Transaction Capital, one of the best performing businesses on the JSE over the past ten years, continues to from strength to strength. In SA Taxi and WeBuyCars, the company has two great assets and is starting to benefit from the synergies created through vertical integration. David Hurwitz, the man at the helm of Transaction Capital, unpacked the results further on last night's BizNews Power Hour.

Mark Sardi spent his early career in corporate finance and investment banking in London and Johannesburg before making the move to CEO of Ascendis Health. He joined last night's BizNews Power hour, and told Alec Hogg that even though the balance sheet of Ascendis was bad when he started there, the underlying business was good.

Steven Nathan, founder of 10X Investments, joined the BizNews Power Hour as co-host. Nathan shared insights into what Old Mutual has been going through, stating that Old Mutual lost value in SA and made disastrous deals offshore as well.

In this episode of the BizNews Power Hour, Alec Hogg is joined by co-host Piet Viljoen as co-host, Ascendis CEO Mark Sardi and activist Harry Smit, Transaction Capital CEO David Hurwitz on its interim results and increasing its stake in WeBuyCars to c.75%, Prosus/Naspers corporate action and the BizNews team.

Steven Nathan, founder of index-tracking pioneer 10X Investments, joined the BizNews Power Hour as co-host with BizNews founder Alec Hogg. Nathan, an ex-investment banker, shared valuable insights into the scandal brewing around the Public Investment Commission, stating that ‘the underperformance of governance falls upon the South African taxpayer’.

* The total growth for online retail in South Africa in 2020 came to 66%, bringing the total to R30.2-billion, reports MyBroadband.co.za. * South Africans aren't anti-vaccers. In fact, at least seven in every 10 adults surveyed in the National Income Dynamics Study – Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey - would get a jab if it was available. * Dutch-listed technology investor Prosus NV plans to raise its stake in South African parent Naspers to nearly 50% in a share swap deal that will move part of their huge holding in China’s Tencent to Amsterdam from Johannesburg. * The oil supply glut that built up after the pandemic forced producing countries to slash output has almost returned to normal levels, the International Energy Agency said Wednesday. * US consumer inflation rose far more than expected in Apr 2021 to 4.2%y/y, with core inflation up at 3.0%. Stanlib Chief economist Kevin Lings notes that US inflation could remain uncomfortably high for an extended period, unsettling financial markets.

Magda Wierzycka joined the BizNews Power Hour, with the Sygnia founder revealing that she is going head-to-head with ARK's Cathie Wood - by globally launching themed-ETFs that target identical investors.

It’s been a year and a half since Naspers, the JSE’s dominant listing, re-engineered the business by floating its new European subsidiary Prosus on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. According to CEO Bob van Dijk, the decision immediately unlocked $16bn in value for Naspers shareholders. Today the group announced another step in Project Value Unlock. Naspers shareholders are being offered to convert the Naspers shares they own into Prosus stock. Naspers shareholders are entitled to tender all of their stock for the swap, but because Prosus wants to keep its Naspers stake below 50% for now, its guarantee is to allow a minimum of 45.4% of each shareholder’s holding to be converted. As a result of the deal, Naspers’s shareholding in Prosus will fall from 73% to 57%. This will double the free-float of Prosus shares, elevating the stock into the top 20 of the main Eurostoxx Index and thus making it a must-buy for many index trackers. The opposite occurs with Naspers whose share of the main JSE Index falls from 23% to 14% The major issue for Prosus/Naspers is the huge discount at which the stock trades relative to the market value of their major asset, 31% ownership of Hong Kong-based internet giant Tencent. Because it is listed in Europe, Prosus trades at a smaller discount to the value of this Tencent stake than does SA-listed Naspers. That gap is widening. For instance, in the past year Prosus shares rose 50% while Naspers gained 30%. Naspers individual shareholders opting to swap will be liable for capital gains tax. For those who have owned the shares for a long time, that will cost the equivalent of a fifth of the value of what they are swapping. There is no such tax applicable for savings institutions like mutual funds. For some more colour and detail, here an outline of the deal from this morning’s teleconference hosted by CEO Bob van Dijk and financial director Basil Sgourdos – and the questions posed by BizNews.com's Alec Hogg....

In hierdie potgooi het ek met waagkapitalis en private ekwiteitsbelegger Gerhard Visagie oor Afrika gesels. Ons gesprek het gehandel oor hoe dit is om besigheid in Afrika te doen, watdie risiko’s is, en watter lande of streke hy dink ń blink toekoms het. Hy het my ook oor syhonderd-dae motorfiets reis deur die kontinent vertel en wat hy daardeur geleer het...

In 2014, Kobus Basson, owner of Kleine Zalze had announced that he had appointed Alastair Rimmer as the cellar master. Our resident wine expert Carrie Adams chats to Rimmer, an internationally acclaimed cellar master. Raised in Benoni and now a world class wine maker, Rimmer shares his story with our wine aficionado.

In this episode of the BizNews Power Hour, Alec Hogg is joined by co-host Steven Nathan, Magda Wierzycka on the 4IR ETF, new emerging market ETF, reducing money market fees and Vaccitech IPO, Adamus Stemmet on the PIC's mishaps and the BizNews team.

* Plans are afoot by the South African Revenue Services (SARS) to address tax avoidance in the country’s minibus taxi industry. * South African miner Harmony Gold on Tuesday reported a jump in third-quarter core profit, boosted by higher output and a strong gold price, positioning the miner to pursue growth. * The rand extended its rally on Tuesday. Its 30% gain against the dollar since the height of the pandemic has outstripped emerging-market peers. * Senior employees at a unit of South Africa’s Public Investment Corp. have accused executives at the continent’s biggest fund manager of causing an “existential crisis” after a series of scandals over the past few years. * Melinda Gates had discussions with lawyers in October 2019 around when the Microsoft co-founder’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein became public, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Helen Zille, South Africa's Iron Lady of politics, spoke to BizNews founder Alec Hogg about her book - #StayWoke: Go Broke. Zille writes about the unique dangers of wokeness and cancel culture in South Africa, her battle with cancel culture and what she sees in the country’s political future. Amongst the many topics covered - Zille shared her views on cadre deployment and the current South African political landscape.

Over the past weekend Sbu Shabalala stepped down as the CEO of Adapt IT following allegations of domestic violence by his estranged wife. To further analyse what this negative publicity means for shareholders of Adapt IT is Irnest Kaplan. He was also with David Shapiro, who said in the past such incidences resulted in partners pulling out of business deals, will Volaris do the same?

Raubex produced a robust set of numbers of its 2021 financial year-end, all things considered. No nonsense CEO Rudolf Fourie unpacked the results further and was upbeat about what lies ahead for the roads and civil infrastructure construction group. The order book ballooned to R17bn from R10bn in the prior year, which was especially encouraging for shareholders.

Multi-national mining behemoth Anglo American's eagerly anticipated spin-off of its South African coal assets is around the corner. July Ndlovu, CEO of Thungela Resources (ex-Anglo coal) was on the BizNews Power Hour outlining the investment case for the JSE-bound commodity counter. Anglo American has been under pressure from shareholders to disinvest from assets no longer meeting its environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards. The spin-off provides investors with a single commodity counter that is cash generative. BizNews founder Alec Hogg and Sasfin Securities David Shapiro share their pearls of wisdom on the corporate action, having seen many similar types of spin-off scenarios over their years whilst covering the capital markets. The price is likely to be under pressure from the onset, given the predictable sell-off from international investors. This could provide an attractive entry point in the weeks after listing.

In this week's Currency Focus podcast, valuable pointers on where the rand is heading in relation to major currencies: Investors want higher interest rates but they aren't coming - the US government has made that clear, but many aren't listening, says South African currency expert Andre Cilliers of TreasuryONE. That in turn, he notes, has implications for the value of currencies in relation to the US dollar, including the rand. In this in-depth interview, Cilliers shares his reading of global and domestic data and currents in the markets with BizNews editor-at-large Jackie Cameron. If you were listening to Cilliers on BizNews last week, you would have already known that the rand was set to strengthen soon - as it did this week, breaking through the R14 line. *This podcast is proudly brought to you by TreasuryONE, South Africa's leading treasury solutions company that unlocks financial value for your business.

* The South African rand continued to strengthen on Monday, breaking through R14.00 to the US Dollar. TreasuryONE currency strategist Andre Cilliers explains what’s behind the move. * Southern African presidents attended the ceremony to open the $260 million Kazungula road and rail bridge between Botswana and Zambia that offers a faster and cheaper alternative to a route via Beitbridge on Zimbabwe’s border with South Africa. * President Cyril Ramaphosa has warned against vaccine apartheid in his weekly letter to citizens. * South African pharmacist Clicks said on Monday it planned to acquire 25 in-store pharmacies, their drug stocks and staff from retailer Pick N Pay. * Stocks have ground higher in recent days after Federal Reserve officials reiterated their commitment to easy financing conditions to aid the economic recovery.

In this episode of the BizNews Power Hour, Alec Hogg is joined by co-host David Shapiro, Anglo American spin-off Tungela Resources CEO July Ndlovu, Raubex CEO Rudolf Fourie on its results and prospects, Irnest Kaplan on Adapt IT and US tech valuations and the BizNews team.

A new electricity scandal has erupted in South Africa. Only two in every 10 poor households that qualify for free basic electricity have received it for at least the past five years, with municipalities diverting at least R40bn earmarked for indigents. This has been highlighted by Chris Yelland, one of South Africa's top energy analysts. He speaks to Jackie Cameron about how it is very difficult and often impossible for poor people to register for free basic services and raises the questions about how it is possible that the authorities - from the National Treasury to municipal officials - have not raised the alarm about this situation.

Covid-19 and the imposition of global lockdowns changed the landscape of traditional jobs. In the US, hiring levels are currently 15% higher than pre-pandemic levels in February 2020. With the significant shift towards e-commerce, job creation is occurring rapidly and many new roles are accessible to those without tertiary education. Have a listen to this interesting podcast by our partners at Bloomberg.

The CEO of the Foundation for the Study of Cycles, Dr Richard Smith, joined the BizNews Power Hour to discuss emerging tech stocks. Investment guru Ray Dalio has warned that some stocks are in ‘extreme bubbles – particularly emerging technology companies’. Dr Smith says 'I think Dalio is talking about smaller stocks.' Smith also gives his thoughts on cryptocurrency. 'For somebody who has been in bitcoin for a while, it's a good time to be taking some profits.'

In this episode of the BizNews Power Hour, Alec Hogg is joined by the Chairman of the Study of Cycles Dr Richard Smith on the US markets and cryptos, Andre Cilliers on the Rand/Dollar, Carrie's Corner with her guest Jeremy Sampson on business and wine and the BizNews team.

Thanks to the public’s embrace of smart speakers, intelligent car displays and voice-responsive phones – along with the rise of voice intelligence in call centres – marketers say they are on the verge of being able to use AI-assisted vocal analysis technology to achieve unprecedented insights into shoppers’ identities and inclinations, says world authority on media systems and industries, Professor Joseph Turow of the University of Pennsylvania. He sets out the implications of his in-depth research which finds that not only can people be profiled by their speech patterns, but they can also be assessed by the sound of their voices. Alexa, Siri and other voice-activated technologies could be used to spy on you for advertisers and even governments. According to some researchers, your voice is unique and can reveal feelings, personalities and even physical characteristics. He spoke to Jackie Cameron, for BizNews, about why we should be worried about the latest advances amid a podcasting revolution - and think twice about joining groups like Clubhouse.

* Investors in South African assets need a lot more convincing that the government crackdown on corruption will prove effective. * Lebanon has acted against a Turkish company that operates floating electricity plants and is linked to a South African state energy programme that has been put on hold in connection with corruption allegations. * The average salary at Eskom is R737,000 – but workers want 15% more, reports MyBroadband.co.za. * The Financial Sector Conduct Authority has withdrawn a cautionary notice warning that cryptocurrency business Ovex is not authorised to operate. * The Dogecoin frenzy is reaching fever pitch as Elon Musk prepares to host Saturday Night Live with speculation he’s poised to talk up his beloved token. Coinbase Global, the largest U.S. digital-asset exchange, plunged to a record low this week partly because it doesn’t offer enough speculative coins like Dogecoin. * South Africa is on track to receive enough Covid-19 vaccines to cover about two-thirds of the population by the end of the year, says President Cyril Ramaphosa