With the rate of Covid-19 infections plummeting, President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced the lifting of restrictions from level 3 to level 1. Gatherings of up to 100 will now be allowed indoors, alcohol sales are permitted - except in the early hours of the morning. Masks will remain compulsory as the government rolls out vaccines. SA is ratcheting up mass vaccination, with more than 67,000 healthcare workers receiving a jab in the past 10 days and 80,000 J&J vaccines arriving at the weekend. #Covid #vaccinations #restrictions #SouthAfrica #economy

* The National Treasury has published draft amendments to Regulation 28 9of the Pensions Fund Act to encourage investment in infrastructure. * Public sector unions insist they will accept nothing less than above-inflation salary increases when they enter a fresh round of wage negotiations with the government on Monday, reports the Sunday Times. * Over R2 billion was stolen from Eskom through a network of ghost service suppliers and well-placed officials, according to City Press. * Former ANC MP Vincent Smith, who has been arrested in connection with corruption and state capture at Bosasa and the department of correctional services, will see his and his family's assets frozen after the Investigating Directorate obtained a court order, reports the Sowetan. * The company’s purchase of $9 billion of shares in the fourth quarter matched a record set in the previous three-month period, Buffett said Saturday in his annual letter to investors, reports Bloomberg.

Discovery is held in the BizNews share portfolio. Last week, the group reported on its results for the second half of 2020, with headline earnings per share decreasing by 10%. The share price fell a little and was trading at around R141 by the end of the week. Joining Jackie Cameron of BizNews to pick up on the highlights and how Discovery has benefited from investments in the UK and China and its shared value model is Hylton Kallner, CEO of Discovery Bank and chair of the Discovery South Africa Exco.

In this podcast, BizNews investigator Ané Steytler chats to Eusebius McKaiser about workplace rape culture and how companies do not do enough to protect employees that fall victim to sexual misconduct. With degrees in Law and Philosophy, Eusebius shares his views on how companies fail to take sexual misconduct seriously and how companies can improve on protecting their employees and staying true to company values.

George Dalla Cia of Dalla Cia Wines joins expert Carrie Adams to talk all things Italian. The family-owned winery has released a sparking pinot Grigio, which the pair discuss in great detail - from the vine to the bottle.

Kevin Lings, Chief Economist at Stanlib, a Johannesburg-based asset manager, spoke to Jackie Cameron of BizNews about the budget presented in Parliament this week. He notes that the the South African economy is expected to have contracted by around 7.2% in 2020, its worst annual performance since at least 1960. Closing the gap between South Africa’s current trend growth rate, and a modest target of 3% on a sustained basis is going to require a significantly larger implementation effort than is currently evident. All South Africa’s international credit ratings are now below investment grade. The key driver behind the rating downgrades was the further expected weakening in South Africa's fiscal strength over the medium term. While South Africa is not the only country to have been severely affected by the crisis, its capacity to mitigate the shock over the medium term is regarded as lower than that of many sovereigns given significant fiscal, economic and social constraints and rising borrowing costs, he says. * This podcast is made just for you by BrightRock, the first-ever needs matched life insurance that changes as your life changes.

In this episode of Inside Covid-19, we hear from Professor Eli Schwarz. Professor Schwarz is an Israeli tropical disease expert, who says he has new proof that a drug used to fight parasites in third world countries, could help reduce the length of infection for people who contract the coronavirus. Professor Schwartz, founder of the Centre for Travel Medicine and Tropical disease, has completed a clinical trial of the FDA-approved ivermectin. We hear from our partners at Bloomberg, about how the spread of Covid-19 appears to be slowing as vaccine rollout ramps up around the world Also in the show, we hear from Discovery’s Head of Legal Services, Harry Joffe, about how Covid-19 is changing attitudes to wills and life cover. He tells us about an estate preserver that has been launched to cover the costs associated with dying, including the expenses of setting up trusts to safeguard and manage finances for beneficiaries.

The Covid-19 Pandemic has drastically changed the face of IT work environments and so security must evolve. However this should be balanced with the need to reduce workload that compliance places on line of business. Listen to this webinar to learn more about Altron Security's offerings and how they, as Identity Security leaders use AI to make predictive identity a business reality.

* About 4,000 cases of re-infection with Covid-19 have been found in South Africa, Barry Schoub, the chair of the country’s Ministerial Advisory Committee on Vaccines, said. * Administrators for South African Airways have asked for another R3.5bn in taxpayer funds but no money has been set aside. * The SABC is facing an uphill battle to increase TV licence compliance rates, as it faces a tax revolt against corruption and mismanagement at the state broadcaster, reports MyBroadband.co.za. * Liberty Holdings expects to report a loss for the year ended in December after the Covid-19 pandemic hammered its insurance operations in South Africa. * Norway’s $1.3trn wealth fund blacklisted 15 companies for ethical misconduct – including AngloAmerican, Sasol, Glencore.

'A SPAC is a special purpose acquisition company and it's like an IPO in reverse', says Hersov. 'Ours is the only Africa and only mining SPAC on the market - in a sea of them'. He tells BizNews founder Alec Hogg about how the exciting process works and what it entails.

We appear to have created a new tradition. A few hours after finance minister Tito Mboweni’s presentation of the 2021 Budget to Parliament, BizNews community members joined in our webinar with publisher Alec Hogg. He shared a presentation of what he picked up from a morning in “lock up”, after which the fun really started with Alec fielding questions from the audience. A big thanks to our sponsors BrightRock.

Wayne Buckley, the national sales and marketing manager for Wildekrans Wine Estate, joins Carrie Adams to discuss the government's discrimination against the alcohol industry. Plus, what Wildekrans has done to mitigate the fallout of Covid-19.

Finance Minister Tito Mboweni has repeatedly warned that South Africa is in a perilous financial situation. Does the 2021 budget go far enough in reversing economic decline? Dr Azar Jammine is Director and Chief Economist of Econometrix, an independent economic research consultancy. He shares his considered opinion us whether he thinks Finance Minister Tito Mboweni and team have put together a budget that can push the South African economy back into healthy terrain. He says the government intends to chop government spending - but much depends on whether Mboweni can contain public servant wages. Eskom, state entities and the performance of Mboweni compared to his predecessors are also discussed. This podcast is made just for you by BrightRock, the first-ever needs matched life insurance that changes as your life changes.

SA’s trillion dollar debt question: R3.9 trillion - projected to go up to R5 trillion - is a massive jump and a big gamble that the SA economy will pick in a few years, says Magnus Heystek. The Brenthurst Wealth Management founder said, after reading through the details, in sum this is not a bad budget. Conspicuous in its absence was an announcement on the relaxation of exchange control regulations to facilitate offshore diversification through funds. Heystek shares some thoughts on how the budget plays into asset allocation decisions. * This podcast is made just for you by BrightRock, the first-ever needs matched life insurance that changes as your life changes. #Budget2021

Helping to unpick the details of the National Budget and how changes affect your investments and tax bill is Dawn Ridler, of Kerenga Wealth Ecology. She tells Jackie Cameron of BizNews that although there’s a huge hole in government funds, the government needs to be careful of killing the golden goose - the small, shrinking pool of personal income taxpayers. There’s a 2% real increase in tax, through bracket creep, and a wealth tax in the form of a clamp down on taxpayers ‘with complicated tax affairs’. The ending of the 12J scheme is also a disappointment for higher income earners, who have used the incentive to cut their tax bills while at the same time helping start-ups and, in so doing, generate business growth.

* SA needs to borrow more than R500bn a year and is 'dangerously overstretched', says finance minister Tito Mboweni. * SA expects to record its largest tax shortfall on record by the end of the tax year – and a staggering R213bn less than its 2020 Budget expectations. * To help pay for SA’s army of public servants, fuel levies and excise duties on alcohol and tobacco will increase. * South Africa plans to inject R13bn into improving the capability of the South African Revenue Service to improve tax compliance. * The sunset date for 12J venture capital company tax schemes will not be extended beyond June 30. * The poor standard of school education in South Africa has been laid bare in matric results, with only 8% of the 580,000 pupils who sat mathematics achieving the required 60% for entrance to university studies in engineering, commerce and medicine.

* South Africa’s unemployment rate climbed to a record in the fourth quarter as the economy was ravaged by Covid-19 lockdown restrictions . The jobless rate rose to 32.5% from 30.8% in the previous three months, according to Statistics South Africa. * South African Uber drivers are to go to court to seek rights including compensation for unpaid overtime and holiday pay. * Sibanye, the world’s largest source of platinum group metals (PGMs), plans to focus on expanding into battery metals as it looks to capitalise on the global push for green technologies. * Elon Musk is no longer the world’s richest person after Tesla Inc. shares slid 8.6% on Monday, wiping $15.2 billion from his net worth.

The BizNews Share portfolio, launched in December 2014, has delivered spectacular returns for South African investors. Every month, BizNews founder Alec Hogg updates the latest developments at the companies whose stocks are held in the portfolio. Although the strategy has been to buy and hold, the portfolio has seen some adjustments over the five and a half years since its creation. Today roughly two thirds of the assets are invested in US exponential growth stocks and the balance in carefully selected JSE-listings. Here's the February update.

Charl Jacobs, the founder of the Quan Holdings group - which has 12 companies and more than 6,000 employees - is committed to rebuilding South Africa. In this conversation with BizNews, he shares how he wants to change the world for the better and his guiding principles for growing his business and creating jobs. Jacobs shares the details of projects aimed at helping South Africans on limited budgets to educate themselves. In addition to his philanthropy, Jacobs has also got involved in shaking up the political landscape. He is backing Mmusi Maimane and the One South Africa Movement.

Should you invest in mining companies? What will change the bull run? Anglo Gold Ashanti has never been this cheap, notes Peter Major, director of mining, at Mergence Corporate Solutions. Stock-picking is called for, he says. Don’t buy the index. He sets out how one piece of legislation could change shortage of supply.

The Sasol share price gained in value at the start of the week after the company released interim financial results. This came despite the group not declaring an interim dividend. Sasol showed it had made headway in slashing its debt burden by just more than one third or R64bn and increased earnings by more than 100%. Challenges remain, including the company’s embarrassingly large carbon footprint. Sasol Chief Financial Officer Paul Victor spoke BizNews editor at large about the results - and what’s next for the energy and chemical company as it aims to deliver dividends for shareholders. You can get the full details of the results, at BizNews.com

* Boeing has told airlines to stop flying its wide-body 777 aircraft equipped with a type of engine that broke apart during a flight over the weekend near Denver, as the Federal Aviation Administration said it would order immediate inspections of those jets. * Shares of US-listed small companies are outpacing their larger counterparts by the widest margin in more than two decades. Behind their rise: confidence among investors that heavy stimulus and coronavirus vaccine deployment will boost the economy. * China’s banking regulator formalised rules that will force Ant Group Co. and other online lenders to have more skin in the game when they make loans with banks, dealing a blow to a burgeoning business that helped drive Chinese consumer spending in recent years.

* As South Africans prepare to hear the details of the National Budget on Wednesday, 65% of economists surveyed by Bloomberg say the government won’t reach its goal of achieving a primary budget surplus in the next four years. Officials including Mboweni have repeatedly warned that the country faces a sovereign debt crisis unless is takes urgent action. However, plans to reduce expenditure by about 300 billion rand over the next three fiscal years, * Anglo American Platinum Ltd. plans to increase its mine output by about a fifth over the coming decade, while seeking to stimulate demand for the platinum-group metals it produces, reports Bloomberg. * Sasol, the South African chemicals and fuel maker, called off a potential $2 billion share sale and announced first-half profit more than tripled. The shares hit the highest in a year. * Many EOH employees are angry, reports mybroadband.co.za, because they have been told they will not receive their expected salary increases this month and that the issue will only be revisited in August.EOH’s 2020 annual reported reveals that CEO Stephen van Coller received a total salary package of R17.6 million over the last financial year - of which more than half was bonus pay.

In this episode, Carrie Adams talks to Gareth Robertson of Anthonij Rupert Wines. The marketing manager of the Franschhoek-based winery discusses challenges the liquor industry has faced over the past year, as well as planning for the upcoming harvest.

* As Finance minister Tito Mboweni gets set to present the budget this week, analysts have warned that South Africa’s loss of skilled and high earners could limit room to raise income taxes. * More than a fifth of all property sellers in the R2.6m and up price bracket have plans to emigrate - with the emigration trend a concern as individuals earning R1m and more pay more than 40% of income tax. * The opposition Democratic Alliance has launched a petition to stop the Expropriation Bill in its tracks. The ANC wants to push through Zimbabwe-style land grabs - which are seen as a huge threat to the economy. * South African National Defence Force senior generals thought the country was involved in a biological war, which caused them to buy R260-million worth of useless medicine from Cuba to fight Covid-19, reports MyBroadband.co.za. * South African retailer Massmart - owner of Game and Makro - said on Friday it was planning further store closures and flagged a deeper full-year net loss of more than R1.7 billion. * Bitcoin surged to another record on Saturday after reaching more than $1 trillion in market value for the first time,