BizNews Radio
Welcome to BizNews Radio where we interview top thought leaders and business people from South Africa and across the globe.
BN Daybreak: Helen Zille on Mashaba; Tech earnings; AI hacking; Iraj Abedian on the Iran conflict
In today's BizNews Daybreak, we cover overnight tech earnings with mixed results from Alphabet, Tesla, IBM, and Texas Instruments. Economist Dr. Iraj Abedian weighs in on the global fallout of the Middle East conflict, while SA engineer Peli Collins discusses his new space startup, Beyond Reach Labs. Meanwhile, OpenAI admits…
Director's Cut - Dr Iraj Abedian: Hormuz stand-off could cost SA more than pain at the petrol pump
Seven months into the Iran war, economist Iraj Abedian tells Alec Hogg that Donald Trump has lost more than the battle for the Strait of Hormuz: he's lost America's standing as the world's dominant power. Abedian explains why the narrow waterway carries a third of global oil, why the mullahs…
Pele Collins: From SpaceX to Y-Combinator: Unlocking the giant origami structures of orbit
Pele Collins went from leading the SpaceX parachute engineering team that brought American astronauts safely home to co-founding a Y Combinator-backed deep tech startup, Beyond Reach Labs. In his latest interview with Irakli, the proudly South African engineer reveals how his team is tackling the ultimate pick-and-shovel play for the…
BizNews Edge: Dr Iraj Abedian - Where SA fits in the Strait of Hormuz standoff
South Africa's BRICS bet on Iran is about to cost you at the pump. As the Strait of Hormuz standoff drags on, economist Iraj Abedian tells Alec Hogg why a third of the world's oil is stuck behind a 33km bottleneck, why Dubai is now more exposed than Israel, and…
Boardroom Talk: RIP RW Johnson - leaving a huge hole in your nation's heart
In today's Boardroom Talk, Alec Hogg confirms the death of RW Johnson, one of South African political writing's sharpest and most combustible voices, and reflects on a decade of working with him: the audiobook that started it, the necrotising fasciitis he refused to let slow him down, the Steenhuisen column…
BN Daybreak: Ramaphosa impeachment risk; Sasol's boom; China's Kimi K3 AI model; Trump tariffs
In today's Daybreak, we unpack the growing impeachment momentum against President Ramaphosa and its potential threat to the government of national unity. We also dive into Sasol's operational rebound, highlighted by Secunda's best production run in five years. Globally, we explore Trump's proposed generic drug tariffs, a chipmaker-led market rally,…
Director's Cut: James Gubb - history of manias guides how to profit from AI revolution
Former hedge fund manager and CFA James Gubb argues the AI boom is real, but many investors are backing the wrong winners. In this interview with Alec Hogg, he explains why Oracle's credit downgrade could signal deeper cracks, why OpenAI and hyperscalers face mounting pressure, how China's AI advances are…
BizNews Edge: Rate hike coming; Gubb on winning from AI mania, Sasol, Nedbank, Kumba
Veteran investor James Gubb joins BizNews Edge to cut through the AI hype, weighing today's data centre spending against history's biggest capital booms and explaining why he's backing energy and nuclear stocks over AI names themselves. Also on today's show: Sasol's operational turnaround continues even as its share price cools…
Ramaphosa impeachment would cause big fractures in the GNU
In this interview with Chris Steyn, Independent Governance Expert Richard Chelin predicts that an impeachment of President Cyril Ramaphosa would have grave consequences for the Government of National Unity (GNU) - particularly in the light of Vice President Paul Mashatile’s keenness to work with parties other than the Democratic Alliance…
BN Daybreak: Police generals' R3.6 bn salary bill; AGOA reforms; Andy Burnham; DA governance
In this episode of BizNews Daybreak, we cover global strikes in the US-Iran conflict, Red Sea shipping risks, Paramount's blocked merger, and new UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham. Locally, Parliament's Ian Cameron questions SAPS's R3.6bn senior leadership salary bill, Mayor Chris Pappas highlights uMngeni's governance model, Russell Lamberti proposes subnational…
BizNews Edge: Chris Pappas — Why the DA's only KZN municipality won't lose its mayor after all
In April he told the country he was done, headed for the private sector. By July he'd changed his mind. Chris Pappas, the DA's rising star and mayor of the party's only municipality in KwaZulu-Natal, explains to Alec Hogg why nobody in his own caucus would take the job, what…
Director's Cut — Chris Pappas reverses course: the real reason he's running for uMngeni mayor again
Chris Pappas was set to leave politics for the private sector. Instead, he's back, seeking a second term as uMngeni mayor after talks from colleagues, community leaders and supporters. In this candid interview with Alec Hogg, Pappas explains why he changed course, reflects on the DA's prospects ahead of the…
Ian Cameron - 722 Generals & Brigadiers @ R3,6-billion, more pressure on CR & another cloud over Mchunu…
In his latest interview with Chris Steyn, Ian Cameron, the Chairperson of Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Police, reveals that the South African Police Service (SAPS) has 722 brigadiers and generals that cost nearly R3.6 billion in pay and maintenance. In addition, only five of 823 senior SAPS officers underwent lifestyle…
BN Daybreak: SA's criminal justice under scrutiny; Chip stock jitters; Netflix's next growth story
In this episode of BizNews Daybreak, political commentator Solly Moeng examines South Africa’s deepening criminal justice crisis. On the global stage, President Trump demands harsher Iran sanctions as Middle Eastern oil routes shift. Meanwhile, Chinese tech startups Moonshot AI and DeepSeek prepare for massive IPOs, investors confront AI energy bottlenecks,…
The NdB Sunday Show: Bring down SA’s “Political Ponzi Scheme”! | with Solly Moeng
In this edition of the NdB Sunday Show with Chris Steyn, Political Commentator Solly Moeng lays into President Cyril Ramaphosa - in particular over his desperate court battle to stave off an impeachment hearing. He also reviews a week of extraordinary dramatic scenes at the Madlanga Commission of Enquiry with…
BN Daybreak: Amazon beats Starlink; PIC's Lanseria crisis; Netflix's slowdown; AI's big margins
In today's BizNews Daybreak we dive into Amazon's quiet maneuver past Starlink into South Africa's satellite internet market via Herotel. We also examine the Public Investment Corporation's escalating governance crisis over the Lanseria Airport transaction, alongside policing gaps fueling local pharmaceutical drug crimes. Internationally, we cover SpaceX’s scrubbed Starship launch,…
Cops fight crime in private vehicles as their “role models” are arrested: Richard Chelin, Willem Els
In their latest interview with Chris Steyn, Willem Els of the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) and Richard Chelin, an independent governance expert, share details of the war on drugs and crime in South Africa. Describing the struggle of dedicated detectives, Els reveals “for the past three months at one…
BizNews Edge: R3.5tn pension fund manager PIC in crisis as FSCA launches Section 135 probe
The PIC's governance crisis has reached the regulator. Hours after suspending CEO Patrick Dlamini and acting CIO August Uys, the board now faces a formal FSCA Section 135 investigation into governance, leadership and transparency at the R3.5 trillion asset manager. DA federal finance chairperson Dr Mark Burke tells Alec Hogg…
The R3.5 trillion crisis: Why the PIC is under fire
South Africa's Public Investment Corporation is facing its biggest governance crisis in years. With CEO Patrick Dlamini suspended, senior executives resigning, and the Financial Sector Conduct Authority launching a formal investigation, questions over transparency, accountability, and the safety of government workers' pension funds are mounting. DA finance spokesperson Dr Mark…
BN Daybreak: PIC executive exodus; South Africa House shut in London; US interest rate hikes
In today's BizNews Daybreak, US-Iran tensions steady oil and Korean tech stocks slide. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh defends his personal trading, while South Africa's PIC faces a deepening executive exodus. We also unpack more on the DA’s Tony Leon lobbying scandal, the temporary closure of London's SA House, and a…