In hierdie potgooi gesêls ek met Etienne Roux van Truffle Batebestuur oor Bidcorp, die internationale JSE-genoteerde voedeldienste maatskappy.

Counterpoint’s Piet Viljoen talks all local and international topical investment-related matters, with the value fund manager giving insight into some of his most-loved investments. Furniture retailer the Lewis Group and investment holding company Sabvest are discussed; both in the news for all the right reasons. Lewis released a solid set of results, which sent its shares on a tear, as the retailer continues to gain market share among several other tailwinds. Sabvest, led by shrewd capital allocator Chris Seabrooke, announced it would buy back its own shares, a corporate action used to increase shareholder value. Clothing retailer Mr Price is also discussed at length, with all the clothing retailers emerging out of the pandemic stronger amid healthier than expected consumer demand. 

In this episode of the BizNews Power Hour we meet the polished new head of South African horseracing Fundi Sithebe, the new broom sweeping away the antagonism of bankrupt Phumelela's past; Piet Viljoen takes a look at the latest financial results and reflects on some "twigs" in his investment bundle; and Media specialist Jeremy Maggs discovers why Accenture bought into Advertising, and interviews the CEO of Grey, SA's Advertising agency of the year.

The hard-hitting Magnus Heystek pulled no punches on his return from Mauritius, where he says economic growth is booming led by a surge in infrastructure and development. South Africa’s economy paints a different picture, one that’s been at a standstill for the better part of a decade. As a result of amendments to Regulation 28 – which limits the extent to which retirement funds may invest in particular assets or asset classes – South African savers have been unduly punished. The amendments limit foreign investment exposure to 30% and have been a drag on relative global market performance, giving rise to the raging bull market since the recovery of the global financial crisis. Unfortunately, relative to most other economies, South Africa’s economy and the stock market have performed poorly. Heystek notes that the majority of retirement investment products in South Africa have been unable to beat the inflation rate, meaning a relative loss of purchasing power and an increasingly poor population. 

In this episode of the BizNews Power Hour, independent financial advisor Magnus Heystek lets rip on the destructive Regulation 28 agreement between SA asset managers and Treasury, which forces South Africans to invest 70% of their retirement funds into local institutions. The law has cost SA retirees dearly as the local economy staggered under mismanagement, corruption and a socialist yoke - with global investments vastly outperforming their local alternatives. Also in this programme, PMB Chamber of Business CEO Melanie Veness sets the record straight for the revisionists trying to gloss over what happened in the epicentre of July's riots - and urges politicians to speak up and punish the perpetrators. Plus Jeremy Maggs talks to Y&R's Matthew van der Valk about the art of Dark Marketing.

KZN's capital Pietermaritzburg was turned into a war zone during July's riots - with local businesses (and citizens) abandoned by SA's deliberately absent security forces. Melanie Veness, CEO of the PMB Business Chamber, spoke out powerfully at the time, condemning the behaviour of the local SAPS and confined-to-barracks Defence Force. She is refusing to allow revisionists to now gloss over the disaster, warning that without retribution, a repeat is probable. In this podcast, Veness urges the politicians to speak up and demand consequences for the perpetrators - without which, she says, it will be impossible for the city to overcome its trust deficit with business. Until that is addressed, KZN's capital will not be able to retain many local businesses, much less attract investment from new arrivals.

In an interview with BizNews founder Alec Hogg, Paul Hoffman of Accountability Now takes a lawyer's look at the clear attempt to throw the kitchen sink at Matthews after he started uncovering malfeasance. According to Hoffman, using Matthews’s dual-citizenship as the reason for his suspension is dubious, questioning the true motive of Leonard Ramatlakane, the politician drafted in as Prasa's chairman. NB: Prasa reports to the Transport Minister, not the SOE Minister as suggested in the interview.

The man credited with turning around the once JSE darling sits down to discuss the company's prospects following the release of upbeat financial results.

CEO of PPC Roland van Wijnen sheds light on the cement producer’s financial results, following a two-year turnaround that seems to be nearing completion. PPC has been one of the best-performing JSE-listed businesses in 2021; it avoided a capital raise and shaved hundreds of millions off its debt burden. PPC will be a natural beneficiary of the supposed multibillion government infrastructure drive but Van Wijnen is yet to see it being rolled out. He says there has been strong demand in its Zimbabwean operations despite the country facing a mountain of economic challenges. Van Wijnen has been critical of the government in the past for not supporting the cement industry, but says there has been more meaningful engagement in the last few weeks. PPC’s turnaround has caught the attention of institutional investors, with Public Investment Corporation’s recent purchase of a 5% stake in the business.

In this episode of the BizNews Power Hour, Helen Zille provides some sobering thoughts on the practical challenges that will be faced by many new DA mayors in councils like Joburg and Ekhuruleni where the party does not have a majority of the votes; on governing by DA's new Mayors; Advocate Paul Hoffman looks into the surprise suspension of Prasa CEO; PPC CEO- Roland Van Wijnen on it's financial results. Maudene van Rooyen, Errol Dorman and Mike Cubic, members of Dorman Projects joined Alec Hogg to unpack the PowerPulse alternative energy solutions on PowerPulse Ep7.

In this in-depth interview, DA Federal Council chair Helen Zille offers a sobering view after the surprise ascension last night of her party's candidates to the Mayoral parlours of SA's leading cities. She is under no illusion of challenges that lie ahead to rid local government of corrupt ANC cadres. Zille says negotiations will now be even more earnest as her party works at securing written commitment from potential coalition partners to ensure a stable governance structure can be secured. In this “morning after” discussion with Alec Hogg of BizNews, Zille unpacks the challenges that lie ahead after SA's Watershed Election where the long-time ruling ANC's share of the vote fell below 50% for the first time, ushering in a widescale shakeup of the country's governance.

In this episode of the BizNews Power Hour, TreasuryONE's Andre Cilliers assesses the impact on the Rand of last week's interest rate hike; SA's favourite stockbroker David Shapiro unpacks today's financial results from Naspers and Prosus; Wits University's world famous anthropologist Prof Lee Berger talks about another groundbreaking discovery at the Cradle of Humankind in Gauteng; ; - the man touted globally as having discovered this entirely new species of hominid in the Cradle of Humankind; and Jeremy Maggs chats to Arné Rust - Brand Director of Carling Black Label on the controversial 'GBV-proof' wedding dress.

Currency expert Andre Cilliers talks us through the reasons for the weakness in the Rand, despite the South African Reserve Bank increasing interest rates by 0.25% at last week's Monetary Policy Committee meeting.

South Africa’s favourite market commentator David Shapiro sheds light on Naspers and Prosus results, which have been eagerly anticipated by the market. Naspers and Prosus have been drags on the performance of the JSE, with its crown jewel Tencent under intense scrutiny following Chinese regulatory crackdowns. Tencent’s underlying performance within the stable, however, was promising and contributed 118% of Prosus’ operating profit. This means the rest of the e-commerce businesses within the group lost money, despite having a valuation of close to $50bn. Bob van Dijk and his management team have been bullish on industries such as Food Delivery, with many analysts concerned about the performance of its e-commerce portfolio. Shapiro says it will take many more years for the e-commerce unit to contribute materially to earnings, and that Tencent will continue to be the driver of performance for the two businesses for the foreseeable future.

Homeowners, as well as businesses’ appetites for alternative energy solutions are increasing, especially given the country’s challenges with load shedding. Founder of BizNews Alec Hogg joins Maudene van Rooyen, Errol Dorman and Mike Cubic, members of Dorman Projects, to unpack the PowerPulse alternative energy solutions. Some of the benefits of the PowerPulse offering include: seamless guidance throughout your projects, support with funding, legal and technical help, credible installation and reduced time spent on administrative and regulatory requirements.

The first partial skull of a child, Homo naledi, has been found in the Rising Star caves in South Africa by a team of international scientists from 14 institutions, including the University of the Witwatersrand. It follows the discovery of a previously unidentified hominin species named Homo naledi by the team in 2013, which shook up our understanding of the early human origins. Leading the team is Professor Lee Berger, the man touted globally as having discovered this entirely new species of hominid in the Cradle of Humankind, one of South Africa’s World Heritage Sites. Prof. Berger told BizNews how this ancient site is the gift that keeps on giving to paleoanthropologists and the benefits these discoveries have for South Africa.

In my second conversation with Dede Eyesan of Jenga Investment Partners, he shares his views on PBT group, a South African company operating in the technology industry. He also shares some advice on how retail investors can get involved in global markets and what to watch out for.

Herman Mashaba, entrepreneur and leader of ActionSA, joins BizNews founder Alec Hogg to discuss the emergence of the new political party. Mashaba is confident ActionSA will contest nationally in the 2024 elections saying, “We are now going to participate in all by-elections, not only in the six municipalities. We have got to start building our capacity towards 2024. We’ve got strong structures. We’ve got a very strong ethical voter base.” Leading up to the 19 November press conference, Mashaba assures South Africans ActionSA is not a pushover and that it intends only to operate in the best interest of the country. “We’re going to put South Africa first and our political party second.”

Banking analyst Kokkie Kooyman looks forward to the South African Reserve Bank’s (SARB) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decision on interest rates. Central bankers globally have lowered interest rates to unprecedented low levels in response to the devastating effects of the pandemic on the economy. The low interest rate environment has been a tailwind for business and consumer confidence but, coupled with supply constraints and quantitative easing in many parts of the world, has led to inflationary pressures. This is causing a reaction in many central banks, including the South African Reserve Bank, which – according to Bloomberg – is expected to hike rates 25 basis points. This means the repo rate will increase from 3.5% to 3.75%. Kooyman analyses the net-positive effect this will have for many of the local banks. He says the banks’ shares look attractive at these levels, given the higher interest rate environment forecasted over the next three to five years. 

An in-depth interview with Herman Mashaba features in this episode of the BizNews Power Hour, as the ActionSA founder explains his approach to a crucial meeting of potential coalition partners to rule the Gauteng metros, and looks ahead to SA's 2024 General Election. Also, Denker Capital's Kokkie Kooyman explains the consequences of the SA Reserve Bank's decision to increase the repo rate by 25 basis points to 3.75%.

Opportune Investments founder Chris Logan has a closer look at Tongaat’s massive R4bn proposed rights issue. The embroiled agri-processing business has a market value of around R1bn, which means it will raise equity capital of up to four times its value. Logan discusses the reasons why Tongaat finds itself in this precarious position, after years of mismanagement and fraud from senior executives. The capital raise, given the size, is likely to be extremely dilutive and at a significant discount to its shares, currently. In early morning trade following the announcement, Tongaat was down close to 50% before paring losses to close 24% lower. The pricing of the rights issue will be of particular interest to Tongaat shareholders, who will be expected to pay up in order to their pro rata share holding in the company. Logan says the rights issue was largely unavoidable, given the operational mishaps and Covid-19 that have caused a troublesome period for the once high-flying business.

In this episode of the BizNews Power Hour, Discovery Health CEO Ryan Noach unpacks one of the world's biggest data sets which provides practical results on the efficacy of Covid vaccines and how much protection they offer. Also, Opportune Investments founder Chris Logan unpacks why Tongaat needs its shareholders to inject R4bn to keep the company afloat.

In one of the biggest Covid-19 research surveys in the world, Discovery Health has released data with the focus of understanding what more can be done to enhance and protect the lives of its customers during the Covid-19 pandemic. Dr Ryan Noach, CEO of Discovery Health, sits down with BizNews founder, Alec Hogg to discuss the findings of the study. Noach says these insights have the potential to inform and transform its understanding and decision-making in navigating the current landscape. He adds that he believes if South Africa reaches its 70% vaccination deadline, “We could save 25,000 people from dying from the virus.”

Hedge fund guru Jean Pierre Verster has an in-depth look at food retail giant, Shoprite, after South Africa’s largest grocer announced a bumper quarterly update and interesting annual general meeting results. The food retailer, which has brands such as Checkers and uSave under its umbrella, increased sales by close to 10%, without adjusting for the impact of the July riots. All of South Africa’s other large food retailers – Woolies, Spar and Pick n Pay – announced rather sluggish updates, suggesting Shoprite is taking market share from competitors. South Africa business tycoon Dr Christo Wiese, a major shareholder and director of the board of Shoprite, retained his seat on the board by a mere 0.1%. Verster explains that shareholders have become fed up at the related party transactions between Shoprite and Dr Wiese, which tends to benefit Wiese at the expense of minority shareholders. When asked which way Verster voted at Shoprite’s AGM on this specific resolution, he said his hedge fund no longer holds any Shoprite shares. 

In this episode of the BPH, the first contributions from two new voices you'll be hearing from on Biznews in future - Jeremy Maggs and Martin Welz. Jeremy's famous show Maggs on Media is now part of the BizNews network and here we draw on his interview with media guru Gordon Muller. Welz, doyen of SA's investigative journalists, gets his teeth into the SARS court attack on Zondo Commission whistleblower Angelo Agrizzi. Also in this show, Francois Nortje of the Port of Gauteng explains why private company use of Transnet's rail network is a game changer; and top money manager Jean-Pierre Verster discusses SA's latest investment news including the shock vote of no confidence in Christo Wiese by 49% of Shoprite's shareholders.