In this episode, the doyenne of the South African wine industry Carrie Adams speaks to Adrian Short, the CEO of By Word of Mouth. The catering company was started by Short's wife, Karen, in 1993 and continues to shine as one of the finest catering (and catering related) companies in South Africa. Adrian joined Carrie's Corner to talk about the company's humble beginnings and how Karen pushed the envelope, revolutionising home catering in South Africa.

* South Africa plans to begin issuing Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine to the general public next month. * A takeover bid by Huge Group to acquire rival Adapt IT has become ugly, with the Huge group ordered to removed videos from the public domain in which it attacks the motives of Adapt IT’s management, reports MyBroadband.co.za * Netcare expects first-half core profit to be down 36% to 38% from a year earlier after a second wave of Covid-19 forced it to suspend elective surgery in favour of necessary and time-sensitive procedures, says Reuters. * Nedbank will stop funding new thermal coal mines by 2025 and halt direct funding of new oil and gas exploration as it plans to phase out fossil fuel exposure over the next 24 years, says Reuters. * The African Union’s disease control body and World Health Organization on Thursday urged African countries not to waste COVID-19 vaccines donated to them, after confusion in Malawi and South Sudan about whether doses they received had expired, says Bloomberg.

JSE-listed printing, publishing and packaging group Novus looks set for a shake up after boutique asset manager A2 Investment Partners snapped up the entire stake of almost a fifth of the company that was owned by Media24 investments. The Novus share price has taken a hammering over five years, with the business falling into the red as Covid-19 containment measures hit the media industry hard. Novus CEO Neil Birch speaks Jackie Cameron of BizNews, about latest developments at the company - and what it's like being at the helm of a public company in a sector that appears to be in terminal decline.

In this clip the Chief Economist at Stanlib - Kevin Lings - joined the BizNews Power Hour team to discuss CPI of 3.2% in March, lower than expectations of 3.3%. He shared his view on how can CIP be the primary proxy for inflation when inflation is visibly much greater in the real economy.

Jean-Pierre Verster joined the BizNews Power Hour team to discuss Pick 'n Pay's results, the end of Brasher's tenure and which is the best food retailer on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Verster roots for Woolworths as the best retailer currently on the JSE - even after a bad cycle of five years.

South Africa’s headline consumer price inflation has not risen as quickly as analysts have forecast. rose to 3.2% year-on-year in March from 2.9% in February, data from Statistics South Africa showed on Wednesday. South Africa is home to over twice as many millionaires (HNWIs) as any other African country. Despite this, the total private wealth held in the country declined by 25% between 2010 and 2020. This is according to the Africa Wealth Report 2021, published on Tuesday by Johannesburg-based wealth intelligence firm New World Wealth together with Mauritius-based AfrAsia Bank. The government’s decision to include three liquid natural gas powerships from Karpowership SA for emergency power is a mistake which will cost South Africa dearly in the long run, reports MyBroadband.co.za. This is the view of energy expert Chris Yelland. Zimbabwe plans to sell the right to shoot as many as 500 elephants for as much as $70,000 (about R1m) per animal to help fund the upkeep of its national parks, reports Bloomberg.

Absa announced on Tuesday that CEO Daniel Mminele is leaving over non-alignment on matters of strategy and culture transformation with top executives after just 16 months at the helm. Banking analyst Kokkie Kooyman said to the BizNews Power Hour team, Mminele's departure could be linked to ABSA money market saga. Mminele is the fourth CEO in four years to lead ABSA.

Meet Zak Calisto, the Shares of Karooooo, the new holding company for vehicle recovery and fleet management group Cartrack, rose as it began trading on the JSE earlier this week. Nearly all Cartrack shareholders have opted to remain invested in the new holding company. Which first listed on the Nasdaq on April. The complex deal was done to open up Karooooo to larger pools of capital on offer in the US market. South African entrepreneur Zak Calisto, the founder of Cartrack and Karoooo, has thousands of employees across the rapidly expanding global organisation he founded from scratch in South Africa. The tech business, which has its roots in tracking stolen cars, recently listed on the Nasdaq to appeal to the global investment community. Calisto shares insights into how to build and scale a business as well as what makes him tick, in this conversation with BizNews editor at large Jackie Cameron. Calisto also elaborates on how the company is set to keep growing. You'll hear he has some remarkable similarities with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

Piet Mouton - COE of PSG Group - joined the BizNews Power Hour team to unpack the company's results, prospects of the investee businesses and new tax implications with respect to investment holding company's unbundling its assets.

In South Africa, we call it cadre deployment and state capture. In Britain, it’s called chumocracy - which is the practice of politicians farming out jobs and contracts for pals. Listen to this fascinating conversation with corruption expert Professor Liz Dávid-Barrett of the University of Sussex. She shares her insights, with BizNews editor at large Jackie Cameron, on why former British prime minister David Cameron has been at the centre of a chumocracy scandal for lobbying on behalf of controversial Greensill Capital and how corruption in Europe compares with Africa. She flags up the importance of the media in uncovering corruption and holding powerful political actors to account.

It was a trip to South Africa during the 2010 FIFA World Cup that ignited a passion for Africa in Emile Heskey. The former Premier League footballer has teamed up with Zimbabwean born entrepreneur, Davison Simango, to launch the Alkebulan Group. The company is planning to invest in sectors that can help drive the economies of Africa forward. Heskey has previously supported the Shoe Aid for Africa campaign, with footballers donating their boots to children in Africa. In an interview with BizNews, Heskey and Simango said the heart of the group's ethos is the desire to help make a lasting change in Africa. They want to blend business with philanthropy with a focus on elevating women. Heskey also spoke about his new role at Leicester City, where he was helping the women's team, called the Foxes.

There's big money to be made in Africa for those who crack the codes to running business in the many, risky and often complex countries. Listen to this podcast to hear fascinating insights on making money in Nigeria, Mozambique and other countries where many South African corporate bosses fear to tread. The group is generating an ever-larger chunk of revenue outside South Africa's borders and sees greater medium to long-term growth opportunities in countries like Ethiopia than in its domestic market, which is waning in influence as an economic powerhouse. #Imperial Group CEO Mohammed Akoojee is in conversation with BizNews editor at large Jackie Cameron. - jackie@biznews.com

* Amazon has announced that will establish its South African headquarters in the City of Cape Town, a project that has the potential to create up 19 000 jobs. * ABSA CEO Daniel Mminele has been axed, with Absa Group Chairman, Wendy Lucas-Bull saying that a separation deal had been reached with Mminele - a former Reserve Bank deputy governor and Absa’s first CEO. * South Africa may soon have a Johannesburg-listed cryptocurrency ETF. * Already lagging behind the rest of the world in its Covid-19 inoculations, the wave of vaccine skepticism -- made worse by a lack of trust in local governments and misinformation on social media -- threatens to set Africa back even further, reports Bloomberg.

In this clip, the CEO and CIO of Opportune Investments, Chris Logan, discussed with the BizNews Power Hour team, Cartrack CEO Zak Calisto's shareholder letter and 98.6% of investors staying invested in the global growth story, even though the stock is having a horrid time on the Nasdaq.

Retail Analyst Syd Vianello joined the BizNews Power Hour to discuss Steinhoff's proposed listing of its crown jewel Pepco on the Polish exchange. Vianello gave a detailed analysis and concluded that this is not beneficial for shareholders.

The University of Cape Town has been affected by a massive fire that began on Sunday and has since been spreading due to strong winds, forcing students to evacuate. Spear REIT CEO Quintin Rossi joined the BizNews Power Hour, to let us in on how they are opening up the Double Tree Hilton on discounted prices to UCT for students.

In the late 90's, Johannesburg businessman Andrew Gunn left the hubbub of Egoli in pursuit of his next career move - farming. Described as a "pig in a poke" by Gunn, his apple farm was soon transformed into a gorgeous vineyard. Nearly 25 years later, Andrew Gunn runs Iona, a winery that focuses on just four select wines. Andrew's wife, Rozy, joined in on the fun too.

* The DA has called for an independent investigation into a fire that broke out on the slopes of Table Mountain and damaged buildings at the University of Cape Town and elsewhere. * Eskom says it’s urgently seeking new providers of technical support after Oracle Corp.’s South African unit withdrew its services over a payment dispute. * The unprecedented oil inventory glut that amassed during the coronavirus pandemic is almost gone, underpinning a price recovery that’s rescuing producers but vexing consumers, says Bloomberg. * Police have seized a massive truckload of illegal cigarettes from Zimbabwe, giving yet more proof of the full-scale price war raging between criminal operators in South Africa’s illicit tobacco trade, says Tax Justice SA.

In January and February, there were around $300m in non-fungible token sales, according to Cointelegraph. But for many, NFTs are bewildering in the least. BizNews founder Alec Hogg makes sense of this digital movement with Invest Africa chairman Rob Hersov and Josh Minsk, COO of Momint. Hersov invested $50,000 into the local NFT-backed social media platform.

BizNews journalist Jarryd Neves spent a week with the talented Renault Duster, a compact SUV from the Boulogne-Billancourt based brand. He told the BizNews Power Hour about the stellar fuel economy, excellent gravel capabilities and impressive features.

"I admire your single-minded courage to speak up for the truth and the law, even when this was clearly at considerable cost to you and your family," wrote Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter to former Trillian Management Consulting CEO, Bianca Goodson. After speaking out against corruption, Goodson had her entire life turned upside down. From battles with her mental health and personal security, to issues in obtaining employment, Goodson told the BizNews Power Hour about the other side of the whistleblower coin.

Former CEO of Trillian Financial Advisory, Mosilo Mothepu, found herself at the centre of state capture. "When I left, I was petrified and horrified at what I witnessed. I had to do the right thing and tell the public protector what I knew." Mothepu has released a tell-all book, revealing her sudden involvement in Trillian and State Capture. She told the BizNews Power Hour about the toll this took on her personal life and career prospects, noting that the SA business world treated her like a leper.

Professor Christof Heyns occupied various roles at the University of Pretoria's law faculty - including Dean, Director of the Centre for Human Rights and the founding Director of the Institute for Comparative Law in Africa (where he made the faculty a magnet for talented African students). Internationally, he shone as UN Special Rapporteur and subsequently as a member of the Committee of the Human Rights Commission. Heyns chaired the UN independent investigation on Burundi and was instrumental in rewriting several UN protocols. He passed away at the age of 62, without having seen his father's murderer brought to justice. Johan Heyns, the former moderator of the Dutch Reformed Church was gunned down at his Pretoria home in 1994. However, he did help to rewrite the 'Minnesota Protocol', the gold standard for investigations into unlawful death. To colleagues, Christof Heyns was the guitar playing professor. To his friends, he was the easy-going intellectual who loved to tell jokes. In what was probably one of the last interviews he did, Heyns told BizNews that he remained positive that liberal values - which have taken a knock in recent years - will prevail, and that the idea of human rights is "alive and strong". Despite the murder of his father and the many atrocities he investigated, he always saw the glass of life as half-full. This interview was conducted in October 202o. Heyns passed away in March 2021.

Professor Sarah Hall of the University of Nottingham is a specialist in the changing nature of international financial centres. She spoke to Jackie Cameron, of BizNews, about the digital yuan. China has created its own digital currency, a first for a major economy. Digitised money looks like a potential macroeconomic dream tool for the issuing government, usable to track people’s spending in real time, speed relief to disaster victims or flag criminal activity, says BizNews Premium partner The Wall Street Journal. There are concerns that, Beijing stands to gain vast new powers to tighten President Xi Jinping’s authoritarian rule. 

Martin Slabbert, of MAS Real Estate, the JSE-listed company that is focused on the booming Romanian market - and is the top tip of Morne Wilken, CEO of Hyprop. In this interview, Biznews's Alec Hogg finds out from the low profile Slabbert why South African property players are so dominant in a country whose growth is second only to South Korea.