Dr Geraldine Timothy is a public health medicines specialist at Discovery. In this interview with BizNews, she picks up on who should wear a mask, and that includes children, plus: how to use face masks so they actually work. Also in this interview, she picks up on dud Covid-19 tests and vaccination against Covid-19. - Jackie Cameron

Market commentator David Shapiro joins BizNews founder Alec Hogg for a discussion on what’s moving the markets in South Africa. In this excerpt from the Rational Radio webinar, the two stock market experts discuss Hulamin’s decline in market cap, the Nasdaq’s outperformance of the S&P 500 and gold. Also covered in this interview is Hogg’s recent purchase of Barrick shares and how tech is driving the markets. - Nadya Swart

In this episode, BizNews founder Alec Hogg interviews Guarang Tanna, the national health department expert behind the launch of mobile app Covid Alert SA, which is aimed at tracing people who have come into contact with individuals who have tested positive for Covid-19. BizNews partners at the Wall Street Journal investigate the challenges researchers have faced in recruiting participants for Covid-19 vaccine trials. And, a small business owner discusses the expenses and struggle of having to test and monitor employees for Covid-19. - Jackie Cameron

In today’s news headlines: - UIF commissioner suspended following probe; - American CEO of Massmart buys over R8m in shares; - Tesla’s traditional bond price reaches just over 104 cents; and - Eskom warns that power cuts will worsen.

In today's episode of Inside Covid-19, BizNews founder Alec Hogg has a fascinating conversation with a leading South African medical specialist on infectious diseases, Professor Lucille Blumberg of the National Institute of Communicable Diseases, on how South Africa is fighting the coronavirus pandemic and other deadly diseases. We also hear about Sweden's controversial lockdown strategy - where it has gone right and wrong - and BizNews partner Wall Street Journal provides in-depth reportage on Covid-19 patterns and trends across the continent. - Jackie Cameron

In today’s news headlines: - Old Mutual reports R5.6bn loss; - Tesla plans to sell as much as $5bn of shares; - State owned companies request monetary bailouts; and - Ecsponent board to launch forensic investigation.

In today’s news headlines: - Sun International plans to retrench 2,300 employees in SA; - Herman Mashaba launches new political party, Action South Africa; - RCL Foods suffers a R959m loss; and - ICA battles large insurers in court

The African Pangolin Working Group has seen to the return of poached pangolins to the wild. BizNews talks to Prof Raymond Jansen about the protected species.

In today’s news headlines: - Phumelela ex-CEO Rian Du Plessis warns creditors against MOD offer; - Ramaphosa considers cabinet reshuffle; and - Gold Fields attracts a broader group of investors thanks to Buffett’s move to gold.

Makhanda or Grahamstown is a city in the Eastern Cape that is in transition. First came the name change and pressure is mounting to go further and also change the name of its well-known University named after Cecil John Rhodes. Other challenges that the town face, are huge social inequalities and poor service delivery. But this is a town that doesn’t take its challenges lying down. They took their local council to court for service delivery failures and argued successfully that Makana was not living up to its constitutional obligation. This spirit of unity is reflected in an annual choir, the Masicule choir that has been established to coincide with the well-known Arts Festival in Makhanda. The choir and its music have recently been featured in a BBC documentary. Show Director Gareth Walwyn told Biznews that it brings together 550 people from different communities. – Linda van Tilburg

Rian du Plessis, a successful merchant banker and corporate executive before his successful ten year rein as CEO at now struggling Phumelela is furious about the destruction of shareholder value at the compang he left generating annual profit of R155m. In this stinging interview, this ultimate insider, who is also Phumelela's fourth biggest shareholder, discloses that he personally offered to pay up to R300m for one of numerous plum assets in company, but was ignored by the business rescue practitioner. Du Plessis says Phumelela's creditors, who vote on Tuesday, would be wrong to support an apparent lifesaving offer from wealthy horsebreeder and owner Mary Slack Oppenheimer. Her bid, which is supported would give creditors just over 70c in the rand, but shareholders very little. Du Plessis says the Mary Oppenheimer and Daughters' offer is vague and opaque and from what he can see of it, substantially undervalues the company. He reckons the offer from UK group BetFred is much the better one. - Alec Hogg 

Daniel Kibel, Chief Executive Officer of CM Trading - a global trading and investment broker - shares his views on the risks and rewards of trading in global markets. He sets out how South Africans can get started in global financial markets and provides some pointers for more experienced traders, in this sponsored podcast.

In today’s news headlines: - Distell sees headline profit fall by 64%; - JSE fines AYO Technologies R6.5m for misleading financial results; - Massmart suffers headline loss of more than R1bn; and - UK bookmaker Betfred offers up to R925m for Phumelela Gaming and Leisure

Insurance Claims Africa (ICA) gets set to fight the insurance industry in court next week for refusing to pay up for Covid-19 business interruption claims. ICA CEO Ryan Woolley and Professor Alex van den Heever tell BizNews why this could be the watershed case that shapes the industry.

In today’s news headlines: - Nedbank has reported a 70% profit hit; - Bidcorp, reported a 48% decline in full-year earnings; - Insurance Claims Africa gets set to fight insurers in court next week; and - SA will have a zero-alcohol driving limit by December

Gift of the Givers founder Dr Imtiaz Sooliman shares the details of the hardship experienced by South Africans in the Covid-19 crisis. He tells BizNews reporter Linda van Tilburg how even medical specialists are struggling financially, with most of the healthcare sector put on hold so that the country can cope with the pandemic.

A number of prominent civil society organisations have called on high-ranking government officials linked to personal protective equipment procurement irregularities to step aside while they are being investigated. In a joint statement, organisations which include the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, Corruption Watch, Section 27 and the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) have slammed what they called ruthless ‘covidpreneurs’, the companies who have received purchase orders from the Health Department and were under investigation. In contrast to the predatory nature of some of the new pop-up contractors; there are the angels who are pitching in to try to get much needed equipment to hospitals. One of them is the SA Medical and Education Foundation (SAME), which has been active in supplying some of the country’s biggest hospitals with medical supplies. Chief Executive Officer Trevor Pols told BizNews it has managed to raise R20 million in just three months. - Linda van Tilburg 

In today's news headlines: - Lewis Group reported a 30.8% drop in annual earnings; - Nedbank's CFO, Raisibe Morathi, has resigned to join Vodacom; - Imperial Logistics reported a 65% fall in full-year earnings; - Italtile saw double-digit growth in June and July; and - Dis-Chem saw revenue growth of 8.8% to R11.7bn

In today's news headlines: - Absa profits plummet; - President Cyril Ramaphosa has ‘strongly reprimanded’ his finance minister Tito Mboweni; - Edcon is finalising selling off parts of Edgars; - Old Mutual has warned of losses when it releases its results next month; and - De Beers has cut diamond prices.

Wine sector body Vinpro has estimated that the first ban on alcohol sales and the ban on the export of wine for more than a month led to the demise of 350 wine grape producers and 80 wineries in the country. It also estimates that job losses in the wine-related industry from that period could be 21,000. One of the smaller wineries that managed to weather this storm is Aslina Wines, owned by Ntsiki Biyela - who did not know what wine was when she secured a bursary from South African Airways for her studies in 1999. She told BizNews how exports kept her afloat in the Covid-19 storm - Linda van Tilburg.

In today's news headlines: * Cell C has blamed the changing retail environment for a decision to shed stores and jobs. * Tiger Brands says Covid-19 containment measures are largely to blame for its disappointing results. * Naspers is to invest R1.4bn in South African tech start-ups. * SA's wine industry is in global headlines because it has been shattered by the Covid-19 booze ban.

Antibodies are small proteins produced by your body when it is fighting off an infection. Dr Noluthando Nematswerani decodes these fighting cells for BizNews and lets us in on the current limitations associated with antibody testing.

In today's news headlines: * Standard bank expects a revenue decline in the second half of the year as its its first-half earnings dropped 44%. * Makro and Game owner Massmart says it expects headline losses for the first half of the year to be about 40% lower than last year. * Parliament on Thursday started interviewing candidates to find the next Auditor-General. * South African Airways has seen interest from private investors. * The Wall Street Journal reports that Airbnb has confidentially filed paperwork go public.

Former banker turned shareholder activist Dave Woollam explains why he decided to take a deep dive into troubled Tongaat Hulett. In this excerpt from the Rational Radio webinar, Woollam tells BizNews editor-in-chief Alec Hogg that Tongaat Hulett's financial results are a textbook case of the absurdity of the International Financial Reporting Standards. - Nadya Swart

A fierce critic of the SA government's approach towards the coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown, actuary Nick Hudson of Pandemic Data and Analytics (PANDA) forecasts that the Western Cape will reach herd immunity within a month. Hudson has conducted research into the country's rate of infection, studying the trends around the hotspots which include the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Gauteng. He joins BizNews founder Alec Hogg to contemplate how his research has panned out, as he predicted, and to examine how SA is past its peak of Covid-19 deaths - Bernice Maune