South Africa is getting left behind as businesses and governments embrace blockchain. In this in-depth conversation with entrepreneur and disruptor Monica Singer, founder and former CEO of Strate and now South Africa lead for the world's largest blockchain company, we explore how governments are embracing blockchain to maintain control of money flows, improve efficiency and excise corruption. Singer, who is influential in the accounting profession, shares what businesses need to do to stay competitive as the next technological seismic shift changes accounting practices and eliminates back office staff.

In today's headlines: * The alcohol ban is hammering South Africa’s glass packaging industry, which could lose a further R1.5bn in sales; * Acting on tip-offs, police have been cracking down on restaurants serving alcohol in contravention of Covid-19 regulations; * Global stock markets sank on Monday as soaring Covid-19 cases offset investor hopes of a quick economic recovery; * Truworths was one of the best performers at the start of the week, gaining about 15% even though it has warned of a profit drop.

South Africa-listed retailer Truworths was among the top performers on the Johannesburg exchange at the start of the week, even though it has warned its profits for the half-year to the end of December will most likely fall by as much as 9%. BizNews speaks to independent analyst Christopher Gilmour, who specialises in consumer industrial stocks, for his take on what’s driving the Truworths share price - and how he sizes up South African retailers.

Ivermectin, an FDA-approved anti-parasitic agent, has been found, in the laboratory, to inhibit the replication of the virus that causes Covid-19. In South Africa, it is not registered for human use and there are reports of people resorting to the veterinary version. A black market has developed. Earlier this month, Johannesburg-listed Ascendis Health distanced itself from the human use of its Ivermax 1%, an antiparasitic remedy for livestock. Eustace Davie, health policy expert at the Free Market Foundation, says it doesn’t make sense that Ivermection, a medicine listed by the World Health Organisation as essential, is banned in South Africa. He explains why politicians are in breach of the Constitution by banning the drug.

With the Covid-19 lockdowns knocking economic activity, Bright Light Solar has been unable to deploy its excess capital, so is cutting the 2021 fund raise back to R50m. The 12J tax incentives make this an especially appealing investment opportunity that was very well supported last year by the Biznews community. But with the smaller capital raise, Bright Light CEO Kevin Shames explains in this podcast why it will be first-come-first-allocated when the fund raising opens on February 1.

The Land bank has lost its backing from Treasury in debt recovery plans. Ascendis Health speaks on the use of its animal health drug Ivermax in Covid-19 cases as KZN leaders lose their battle with the virus.

Short-sellers have been blamed for some of the worst failures in the world's financial markets. In South Africa, Capitec was famously rattled by short-sellers, in 2018, complaining to the regulatory authorities about an inaccurate analyst’s report that had shifted the share price. But sometimes, short-sellers go to great extremes to push a stock price down in order to make money. Tesla founder Elon Musk has aired his suspicions in the past that short sellers had hired people to sabotage robots at his company’s plant in California. In this 10-minute podcast produced by our partners at Bloomberg, you will hear a chilling story about how a short-seller went as far as attempting to murder an entire football team in order to manipulate the stock price down.

This week index-tracking pioneer 10X Investments announce the sudden departure of its founder, Steven Nathan. Old Mutual-appointed chairman Henk Beets hastily moved into the CEO’s office with the company spinning the exit as friendly. It said: “Steven was presented with an opportunity to sell his shares…..he decided the timing was right. It was an amicable parting of the ways.” But, as BizNews founder Alec Hogg told BizNews Premium subscribers, the official line is absolute rot. Take a listen to this flashback interview with the principled, enterprising Steven Nathan - who was never afraid to stick his head above the parapet to call out the wrongs in the financial services sector. - Jackie Cameron

Justin Rowe-Roberts, who covers stocks for BizNews.com, shares his highlights on companies that caught the attention of investors during the week. In this episode, he picks up on Naspers and Tencent - and explains why the two companies have a big role in SA portfolios. SA-born Elon Musk is discussed, with some big investors taking profits by selling Tesla shares. Montauk is making the move off the JSE to the US. Pick n Pay has a new boss, headhunted from a top retailer in Europe - but can he beat the stiff competition in SA? - Jackie Cameron

Can South African employers impose mandatory Covid-19 vaccination policies as a pre-requisite to return to work or as a precondition for employment? What happens if an employee refuses to wear a mask, or an employer fails to implement mask-wearing laws? We’ve got the answers to these questions and more on how Covid-19 has changed employment law in South Africa, with specialist Imraan Mahomed of law firm Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr. And, with mass vaccination the big focus for governments around the world as the spread of Covid-19 remains out-of-control, we hear from our partners at Bloomberg why some healthcare workers in the United States are refusing to be vaccinated. Plus, the week’s Covid-19 news highlights. - Jackie Cameron

Eskom implements four days of power cuts after multiple breakdowns. Pick 'n Pay's CEO, Richard Brasher will retire soon. De Beers has cut its buyer's club and Dr. Anthea Jeffery unpacks land expropriation without compensation.

In a sobering assessment of the state of the South African economy, Marius Oosthuizen, an economics and leadership expert at the University of Pretoria's Gordon Institute of Business Science (Gibs), warns that the country has run out of money and politicians have run out of ideas. He explains why ANC policy is not working to generate the higher level of economic growth needed to create jobs. Bloated state-owned entities like Eskom are dissected, too, in this in-depth discussion with Jackie Cameron, editor at large, at BizNews. Oosthuizen says an alternative is for regions and cities to circumvent problems.

South Africa is preparing to regulate crypto currencies like Bitcoin. In addition to protecting individuals, the new rules may pave the way for a mushrooming of products with crypto currencies as their underlying basket of investments. Brandon Topham, Divisional Executive for Investigations and Enforcement at the regulatory Financial Sector Conduct Authority, set out the details of the proposed legislation - and provides an update on crypto currency-linked Mirror Trading International (MTI), whose boss has disappeared along with investor funds.

South African investment professional Kokkie Kooyman is probably the best financial sector analyst in the world. He knows every publicly listed bank and insurer. The Denker Capital global financial fund manager encouraged people to invest when the herd was stampeding away from stocks in 2020. Now, although markets have perked up, Kooyman believes bank stocks are likely to deliver superior returns and there's an opportunity to get in relatively early for the ride. Big buyers are coming back into the market, with banks allowed to buy back their shares. In this interview, he sets out his global investment ideas. He also weighs in on South African bank shares - which have the weight of a troubled economy on them - and controversial SA insurer Santam, which has been fighting an ugly battle with its clients over business interruption cover. - Jackie Cameron

The AU secured 300 million Covid-19 vaccines. Where do private medical scheme members fall in SA's vaccination schedule? The Wall Street Journal looks at Brazil's vaccine trial manipulation.

President Cyril Ramaphosa told the ANC at the start of the year that passing legislation to allow for land expropriation without compensation is a priority for the ruling party this year. It is move that would most likely deal a devastating blow to the already troubled SA economy because it will deter investment. Dr Anthea Jeffery, a legal expert with the IRR thinktank, unpacks the details of the proposed laws that will allow for the state to seize many of your assets, including your home - regardless of your skin colour. Disadvantaged people won’t receive property equity; instead a system in which property is leased from the state is proposed. She says it is possible this socialist legislation will be passed, because the ANC can secure a two-thirds majority with the Economic Freedom Fighters - a radical group that supports Venezuela-style economics. In this interview with BizNews’ Jackie Cameron, Dr Jeffery sets out what’s next as the EWC policy gains momentum. It’s a mistake to think President Ramaphosa is a pro-business ‘reformer, she says. The IRR is taking steps to fight this legislation that will ‘bring Zimbabwe to South Africa’ and increase unemployment, hunger and suffering, as a deadline looms in February.

In the tech sector, nothing can be taken for granted. Remember the collapse of seemingly impregnable Netscape, MySpace, Napster and Blackberry? The ripple effect of Whatsapp’s new T&Cs - personal data will in future be transferrable between Whatsapp, Facebook and Instagram. In this podcast we speak to tech expert and futurist Pieter Geldenhuys, director of the Institute for Technology Strategy and Innovation, about the recent wake-up call to WhatsApp users - and what the implications are for businesses that are reliant on it, Facebook and other social media channels as marketing platforms.

Cathie Wood's exchange-traded fund, the ARK Innovation ETF, surged by almost 160% last year, growing assets 10-fold—unprecedented inflows for an active fund of that type, notes The Wall Street Journal. She made concentrated bets on hot stocks such as Tesla, Roku, Square and biotechs and told an interviewer last month that she expects to nearly triple unit holders’ money over the next five years. But similar star managers’ performance has tended not only to be mean-reverting but actually worse-than-average after their runs end. In this podcast, Cathie Wood discusses her investment strategy.

With South Africa in the eye of the Covid-19 storm, the pressure is on government to secure vaccines for mass vaccination - and fast. Earlier this week, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the roll out of vaccines would be in 3 phases, starting with health workers and moving on to people in crowded conditions, including prisons. So where do the individuals on private medical schemes fit in to this schedule? We spoke to Dr Lungi Nyathi, Managing Executive for Clinical risk and Advisory at Medscheme - part of the Afrocentric Group which has about 15 schemes and 4m people in its net - for what the private sector is doing to assist with vaccine procurement.

South Africa's government announced that it secured 20 million Covid-19 vaccines, as lockdown is extended. Johnson & Johnson says local trial data will be submitted soon. And the country's oil refining capacity is cut by half until at least 2022.

Santam has agreed to pay up to three months of business interruption cover but that's not the deal that was agreed when many of its clients signed up for the insurance. Meg Fargher, co-owner of 18-room five-star boutique hotel and fine dining establishment Budmarsh, in the Magaliesburg, has been fighting to preserve the jobs of more than two-dozen staff after Covid-19 disruption hammered the business. In this interview, she tells the story of how Santam has ducked, dived on paying out for business interruption cover. To add insult to injury, and also stress levels, while she tries to keep the place running with no income, she has to keep paying her business interruption cover to Santam - or she will automatically lose the right to claim the insurance. This is a story that is playing out across South Africa as small businesses struggle to survive the pandemic.

The Covid-19 pandemic is at its most devastating in South Africa, with more than 190,000 coronavirus infections and more than 4,600 deaths since the start of the year. At least 15,000 people are seriously ill in hospital with roughly one third of these people on oxygen, says President Cyril Ramaphosa. In an update at the start of the week on national rules to curb the spread of Covid-19, he said funerals have been superspreaders, with many funeral attendees among the dead. Nevertheless, he stopped short at cancelling funerals when he announced adjustments to Covid-19 containment measures on Monday night. Curfew has been tweaked, political and sports gatherings won’t be allowed, and the government has promised an aggressive vaccination roll-out programme. President Ramaphosa says the govt is in the process of procuring vaccines through 3 channels and explains the order in the queue. Listen to Ramaphosa's 11 January announcement here.

A special venture capital vehicle, called a 12J, is a tax-efficient investment opportunity for high income earners. The Bright Light Solar 12J has the added advantage of underlying investments in renewable energy roll-out in South Africa. In this interview, Bright Light Solar's Kevin Shames explains the nuts and bolts of the investment opportunity - which opens in February but will close as soon as the capital target has been reached. This is an opportunity exclusively for BizNews community members.

Mixed fortunes in the construction and engineering sector, SA medical grade oxygen supplies take strain and Cartrack's share price takes a hit.

* Land grabs in SA are back on the table, with ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa telling ANC members he expects parliament to approve an amendment to the constitution this year outlining the circumstances in which land may be expropriated without compensation. * President Ramaphosa has also repeated calls for officials accused of corruption to step down, in line with another resolution taken by the party in 2017. * Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Mr Obed Bapela has tested positive for Covid-19 and Deputy Minister Boitumelo Moloi hospitalized for Covid-19 as the number of people who have died of Covid-19 reaches 33,000. * Apple and Amazon - both in the BizNews share portfolio - have suspended Parler following a similar move by Alphabet's Google on Friday. Parler is favored by many supporters of outgoing US President Donald Trump, who was permanently suspended from Twitter on Friday. * Investors are showing signs of increasing exuberance, reflecting optimism about a vaccine-fuelled global recovery and the changed economics of the post-coronavirus world. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.6% for the first week of 2021, marking its fourth-straight weekly gain. * The JSE ended the trading week on a high.