BizNews Radio

Dreams came true at the Tokyo Olympic Games last week for two of our own. Tatjana Schoenmaker won the gold medal and set the world record in the 200-metre breaststroke and also won the silver medal in the 100-metre breaststroke, while Bianca Buitendag won the silver medal in the women's shortboard competition. These extraordinary achievements fueled uproar from South Africans upon the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee’s announcement on Monday - Women’s Day - that these incredible athletes would not be paid bonuses for their medal wins. In response to this announcement by SASCOC, Mike Sharman - the founder of MatchKit - took to Twitter saying that in “2016 Wayde van Niekerk earned R500,000 for winning gold and an extra R150,000 for breaking a World Record and Chad Le Clos earned R200,000 for a silver. By this standard, Tatjana Schoenmaker should be rewarded with at least R850,000 and Bianca Buitendag R200,000.” A rational response and one which led to a vigorous crowdfunding campaign which raised R100,000 in the first hour - a testament to the South African spirit. BizNews spoke to Mike Sharman, whose passion was nothing short of infectious.

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News headlines:

*President Cyril Ramaphosa’s testimony at the state capture commission has exposed deep tranches of the ANC’s ‘shadow state’ – a set of parallel party practices that are often obscured from public view.

*It could cost R2 billion and take 2 years to repair the damage done to the Medupi unit that exploded at the weekend, CEO Andre de Ruyter says.

*The rules allowing licence exemptions for the generation and operation of 100 MW of power have been gazetted by Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe.

News headlines:

*President Cyril Ramaphosa’s testimony at the state capture commission has exposed deep tranches of the ANC’s ‘shadow state’ – a set of parallel party practices that are often obscured from public view.

*It could cost R2 billion and take 2 years to repair the damage done to the Medupi unit that exploded at the weekend, CEO Andre de Ruyter says.

*The rules allowing licence exemptions for the generation and operation of 100 MW of power have been gazetted by Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe.

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Joining the BizNews Power Hour is Phil Craig of the Cape Independence Advocacy Group. While various people on both sides of the Cape Independence debate have plenty of opinions on the matter, Craig has done a poll in order do obtain hard facts. Many people in the Cape were interested in at least having a referendum, but Craig told BizNews founder Alec Hogg that research conducted has found that 58% of people in the Western Cape want a referendum on Cape independence."

Joining the BizNews Power Hour is Phil Craig of the Cape Independence Advocacy Group. While various people on both sides of the Cape Independence debate have plenty of opinions on the matter, Craig has done a poll in order do obtain hard facts. Many people in the Cape were interested in at least having a referendum, but Craig told BizNews founder Alec Hogg that research conducted has found that 58% of people in the Western Cape want a referendum on Cape independence."

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Denker Capital’s banking oracle Kokkie Kooyman is the go to man when it comes to the financial services industry, on a day that South Africa’s fifth largest bank by market capitalisation Nedbank released its interim results. Nedbank, along with all the major banks, have enjoyed a great run over the last twelve months or so as one of the industries most affected by the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Business and consumer confidence has recovered somewhat, but Kooyman believes this is key to enable the banks to continue the momentum of the past year despite the lenders being ‘cheap’ on a fundamental basis. BizNews founder Alec Hogg and Kokkie also touch on Quilter’s interim results (ex-Old Mutual Asset Management) and the new talking point within the South African financial services space, Michael Jordaan’s baby - Bank Zero.

Denker Capital’s banking oracle Kokkie Kooyman is the go to man when it comes to the financial services industry, on a day that South Africa’s fifth largest bank by market capitalisation Nedbank released its interim results. Nedbank, along with all the major banks, have enjoyed a great run over the last twelve months or so as one of the industries most affected by the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Business and consumer confidence has recovered somewhat, but Kooyman believes this is key to enable the banks to continue the momentum of the past year despite the lenders being ‘cheap’ on a fundamental basis. BizNews founder Alec Hogg and Kokkie also touch on Quilter’s interim results (ex-Old Mutual Asset Management) and the new talking point within the South African financial services space, Michael Jordaan’s baby - Bank Zero.

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The Southern African Faith Communities' Environment Institute (SAFCEI) sent an open letter to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation earlier this week because the industrial scale approach to food production, which is championed and funded by Gates throughout Africa, is having seriously destructive and unintended consequences. "We write out of grave concern that the Gates Foundation’s support for the expansion of intensive industrial scale agriculture is deepening the humanitarian crisis," the letter reads. Francesca de Gasparis of SAFCEI joins the BizNews Power Hour to shed some light on the NGO's concerns. "Our message is, can you just pause for a minute and have a conversation with us? Can you actually listen to us who are witnessing what's happening on this continent and happening to farmers so that you can actually take stock of the system that's working?"

The Southern African Faith Communities' Environment Institute (SAFCEI) sent an open letter to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation earlier this week because the industrial scale approach to food production, which is championed and funded by Gates throughout Africa, is having seriously destructive and unintended consequences. "We write out of grave concern that the Gates Foundation’s support for the expansion of intensive industrial scale agriculture is deepening the humanitarian crisis," the letter reads. Francesca de Gasparis of SAFCEI joins the BizNews Power Hour to shed some light on the NGO's concerns. "Our message is, can you just pause for a minute and have a conversation with us? Can you actually listen to us who are witnessing what's happening on this continent and happening to farmers so that you can actually take stock of the system that's working?"

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Dr Leon Schreiber is the DA Shadow Minister of Public Service and Administration. He joined the BizNews Power Hour to discuss cadre deployment - a hot topic that's on the lips of many, including the Zondo Commission. President Cyril Ramaphosa has been testifying at the commission, with Schreiber telling BizNews that "what happened today, essentially, is that the Zondo Commission acceded to a request that the DA had submitted at the beginning of the year, where we asked the commission to obtain minutes and records of decisions taken by the cadre deployment committee. Our reasoning was that if you really want to test the influence of this committee on the appointment of various individuals, then you really have to look and see what was discussed. That way, you can cross reference it to what President Ramaphosa - who was the former chairperson of this committee - says during testimony."