Classic Business

As the lockdown in South Africa from the second wave is eased again and businesses start to re-open fully, ensuring the health and safety of employees and members of the public will be of paramount importance. But firms are grappling with big questions about what this return is going to look like, will we continue working from home, do you need an HQ at all, what about stifling innovation?

And in all of this the vaccination strategy is paramount. Under the current rollout strategy, in which 6,000 people a day are currently receiving their vaccines, it would take 20 years to vaccinate the whole country.

Many questions remain unanswered?

Michael Avery spoke to Nerine Khan, former Commissioner and director in the CCMA and founder of Employment Relations Exchange, her colleague, Joy Beckett, and Stavros Nicolaou, chair of the Business for South Africa health working group.

Joy Beckett, Employment Relations Exchange

John Geel, Managing Director, FTI

Tanya van Lill, SAVCA CEO

Val Nichas, CEO of Spur Corporation

Peet Serfontein

Market Analyst & Strategist Unum Capital

Dr Albertus Marais AJM Tax boutique AJM Director.

Wesbank’s Lebogang Gaoaketse

Rob Towell, portfolio managers at Sasfin Securities

Makwe Masilela, CIO of Makwe Fund Managers

&

Nick Kunze, portfolio manager at Sanlam Private Wealth

On Friday the Western Cape Judge President, John Hlophe, who is under two investigations before the JSC, took time out from his administrative roles to sit on an important corruption case, a move which in itself raised eyebrows. Judge Hlophe ruled that the prosecution in the case of former state security minister Bongani Bongo did not have a case against him, in the allegation that he had attempted to bribe a senior official to stop Parliament’s Eskom Inquiry.

Bongo was charged with corruption for allegedly telling advocate Ntuthuzelo Vanara, the evidence leader in a parliamentary investigation into Eskom, to “name a price” to sabotage that probe in October 2017.

Judge Hlophe granted a section 174 discharge in his corruption case - given by a court when a judge feels state has failed to present evidence requiring answer from an accused person.

The implications are that Hlophe did not believe Adv Ntuthuzelo Vanara’s evidence.

In short a judge accused of abusing his position in an attempt to influence the outcome of a legal case in order to advance the political and legal interests of former president Zuma assigned himself to be the presiding officer over a case involving a politician who is accused of having attempted to corrupt a parliamentary inquiry in order to advance the legal and political interests of Zuma.

Michael Avery spoke to former Constitutional Court Justice and Chair, Freedom Under Law Johann Kriegler, about his calls for calls for the suspension of Judge Hlophe following his dismissal of Bongani Bongo's corruption case.