Our Thought Leaders were Philip Saunders, SAA’s Chief Commercial Officer and Matthew Leighton, spokesperson at online shopping platform OneDayOnly.co.za.

Saunders spoke about the knock-on effect of the SAA employees strike on SAA customers. Leighton discussed how employee productivity on Black Friday could nose dive.

Dr Edward Snelling from the University of Pretoria’s Department of Anatomy and Physiology in the Faculty of Veterinary Science spoke to us about being part of a new study that changes scientists’ understanding of evolution of human intelligence. The study finds that today’s gorillas may be smarter than human ‘ancestors’ of three million years ago.

Cartoonist Jonathan Shapiro spoke to us about his new award and launching his annual book at Exclusive Books this coming week.

This year the book, titled Which Side is Up looks at : the year of the Zondo Inquiry picking through the debris of the Gupta and Bosasa empires; uncovering State Capture while Zuma-era spooks frantically cover up; Pravin Gordhan joining the dots as the Public Protector peddles the Rogue Unit fantasy; exposés of Ace Magashule’s Gangster State, Juju and Floyd’s credit card looting and Iqbal Survé’s ego.

Clive Hlabathi spoke to us about Toasted Barrels, a wine agency he co-founded with his partner Michael Khoza.

Toasted Barrels was born in June 2017 with the objective of making quality boutique wines more accessible and enjoyed by the broader market. The agency currently handles the sales and marketing of ten South African wine brands or estates that largely showcase the wine regions across various parts of the country.

Bheki Dubi, founder of Curiosity Backpackers spoke about being the recipient of the prestigious “I Do Tourism” award.

Introduced in 2018, this award recognises proudly South African organisations or individuals who, through sheer dedication and passion, have excelled in positioning the country as a tourism destination of choice, contributing to the vibrancy and growth of the sector.

Lucky Netshidzati, CEO and co-founder of Rudzambilu Holdings spoke about how he came up with the concept of smart gloves. The gloves translate sign language into speech via the use of sensors and an app.

Lucky was born to two deaf parents, he spent his life thinking of ways to better the lives of both the deaf community and loved ones so he invented a glove.

Dr. Frank Neumann senior researcher at the University of the Witwatersrand spoke to us about his upcoming public lecture titled: Climate, hay fever, murder and honey - What pollen can tell about the past, present and future’.

Alexander Shannon is the brains behind the Instagram profile Follow The Nap. He spoke to us about his job as a travel influencer, who is on a worldwide quest for a good quality sleep.

Dr Justin Howlett, a leading urologist at Groote Schuur Hospital and co-founder of Project Peacock spoke about the aim of Project Peacock. Peacock is a ground-breaking initiative that offers Low Dose Rate brachytherapy to men diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Nthabi Mofokeng , SmartStart Project Manager spoke about celebrating the early learning practitioners who are changing children’s futures. Four years ago, SmartStart was established with the vision of ensuring that every child in South Africa has the foundations in place to succeed at school and beyond.