionSA founder explains his approach to a crucial meeting of potential coalition partners to rule the Gauteng metros, and looks ahead to SA's 2024 General Election. Also, Denker Capital's Kokkie Kooyman explains the consequences of the SA Reserve Bank's decision to increase the repo rate by 25 basis points to 3.75%.

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News headlines:

*Eskom CEO André de Ruyter says that Eskom is investigating suspicious circumstances surrounding the breakdowns of several power stations.

*Covid-19 tender issues continue unabated, as response from authorities remains scarce, and implicated companies remain in business with the government.

*Today marks the 14th day after the local election results were declared and serves as the deadline for municipalities to elect or set up dates to elect new leadership.

Opportune Investments founder Chris Logan has a closer look at Tongaat’s massive R4bn proposed rights issue. The embroiled agri-processing business has a market value of around R1bn, which means it will raise equity capital of up to four times its value. Logan discusses the reasons why Tongaat finds itself in this precarious position, after years of mismanagement and fraud from senior executives. The capital raise, given the size, is likely to be extremely dilutive and at a significant discount to its shares, currently. In early morning trade following the announcement, Tongaat was down close to 50% before paring losses to close 24% lower. The pricing of the rights issue will be of particular interest to Tongaat shareholders, who will be expected to pay up in order to their pro rata share holding in the company. Logan says the rights issue was largely unavoidable, given the operational mishaps and Covid-19 that have caused a troublesome period for the once high-flying business.

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In this episode of the BizNews Power Hour, Discovery Health CEO Ryan Noach unpacks one of the world's biggest data sets which provides practical results on the efficacy of Covid vaccines and how much protection they offer. Also, Opportune Investments founder Chris Logan unpacks why Tongaat needs its shareholders to inject R4bn to keep the company afloat.

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News headlines:

*Coalition talks between political parties have broken down, with the deadline for forming councils in hung municipalities looming.

*Deputy finance minister David Masondo says that the government should steer away from a blanket ban on talk of getting the private sector involved with struggling state-run companies, adding that getting private groups involved would boost competition and efficiencies where the state has failed.

*Civil society group Afriforum has sent a legal letter of demand to Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, stating that the continued implementation of national curfews as part of the state of disaster is irrational and unjustified.

In one of the biggest Covid-19 research surveys in the world, Discovery Health has released data with the focus of understanding what more can be done to enhance and protect the lives of its customers during the Covid-19 pandemic. Dr Ryan Noach, CEO of Discovery Health, sits down with BizNews founder, Alec Hogg to discuss the findings of the study. Noach says these insights have the potential to inform and transform its understanding and decision-making in navigating the current landscape. He adds that he believes if South Africa reaches its 70% vaccination deadline, “We could save 25,000 people from dying from the virus.”

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Hedge fund guru Jean Pierre Verster has an in-depth look at food retail giant, Shoprite, after South Africa’s largest grocer announced a bumper quarterly update and interesting annual general meeting results. The food retailer, which has brands such as Checkers and uSave under its umbrella, increased sales by close to 10%, without adjusting for the impact of the July riots. All of South Africa’s other large food retailers – Woolies, Spar and Pick n Pay – announced rather sluggish updates, suggesting Shoprite is taking market share from competitors. South Africa business tycoon Dr Christo Wiese, a major shareholder and director of the board of Shoprite, retained his seat on the board by a mere 0.1%. Verster explains that shareholders have become fed up at the related party transactions between Shoprite and Dr Wiese, which tends to benefit Wiese at the expense of minority shareholders. When asked which way Verster voted at Shoprite’s AGM on this specific resolution, he said his hedge fund no longer holds any Shoprite shares. 

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In this episode of the BPH, the first contributions from two new voices you'll be hearing from on Biznews in future - Jeremy Maggs and Martin Welz. Jeremy's famous show Maggs on Media is now part of the BizNews network and here we draw on his interview with media guru Gordon Muller. Welz, doyen of SA's investigative journalists, gets his teeth into the SARS court attack on Zondo Commission whistleblower Angelo Agrizzi. Also in this show, Francois Nortje of the Port of Gauteng explains why private company use of Transnet's rail network is a game changer; and top money manager Jean-Pierre Verster discusses SA's latest investment news including the shock vote of no confidence in Christo Wiese by 49% of Shoprite's shareholders.

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