In this episode of the Currency Focus podcast, Bronwyn Nielsen discusses the local unit's movements with currency expert Andre Cilliers of TreasuryONE. Cilliers says that while the Evergrande situation and electricity issues in the Northern hemisphere could create more volatility for the rand, it is also not quite a 'crisis' either. He also says he does not expect an interest rate increase for SA until the first quarter of 2022.

News headlines: *Department of Health Director-General Dr Sandile Buthelezi has been suspended over his alleged role in the department’s Digital Vibes scandal. *The South African National Treasury’s succession planning is sufficient to ensure the exit of key personnel doesn’t disrupt plans to return public finances to a sustainable path, its top civil servant said. *Investments of about $280bn will be needed to cope with the effects of climate change in 35 cities in South Africa, Kenya and Ethiopia by 2050, new research shows.

On 23 August, Democratic Alliance Leader John Steenhuisen announced that Geordin Hill-Lewis would be the DA’s candidate for mayor of Cape Town in the upcoming local government elections. If elected, Hill-Lewis - aged 34 - will be the youngest mayor in Cape Town’s history. Hill-Lewis - who became a member of the DA when he was in high school - spoke to BizNews about his passion for politics, the area which he believes is the best place to make a positive change as ‘you can affect systemic change and even a 5% improvement at a systemic level can have a huge knock-on effect for society at large and for millions of people.’ While Hill-Lewis says he understands the emotional impetus behind the Cape Independence movement, he has a different view on how the issues that plague South Africa can be solved - ‘by devolving power to the lowest level of competent, strong, well-run government.’

After a viral talk given by the outspoken businessman at the BizNews Investment Conference, Rob Hersov rejoins Alec Hogg to discuss the feedback he's received since his speech - which has garnered over 100,000 views on YouTube. "I've got thousands of messages - vast majority positive - and they've come from [people] of all races. The general message is the following: This is something that needed to be said. No one has stood up and said it. Well done on you to say it." Hersov also tells Alec Hogg how another speech at the conference fired him up - and shares some regrets, too. "This is our government and if they're destroying the country, vote them out!"

Ntando Mahlangu, a double amputee from Pretoria, became an international sensation when he won double gold medals at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. Ntando stormed to the finish, clinching gold in the Men’s 200 T61 and then not only managed to win another gold medal for the T63 long jump; he broke a world record with a final leap of 7.17 metres. What empowered this teenager to fly and succeed was Pretoria prostheses expert Johan Snyders, known as the Blades Doctor. Snyders not only gives mobility and athleticism to young amputees (through his charity Jumping Kids) but also enables them to get an academic qualification. BizNews caught up with him at his Pretoria residence and asked him whether he expected Ntando to do so well - and there is a surprise appearance of Ntando at the end of the conversation.

Rob Hersov was one of the keynote speakers at the BizNews Investment Conference (BNIC#2) in the Drakensberg earlier this month. After his presentation, the wildly outspoken billionaire sat down with BizNews founder Alec Hogg for a Q&A. The discussion which followed - which included questions posed to Hersov by delegates at BNIC#2 - is one you simply do not want to miss. While Hersov’s absolute candour is sure to rustle some feathers, it is hard not to find such unfettered frankness - at the very least - refreshing.

News headlines: *South African President Cyril Ramaphosa accused developed countries of acting immorally by hoarding vaccines needed in poorer nations. *South African-born biotech billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong will announce a plan to transfer technology for the manufacture of Covid-19 and cancer vaccines to South Africa. *Mining companies in South Africa are considering spending as much as R40bn to construct 2,000 megawatts of power generation capacity.

Our Thursday market commentator Piet Viljoen joins Bronwyn Nielsen to talk through a host of pressing investment topics. Viljoen touches on China, noting that there's a risk factor that bears watching. "They've been telegraphing that they want to change the way their economy works [and] that they want to change the structure of their economy." Together with Nielsen, he also discusses the Remgro results and ESG investing.

In this episode of the BizNews Power Hour, Stuart Lowman is joined by Piet Viljoen as co-host; Sable International's Andrew Rissik outlines the impending changes coming to Portugal’s Golden Visa programme; Ranmore Funds Sean Peche discusses a host of global investment themes; Dr Caroline Lee - an anaesthetist - discusses the burnout and mental health issues faced by healthcare workers during Covid and the BizNews Team.

Ranmore Fund Management founder Sean Peche discusses a host of topical investment themes playing out in the financial markets.

Brenthurst Wealth Management founder Magnus Heystek joins Bronwyn Nielsen to discuss a variety of topical investment themes playing out in the markets. The Evergrande saga turned sentiment negatively with global markets hitting a speed bump. Heystek advocates for the healthcare industry as an investment proposition as well as Japan. Lastly, Heystek advises to steer clear of cryptocurrencies given the lack of regulation in the industry.

In this episode of the BizNews Power Hour, Stuart Lowman is joined by Magnus Heystek; Remgro CFO Neville Williams; OUTA's Liz McDaid on transparency in South Africa’s nuclear energy industry; Sumayya Vally on re-designing Jozi and the BizNews Team.

News headlines: *South Africa’s High Court struck down some changes to mining regulations that govern Black ownership targets, in a move that could potentially revive investor interest in the sector. *South Africa’s appeals court ruled the Department of Tourism’s focus on only Black businesses for payouts to overcome the coronavirus pandemic is unlawful. *The application by the attorney of Western Cape judge president John Hlophe to have a judge from a division other than that of Gauteng hear his application to have the decision by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to impeach him set aside, was rejected on Wednesday by deputy judge president of the Gauteng division Roland Sutherland.

OUTA's Liz McDaid joined BizNews to discuss the issue around the National Nuclear Regulator of South Africa and transparency that OUTA (Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse) is calling out for. State-owned power generator Eskom is trying to expand the lifespan of Koeberg, a decision which the organisation is calling into question. McDaid and Bronwyn Nielsen discuss this and what decommissioning the nuclear plant would entail.

Chief financial officer of Remgro Neville Williams joined the BizNews Power Hour to shed light on the investment holding giant's performance for the 2021 financial year. After reporting its worst results on record in 2020, Remgro's investee companies for the large part have bounced back strongly. Despite Mediclinic, Remgro's largest constituent, being a drag on performance - the rest of the listed counters within the stable, that being Distell, RMI and RCL Foods all outperformed the prior period. The most exciting avenue of growth for Remgro going forward comes from the CIVH group - which holds Dark Fibre Africa and Vumatel. Remgro have recently used R2bn in proceeds from the sale of FirstRand shares to fund growth within the CIVH stable.

Local seasoning brand Oryx Desert Salt will soon be seen on the shelves of Whole Foods in the USA. It has joined a growing list of locally made products (like Rooibos) in accessing markets overseas. Samantha Skyring, CEO of Oryx Desert Salt has been grinding away to bring her range of salt - mined sustainably in the Kalahari Desert - to a wider market. Skyring told BizNews that she even exchanged her house for a garage full of salt at one stage, to take the business to a higher level.

The appeal of a life abroad has increased for many South Africans whose faith in a prosperous future for our country has steadily waned in recent years. In this sponsored interview with Andrew Rissik, Managing Director of FX and Investment Migration at Sable International, Rissik outlines the long-anticipated changes coming to Portugal’s Golden Visa programme. Rissik also stresses that - while the deadline to submit applications for a Golden Visa at the current rate of €350,000 is technically 31 December - Sable International will stop accepting applications in the next 2-3 weeks to account for the protracted logistics involved in processing these applications.

10x founder Steven Nathan joins the BizNews Power Hour to share his insights on the latest developments happening in global markets. China's second largest property developer, Evergrande, has been the major talking point in global markets due to potential knock-on effects of financial contagion given the real estate behemoth's $3oobn debt pile. The commodity sell-off is talked about at length, with Nathan outlining the difficulties in 'calling a bottom' when it comes to the resource counters given the inherent volatility in commodity prices. Gold as a safe-haven asset in times of turbulence, local banks and Telkom spinning-off its Swiftnet unit are all touched upon.

In this episode of the BizNews Power Hour, Stuart Lowman is joined by Steven Nathan speaking on China; a throw back to the week of shame with Exemplar CEO Jason McCormick; Director of Distribution Junxion at Port of Gauteng Francois Nortje unpacks the flaws inherent in the freight transport section; Standard Bank's Kevin Ssemwogerere on their Power Pulse series and the BizNews Team.

News headlines: *A court case filed by a losing bidder in South Africa’s emergency power program threatens to delay the provision of the electricity by months as banks balk at providing funding because of the risk of an adverse judgment. *The US will soon allow entry to most foreign air travelers as long as they’re fully vaccinated against Covid-19 - while adding a testing requirement for unvaccinated Americans and barring entry for foreigners who haven’t gotten shots. *The number of white rhinos, the most common of the world’s five rhino species, may have fallen by about a quarter during the past decade mainly because of poaching, the International Rhino Foundation said.

Dr Caroline Lee, a Gauteng anaesthetist, joined healthcare journalist Chris Bateman of BizNews to discuss burnout and the mental health issues faced by healthcare workers in South Africa. Dr Lee is the co-founder of the Healthcare Workers Care Network, an eight-year-old burnout and mental distress support group for medical professionals. She says that there was a great need for an organisation like this even before Covid hit, but the pandemic has aggravated the situation immensely because workers are exhausted and constantly exposed to death. "When you're feeling more tired or it's just too much - sometimes you see two patients, three patients in the same ICU dying at the same time, or somebody that you've really made an effort for, or somebody [who's family you've met] and you don't want them to die, for example - those ones trigger an overflow and all of a sudden [you] just break down," she explains. As medical professionals are already mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted, Dr Lee says they feel like giving up when they hear anti-vaccine arguments. "The healthcare workers that experience a lot of heartbreak, a lot of despair, were like, no, we need to give up now. We've been working so hard and this is what you give us. You know, after all we've done and after all the work with trying to save lives, what are you doing? Why are you causing more death, more suffering?" Her advice is to ask anti-vaxxers what they're afraid of.

Director of Distribution Junxion at Port of Gauteng Francois Nortje joins the BizNews Power to unpack the flaws inherent in the freight transport section of the National Infrastructure Plan 2050 that was gazetted on the 10th of August. 'This plan is totally flawed, extremely arrogant, written to benefit Transnet only and removed from reality' says Nortje, who calls the backward looking plan nothing short of a disgrace.

In July, violent riots and looting sprees ripped through South Africa - devastating KwaZulu-Natal and parts of Gauteng and further dismantling our already enfeebled economy. Our country’s week of shame came at a colossal cost of R50bn in lost output, together with the destruction of over 3,000 shops and the theft of almost R120,000 in cash from ATMs. A number of malls in KZN, owned and managed by Exemplar REITail, were completely ravaged. Jason McCormick, the Chief Executive of Exemplar, did an hour-long presentation at the BizNews Investment Conference earlier this month titled ‘72 hours of Anarchy’. His presentation provided a riveting inside look into the sequence of events which all but desecrated several of Exemplar’s properties. Following his presentation, McCormick sat down with BizNews founder Alec Hogg to further discuss his personal experience and answer questions posed by delegates at BNIC#2 (audio below). Throughout his entire presentation and subsequent Q&A, McCormick demonstrated an exemplary degree of strength and vulnerability. Despite his tumultuous experience, McCormick stated; ‘My overarching feeling coming through all of this is that the good people outnumber the bad.’

In this episode of the PowerPulse podcast series, Kevin Ssemwogerere, Corporate Venturing Lead in Wholesale Clients Digital for the Standard Bank PowerPulse platform, joins Alec Hogg to provide more detail on how PowerPulse works. PowerPulse is a new digital platform introduced by Standard Bank that provides alternative energy solutions for large commercial clients by connecting them with appropriate power suppliers. Ssemwogerere delves into solar power as an advanced alternative energy solution and explains that while there is a great demand for and supply of power, the "necessary levers for the right participants in this industry to come together and exchange value have not been there". "The opportunity for us is to come in and be a facilitator of the exchange of value between the participants," he says. "So we've come up with a digital platform called PowerPulse, which brings together - through a matchmaking process - the entity that's looking for solar PV as an option for self-generation of electricity, but also the installer of solar. We sit in the middle of it as the facilitator that helps them to exchange value and ultimately, in a trusted environment, have solar installed, and everybody benefits through this exchange of value.

Very few people ascend to that point in life where their independence affords them unqualified freedom to speak their minds without fear of retribution or ramification. Billionaire Rob Hersov, by all accounts, is one such individual. After three decades abroad - during which he worked under the direct tutelage of media mogul Rupert Murdoch and luxury goods baron Johann Rupert - Hersov made the decision to move back to South Africa. While Hersov admits that this decision was ‘insane’, he maintains that those who leave South Africa, cut the link and then proceed to badmouth the country do so because ‘that's the only way they can justify leaving this incredible country, they miss it.’ Rob Hersov was one of the speakers at the second BizNews Investment Conference which was held in the Drakensberg earlier this month. In his presentation to the delegates, he outlined the reasons for his return to South Africa, painted a picture of the political landscape to which he returned, and explained why he believes that South Africa is ‘absolutely uninvestable’. With the degree of candor only available to very few, Hersov stated; ‘Black empowerment is theft. Expropriation without compensation is theft. Why would anyone invest in this country with those things hanging over our heads? I mean, it's uninvestable.’