The South Africa Investment Conference took place this past Friday and pledges were made. About R290 billions of those and we took it live on show as the President was closing it. President Ramaphosa said investment announcements worth nearly R290 billion had been made and this is on top of the R400 billion that governments of various countries had pledged in the past six months.

With all these investments or pledges, what do they mean for the small businesses in South Africa?

Lindiwe Zulu - Minister of Small Business Development

Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba says he was contacted by someone demanding R5 million for a video which was intercepted from his cellphone shortly after he was appointed finance minister. Gigaba’s spokesperson on this matter Vuyo Mkhize said Gigaba was a victim of a smear campaign to discredit him politically.
What does this mean for Minister Malusi Gigaba’s reputation and can this have an impact on him?

Thebe Ikalafeng Reputation and brand expert

The latest Ibrahim Index of African Governance is warning of serious consequences for the continent as leaders are failing to create jobs for young people. The report goes on to say that the Africa’s overall GDP has risen nearly 40% over the past decade but the continent’s average score for sustainable economic opportunity has increased just 1%. What does all of this mean?

Guest: Leandre Banon, Capacity Development Programme Officer at the West Africa Civil Society Institute, Ghana.

President Cyril Ramaphosa is edging closer to his investment goal of $100bn over the next five years. At the inaugural investment conference today various companies announced their investment into SA’s economy.

Bonang Mohale - CEO of Business Leadership South Africa

A story in the Eastern Cape that is that twenty-five of the Eastern Cape’s 39 municipal chief financial officers do not meet the minimum requirements for their posts, according to finance MEC Oscar Mabuyane. Mabuyane said according to the Municipal Regulations on Minimum Competency, these CFOs should be fired if they failed to attain the relevant qualifications within 18 months of their appointments.

Fikile Bili - Local government expert

Finance minister Tito Mboweni said South Africa must swiftly slash government borrowing if it is to avoid a debt trap that would force it to seek help from the International Monetary Fund. South Africa is mired in recession, and faces revenue shortfalls, ballooning debt, cash-strapped state firms and a rising public wage bill.
At what point would South Africa approach IMF?

Prof. Raymond Parsons - Economist from the North West University Business School

Eighteen babies are said to have died from malnutrition in five months in Ingquza Hill. This is part of the OR Tambo District, in the Eastern Cape. This reportedly happened between April and September. To find out what some of the reasons are behind this and also what the local government is doing about it.
Guest: Dr. Phumza Dyantyi – EC MEC for Social Development

It is said the The plastic bag levy has raised something close to R2-billion, yet somehow, South Africa still faces a plastic pollution crisis. It is also said that of the nearly R2-billion that has been raised through the plastic supermarket bag levy, only R919.6-million has been allocated to recycling efforts. And Since 2004, the recycling sector in South Africa has functioned in a sluggish manner, without the appropriate resources and workforce to tackle the issue.

Anton Hanekom - CEO of Plastic SA

Outa says it was not too late for the government to correct its wrong decision on e-tolls. Outa chairperson Wayne Duvenhage said: “It’s the most expensive, biggest failure of e-tolling systems in the world, where the average collection cost is below ten percent. The Gauteng one is over 90 percent and that’s due to the complete defiance by the public.”

guest: Ofentse Mokoena - Transport economist –North West University

StatsSA has released Tourism and Migration stats which indicate that there was a 2.9% increase in tourism. It further reveals that tourists from outside the SADC region showed an 8.4% increase which exceeds SADC tourists. What should we read into this?

Unathi Sonwabile Henana, Lecturer Department of Tourism Management at Tshwane University of Technology