* #Eskom workers are seeking 15% wage increases, even though the utility is struggling to pay its bills and repay debt of about R465bn - and inflation is at a much more modest 3%. * As the government fails to roll out #COVID vaccinations en masse, South Africa’s biggest business grouping has said it will help develop private industry’s capacity to administer 160,000 coronavirus vaccinations a day. * A new set of tax law amendments make it possible for the South African Revenue Service to impose criminal sanctions on taxpayers who neglect their tax affairs, reports MyBroadband.co.za. * The global economy is showing signs of recovery after a year of business shut downs, with forecasts of a two-year US boom.

Africa's largest grocery retailer Shoprite has announced that it will be exiting Nigeria after 15 years. To help better understand this is Evan Walker, an analyst at 36ONE Asset Management. He joined the BizNews Power Hour to share why he thinks it is so hard to do business in Nigeria.

Joining Carrie Adams in her naughty corner this week is Wikus Human, a young sommelier who our wine queen describes as "very talented and making a huge name for himself, through sheer hard work and a long love affair with wine". Wikus joins Carrie to discuss all things wine.

In this episode of the BizNews Power Hour, Alec Hogg is joined by co-host Piet Viljoen, Pranita Daya of Anchor Stockbrokers on Growthpoint, Sable International director Andrew Rissik on rand strength, Evan Walker of 36One Asset Management on doing business in Nigeria and the BizNews team.

* Western Cape Transport MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela has been suspended for 14 days while an investigation is launched into the misrepresentation of his qualifications. * The DA is astounded by the appointment of Thomas Kgokolo as the acting SAA CEO. He is the latest person appointed to run the embattled airline despite having no experience in running an airline. * The Financial Services Conduct Authority (FSCA) has begun an insider trading investigation that will “cover disclosures and transactions in Huge Group securities during January 2021”. * South Africa’s central bank is likely to maintain its accommodative monetary policy stance to support the economy for as long as it has room to do so, according to Governor Lesetja Kganyago. * Shoprite plans to sell its Nigerian division to a local property group, according to a person familiar with the matter, as Africa’s largest food retailer pulls back from the continent’s most populous country. * The Biden administration has announced tough new sanctions on Russia and formally blamed the country’s premier intelligence agency for the sophisticated hacking operation that breached US government agencies and its largest companies.

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for killing and displacing people - but experts in Mozambique don’t believe it’s that simple to blame Islamic militants for the humanitarian crisis that has unfolded in the southern African country. Complicated social conditions, ethnic rivalries, criminal gangs including drug traffickers, government corruption, elites and global corporate bosses turning a blind eye to the needs of the desperately poor communities around one of Africa’s biggest liquified gas investments are among the other factors playing into extreme violence. South African mercenaries are also interfering. Speaking to BizNews editor at large Jackie Cameron, Professor Adriano Nuvunga of the Centre for Democracy and Development in Mozambique says the solution is dialogue and that French multinational Total, behind the big liquefied natural gas (#lng) investment in the area, has been late in engaging with stakeholders. It should have done more to allow locals to benefit from the development, given the fragility of the situation, says the Mozambique expert. South African mercenaries have been hired to help the Mozambique government, but Prof Nuvunga says this exacerbate the problems in the long run.

EOH may be the largest technology service provider business in Africa, but it has seen its fair share of bad publicity and a massive drop in its share price. CEO Stephen Van Coller joined the BizNews Power Hour to share his fixing strategies and what the future holds for shareholders.

Satrix CEO Helena Conradie joined Alec Hogg on the BizNews Power Hour to share her views on cryptocurrency as an asset or currency. Her response to Absa closing it's money market fund, Conradie said that Satrix will definitely not close their money market fund.

Stefano Marani, the CEO of Renergen, joined the BizNews Power Hour to discuss, among other topics, his view on Total, the Renergen share price value and a cautionary announcement.

* South Africa's health minister has blamed Johnson & Johnson for delays to the roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccine; * Democratic Alliance Western Cape leader Bonginkosi Madikizela has been accused of lying about his qualifications. * South African airlines are in a price war to attract customers - and one is tempting passengers with an offer to take a small dog on a flight with them, says MyBroadband.co.za. * Nearly three dozen of China’s largest technology companies have made public pledges to comply with the country’s antimonopoly laws, as they scramble to fall in line following Beijing’s moves to rein in the business empire of Jack Ma, the country’s best-known entrepreneur. * The direct listing of the biggest U.S. crypto exchange has pushed tokens even more into the mainstream of investing, exposing legions of potential buyers to the digital asset class that have grown into a $2 trillion industry in little more than a decade.

In this episode of the BizNews Power Hour, Alec Hogg is joined by co-host Delphine Govender, Renergen CEO Stefano Marani, CEO of Satrix Helena Conradie, EOH CEO Stephen Van Coller on the company's interims and legacy issues, Sean Saunders on cryptos and Coinbase IPO and the BizNews team.

Investor demand for all things #crypto surged amid #Coinbase Global Inc.’s public debut on Wednesday. Joining Jackie Cameron for BizNews, to discuss the direct listing of the biggest US crypto exchange and whether forecasts that Bitcoin is heading towards $100,000 (about R1.5m) are likely to be accurate is Sean Sanders who heads up cryptocurrency business Revix in South Africa. For a primer on cryptocurrency trading, you can put your questions directly to Sean at the BizNews Finance Friday webinar on 23 April. Contact jackie@biznews.com for details.

The CEO of Balwin Properties, Steve Brookes, and EasyProperties Rupert Finnmore joined the BizNews Power Hour to breakdown their partnership in making owning property easier. Finnmore explains the benefits of EasyProperties vs Investing in a REIT. We also learn the importance of humble beginnings as Steve Brookes takes us back to when Balwin only had 50 apartments.

Emile Du Toit is the Managing Director of Harith General Partners. Du Toit, who has over 11 years of relevant Corporate Finance experience, joined the BizNews Power Hour to talk about doing things differently. Harith General Partners has been raising capital for infrastructure investment into Africa for over a decade; $200m is the number they are chasing now. Du Toit says you can find better deals in what are labelled as "risky" countries, like Zimbabwe.

One of South Africa’s most senior judges, John Hlophe, western cape judge president, has been accused of, among other things, moonlighting, tax evasion, racism and an allegation that he tried to sway a Constitutional Court judgement in favour of former president Jacob Zuma. Over the weekend, Hlophe was found guilty of impeachable conduct by a Judicial Conduct Tribunal for trying to persuade other judges to favour Zuma, who at the time was challenging search warrants in connection with corruption charges against him. Adv Paul Hoffman, Director of the Institute for Accountability in Southern Africa speaks to Jackie Cameron of BizNews, to share his insights on John Hlophe - who has recently burnt through more than R3m in taxpayers’ funds to fight allegations that he has been part of former president Zuma’s corrupt circle. In this interview you’ll hear how Hlophe has been accused of behaviour more likely in a school playground than the corridors of a court building, including allegations of a fisticuffs over his wife. Hoffman assesses to what extent Hlophe has been a player in Zuma’s gangster state.

In this episode of the BizNews Power Hour, Alec Hogg is joined by co-host Steven Nathan, Emile Du Toit on Harith's $200m capital raise, Gerrie Fourie on Capitec's results, Magda Wierzycka on being spied on, Steve Brooks founder and CEO of Balwin Properties, Rupert Finnemore CEO of Easy Properties and the BizNews team.

* In a victory for taxpayers and a blow for corrupt politicians, South Africa’s second-highest court has rejected an appeal by former president Jacob Zuma to get the state to pay his costs in a corruption case. * Around 35% of senior managers in government do not have the necessary qualifications or credentials for their position, reports MyBroadband.co.za. * Botswana’s health ministry has asked the country’s health regulator to probe two deaths of people who had recently taken a Covid-19 vaccine made by the Serum Institute of India Ltd. on behalf of AstraZeneca. * US health officials recommended a pause in the use of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine on concerns about rare and severe blood clotting side effects. * Capitec - South Africa’s largest bank in terms of customer numbers - is resuming dividend payments after recovering from the severe Covid-19 lockdown.

Former Sygnia CEO Magda Wierzycka is in the media spotlight again, this time as a victim of state spying activities. In this interview with Alec Hogg, Wierzycka says the harassment included her phone being tapped and people following her to a point of hiring bodyguards. She also shares her views on vaccines and why South Africa has reached herd immunity.

After an early knock by Covid-19 containment measures, JSE-listed Capitec reported a dramatic improvement in headline earnings to just under R4bn for the second six months to the end of February. Its headline earnings fell for the year by 27% overall, but the bank has joined peers FirstRand and Standard Bank in resuming dividend payments. Capitec is now South Africa’s largest bank in terms of customer numbers. In this interview with Jackie Cameron of BizNews, CEO Gerrie Fourie shares why the bank reached a tipping point towards exponential growth and what’s next for Capitec as it continues to develop a strategy to scale up. He shares insights on how his team worked on strategy during lockdown, provides hints on how Capitec plans to eat into the market share of other business banks including dramatic changes to service, including digital methods.

Everyone can recall this time of the year last year, where the global pandemic had just introduced itself to us and the panic and uncertainties around it. To help us unpack the giant Covid, was Prof Alan Whiteside, professor at the Balsillie School of International Affairs and professor emeritus at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He is well known for his innovative work in the field of the social impacts of HIV and AIDS and recently the Coronavirus. SA was proven to have low cases of covid in April 2020, the numbers are now standing at 1.56m cases,1.48m recoveries and unfortunately 53,356 deaths.

Poor service delivery from government is something that every South African has battled with. Millions of impoverished citizens sit without water, electricity, properly schooling and housing while corrupt officials loot and plunder. Other problems like crumbling road networks don't only damage vehicles, but endanger lives too. After waiting for local government to do something about the potholes in Roodepoort, the local community has decided to take action themselves - fixing potholes and doling out upgrades. Community member Dave Baxter and Amy-Claire Morton of the IRR joined the BizNews Power Hour to discuss this uplifting story of active citizenry.

Kokkie Kooyman and BizNews Power Host Alec Hogg unpacked Absa's decision to close its money market fund. While Absa chose not to join the BizNews Power Hour, banking analyst Kooyman shares his thoughts on this move by Absa. On the upcoming Capitec results, Kooyman commented "I think the full-year results will be better than the half-year results, because the half-year had to make quite large provisions and the need for that would have fallen away."

Adrian Saville joined the BizNews Power Hour to discuss his departure from Cannon Asset Managers. The experienced asset manager will be joining a multifamily investment office, Genera Capital. "It's a brand new venture and environment for me and it fits in very neatly with my experience in building Cannon, in looking after high net worth individuals with bespoke investment needs".

In this episode of the BizNews Power Hour, Alec Hogg is joined by co-host Magnus Heystek, Cannon Asset Management founder Adrian Saville on his new chapter, Amy-Claire Morton and Dave Baxter on active citizenry and making a difference in your community and the BizNews team.

* South Africa’s Road Accident Fund is on the brink of collapse, after it secured an extraordinary court order preventing claims. GroundUp reports that the Fund has been mismanaged and riddled with corruption. * Former intelligence minister David Mahlobo is facing a police investigation over illegal spying activities on critics of former president Jacob Zuma. A state security operative said people targeted in the spying activities included former Sygnia CEO Magda Wierzycka. * Africa’s mainly poor nations are falling behind in the global vaccination race with under 13 million doses administered so far to the continent’s 1.3 billion people, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Meanwhile, the price of the Pfizer vaccine has shot up dramatically. * NYSE-listed Chinese tech giant Alibaba jumped in value despite a report that it had received a massive fine of 4% of 2019 revenue for monopolistic behaviour.