In this no-holds-barred interview with Bain & Co whistle-blower, Athol WIlliams, he explains how the global consultancy firm assisted a local cast of characters, including Jacob Zuma and Tom Moyane, in eviscerating SARS. Williams fled South Africa in November 2021 fearing for his life after blowing the whistle on his former employer, Bain & Co, in 2019.

This in-depth interview with PANDA founder and chairman Nick Hudson provides a comprehensive update on the Covid-19 story moving from Boris Johnson's actions supporting the view that Omicron signals the pandemic’s end through to Robert Kennedy's highly critical bestseller on "The Real" Anthony Fauci. He also discusses the astonishing DARPA correspondence now in the public domain by Project Veritas which could well be the smoking gun on how the virus originated. Powerful stuff. Not recommended for closed minds - or those content to swallow the official narrative.

PMB's organised business CEO Melanie Veness explains why her chamber, in partnership with its NMB counterpart, has drawn a very distinct line in the sand on electricity prices. The chambers are tackling the National Energy Regulator in court in an attempt to force it to rein in profilate municipalities. By getting the courts to forcing the regulator to apply the law in determining electricity oprice increases, muncipalities will no longer be able to milk ratepayers with excessive price increases to cover corruption and inefficiencies.

It may still be early in the year, but the temperature is already rising in the build-up towards the ANC’s elective conference that is taking place in December 2022. It appears that Tourism Minister, Lindiwe Sisulu has thrown her hat in the ring with her public attack on the judiciary and theconstitution. The Eurasia Group’s African Director, Shri Pillay told Linda van Tilburg that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s position as president of the ruling party is relatively safe. But Pillay says the run-up to the conference could be marred by violence and he predicts challenges by younger ANC members for positions in the party. He also discusses Ramaphosa’s reacton to the Zondo commission and whether this elective conference could be a swansong for the ruling party.

In this episode of the BizNews Power Hour, PMB's organised business CEO Melanie Veness explains why her chamber, in partnership with its NMB counterpart, has drawn a very distinct line in the sand on electricity prices. The chambers are tackling the National Energy Regulator in court in an attempt to force it to rein in profilate municipalities. BizNews investigations editor Martin Welz explains one of the most bizarre challenges to ever hit SA's legal system - and one that's headed for the highest court in the land. Plus independent analyst Marius Strydom takes us behind the scenes to explain why so many companies are cancelling the listing of their shares on the Johannesburgh Stock Exchange.

Analyst and whistleblower Dave Woollam has once again questioned the need for Tongaat’s highly dilutive capital raise. The main issue surrounds the underwriter, Magister, whose investments and past business dealings are largely unknown. Magister – which is tied to Zimbabweans, the Rudland family – will underwrite R2bn of the R4bn rights issue, meaning that in all likelihood they will take control of the business post rights issue. Existing shareholders will be expected to cough up to six or seven times the existing value of their shares to keep their pro rata shareholding in the company. If not, they face being diluted by more than 90%. A sad state of affairs for long-suffering shareholders. 

UK-based fund manager Sean Peche shares his views on two very topical investment themes; the growth to value rotation and China as an investment destination. The growth to value rotation seems to be in full swing, with a 7% differential between the MSCI Value Index compared to the MSCI Growth Index in the first two trading weeks of 2022. Peche puts this down to interest rate hike and inflation concerns, as investors are searching for ways to make a real return (gross return less inflation) on their money. Peche outlines the risks of China as an investment destination, with Tencent’s recent corporate actions dominating the conversation. Tencent’s value should be of concern to many South African savers, with Naspers and Prosus deriving its value from the Chinese tech titan. 

This episode of the BizNews Power Hour features an in-depth interview with ANC insider turned outsider Themba Maseko, one of the key whistleblowers at the Zondo Commission. Maseko was frozen out because he refused to agree to President Zuma's directive to turn over government's R600m advertising spend to the Guptas. His struggles continue, with Maseko needing to use his firearm to drive off two intruders over the weekend. Also in this episode, Tongaat whistleblower David Woollam shares what went down at the company's EGM today after which shareholders who have already lost 95% of their investment will be required to pony up six times their current stake or be further diluted.

When former GCIS chief executive Themba Maseko, as the holder of the purse strings of government's significant advertising budget, refused to bow to the demands of the Gupta brothers, he was tossed into the political wilderness. Former President Zuma had Maseko fired after his refusal to abide by his instruction to assist the Guptas access R600m in ad spend. Maseko is the only ANC member to ever provide the party with an affidavit detailing the Gupta's attempts to capture the state's entire advertising budget for its new media venture, The New Age newspaper.

Mergence Corporate Solutions mining director Peter Major shared his insight on the broad commodity rally over the festive period. Major – who is neither bullish nor bearish on commodities in 2022 – says that despite elevated prices across the board, mining companies are trading at relatively cheap historic multiples, making him neutral on resources going into 2022. Major comments on Impala’s proposed takeover of Royal Bafokeng Platinum, with the mid-tier mining subject to a bidding war between of the JSE’s precious metals juggernauts: Impala and Northam Platinum. 

In tonight's episode of the BizNews Power Hour, we follow up on last week's explosive disclosures of the ANC's Deployment Committee's involvement in the appointment of SA's judges. The DA's Dr Leon Schreiber explains why he has been "like a dog with a bone" on the issue; and in the first of weekly discussions on the practical effects of SA's Constitution, advocate Erin Richards warns that politicising the Judiciary is a dangerous exercise with potentially debilitating unintended consequences. Also in this episode, SA's top performing fund manager Piet Viljoen shares ideas on the stocks to own in 2022 and the FT unpacks the State Capture role of global services firm Bain & Co.

The DA wants President Cyril Ramaphosa charged with perjury for allegedly lying under oath while testifying at the State Capture Inquiry. Dr Leon Schreiber, DA Shadow Minister of Public Service and Administration, says Ramaphosa was less than candid about the level of influence and involvement of the ANC's Cadre Deployment Committee in the appointment of the country's judges. Schreiber claims the minutes of the shadowy committee's meetings, that took him two years to get his hands on, prove Ramaphosa has a case to answer to.

Single-use plastic has become the key environmental issue of our time. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation has predicted that there could be more plastic in the sea than fish by 2050. That figure may be disputed because fish are hard to count, but it is undeniably a massive problem. A company that is doing something about it is Scarabtech, a technology company that was started in the United States and its technology is now being developed in South Africa. They were one of the regional winners of the African start-up awards. The CEO and Founder of Scarabtech, Jeffrey Barbee’s vision is an army of their mobile units, called beetles that turns plastic into carbon-neutral energy. Barbee who is also an investigate journalist has recently highlighted a Canadian oil company efforts to explore oil in the Okavango Delta. He told BizNews that Southern Africa has become ‘ground zero’ for oil companies. – Linda van Tilburg

As is customary for a Monday, Sasfin Securities David Shapiro brings us up to speed with the financial markets. Bloomberg published data showing foreigners are net sellers of South African equity so far in 2022, despite the JSE All Share Index climbing 3% in the first two trading weeks of the new year. Foreigners selling South African assets has been a common theme for several years but given their importance to the price action, the data and JSE’s performance over the two-week period is contradictory, which Shapiro explains. Naspers’ strong start to the year is questioned given the muted price action in its crown jewel Tencent. Shapiro outlines there might be other factors at play between the price dynamics of Prosus, Naspers and Tencent. Lastly, the economic data coming out of China – showing GDP growth of 8.1% in 2021 – is discussed at length.  

What has a dead porcupine and baboon got to do with an Eastern Cape farmer's right to privacy and an animal rights activists' right to freedom of speech? BizNews Investigations Editor Martin Welz breaks down a recent Supreme Court of Appeal ruling that has potentially profound implications for engagement on social media. Also, the SCA hammers home the point that animals as "sentient beings" have rights.

Ek gesels met Jean Pierre Verster van Protea Capital Management oor wat Verskansings fondse is, sy benadering tot besluitneming, en die huidige mark.

Marius Strydom outlines the two key driving factors behind the mass exodus of businesses leaving the local bourse. Although the delisting trend is not completely unique to South Africa, the pace of delistings are. Marius puts this down to a decreasing number of foreign shareholders in local businesses, indicative of the negative sentiment towards JSE-listed business. The second is a slide in analyst coverage, which has decreased significantly, especially in the small to mid cap space. Lack of coverage leads to thin volumes and lack of interest, which takes away many of the primary benefits of being listed. Lastly, Marius focused on solutions in order to change the direction of the trend.

Piet Viljoen’s Counterpoint value fund has been the best performing local fund over the last five years, managing to achieve a compound annual return of a shade under 15%. This is a phenomenal achievement, especially against a backdrop that hasn’t always been conducive to his investment style, which is value focused. The interview concentrates on two topics; the delisting trend that faces the local bourse and legacy-stricken Steinhoff. Piet, who has listed businesses himself, says the burdensome regulatory and accounting requirements outweigh the benefits of being listed on an exchange. He adds that investors may be getting a bit excited regarding Steinhoff’s R25bn valuation, as despite the more transparent road to recovery, it still faces a number of challenging headwinds.

This episode of the BizNews Power Hour features a powerful interview with the DA's federal chair Helen Zille who looks back on the aftermath of November's Local Elections; discusses the dynamite expose of ANC cadre deployment into the judiciary; looks ahead to a probable change in SA's national government in 2024 - and shares how her party has managed to attract so much young talent. Also in this programme, our partners at the Financial Times of London explain why both allies and enemies are now calling for UK PM Boris Johnson’s head and explains why activists are targeting global public relations firms. Plus Accountability Now's founder Adv Paul Hoffmann considers consequences for the corrupt after recommendations made in the Zondo Commission's first volume.

The federal chairperson of the Democratic Alliance has never been a shrinking violet. But in this powerful interview, Helen Zille surpasses her own direct approach by launching a bare knuckled attack on South Africa's ruling political party whose "cadre deployment" strategy exposes it as the true architect of State Capture. Zille believes recent expose's contained in the Zondo Commission’s report and recommendations show ANC-instigated crimes against the country are worse than even she imagined - but looks ahead with some optimism to a change in SA's government after the 2024 National Elections. A must-listen.

Tongaat analyst and whistle-blower David Woollam shares the grave details about the rise and fall of one of KZN’s most treasured businesses, Tongaat Hulett. Tongaat was the subject of accounting irregularities when its former management was responsible for cooking the books. Now the company is coming after those executives to the value of R450m, a fraction of the R10bn+ in shareholder value that has been destroyed. Operational issues coupled with a large debt burden has led the company to announce a highly dilutive rights issue, which will increase the shares in issue by 33-fold. Shareholders who own R1,000 in Tongaat will have to cough up between R6,000 and R7,000 to maintain their pro-rata shareholding. Worse, the pricing of the rights issue is yet to be determined and Tongaat shareholders are going into the new year blindfolded.

In this episode of the BizNews Power Hour, "Doctor of Uncertainty" Dr Richard Smith offers his insights into volatile US tech stocks; we meet the surprise of November's Local elections, 30 year old uMngeni mayor Chris Pappas; Tongaat whistleblower Dave Woollam explains why he's horrified at recent developments at the company - including the shadowy attempt by a Zimbabwean tobacco family to acquire the business on the cheap; and we find out about one of Michael Appel's favourite Zondo witnesses - the brazen huckster who ran the SA operations of multinational Swissport.

US-based investor Dr Richard Smith unpacks the implications of a persistently higher inflationary environment and rising interest rates on the financial markets, with a particular focus on US equities. A Goldilocks era for equity markets seems to be coming to an end. The Fed is taking a more hawkish stance as the economic indicators have been flashing red. Inflation, the primary threat to equity markets, has been a major headwind for emerging tech, the high-growth businesses that were the standout winners at the start of the pandemic. Dr Smith emphasises the importance of understanding the behavioural dynamics of investing, especially during market downturns. He says that given human nature hasn’t changed in the last 20 years and valuations are at their highest levels in history, a market crash such as the dot-com bubble can be repeated.

BizNews regular contributor and passive management pioneer, Steven Nathan, reflects on a restful festive period and looks ahead to what lies ahead for the financial markets in 2022. South Africa has grossly underperformed the returns experienced by global markets over the past decade. This underperformance has been driven primarily by an incompetent ruling party, with fraud, corruption and aimless economic policy have been constant headwinds for the private sector. Steven believes a more supportive economic policy could lead to growing key economic indicators such as GDP by more than 5% per annum for the next decade. To wrap up the conversation, Steven discusses Bob van Dijk’s R150m plus investment into Prosus, which will be seen as a sign of confidence by shareholders. - Justin Rowe-Roberts

One of the biggest shocks of South Africa's Local Elections in November was the victory by the Democratic Alliance in the 67% Zulu-speaking, previously ANC-supporting uMngeni municipality. The surprise victory, the DA's first in KZN, owes much to the efforts of multilingual Chris Pappas, who although only 30 is already something of a veteran at the DA. Pappas, born in Mooi River and the son of KZN Midlands farmers, describes himself as pragmatic but also "a hopeless idealist". He may well reflect a political future few South Africans believe possible. Here's his unlikely story