BizNews Radio BizNews

South Africa’s mining investment guru Peter Major has come out all guns blazing against Australian BHP’s “opportunistic” bid for Anglo American. In this powerful interview with BizNews editor Alec Hogg, Major calls on SA’s president and mining minister to step in quickly and promise to reverse legislative mistakes which chased away global investors. Doing so, he says, will save Anglo from BHP’s clutches and turbo-charge the country’s moribund mining sector. Major believes it’s easy to fix - but requires humility and realism from Pretoria. Starting with appeals to an alienated global investment community to stop Wall Street desk jockeys killing SA’s 107 year-old Golden Goose.

Wonderbag was a company established in 2008 methods as a solution to South Africa’s energy crisis providing families with a means to continue cooking daily meals during power outages. Resembling a colourful bag reminiscent of a pumpkin, Wonderbag employs ancient heat retention cooking technology, providing employment and income opportunities to entrepreneurs across the developing world. In South Africa, manufacturing is outsourced to 2000 entrepreneurs, primarily women, providing them with vital income. Founder of Wonderbag, Sarah Collins told Biznews in an interview about the business model she pioneered, her high-profile carbon clients including Sasol, Anglo American and Nandos. She also highlighted South Africa’s role in crafting legislation to bolster carbon credit projects.

President Cyril Ramaphosa does not even know where the Guptas are. That is the riposte from  Glynnis Breytenbach, the Democratic Alliance's Shadow Minister of Justice, to the National Prosecuting Authority (NP) calling in the help of the President to try and fast track the extradition from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of the Guptas. As for the few billion of State Capture loot recovered so far by the NPA, Breytenbach says “it's not even a drop in the ocean of the trillions and trillions and trillions of rands that we were robbed of - and that government officials and cabinet members assisted crooks to steal from us”.  She calls the close to 700 government officials thus far convicted of corruption “petty thieves” - and says “we need to see people at the top of the scale who stole at a breathtaking pace, held to account”. She also gives an update on the proposed establishment of DA-driven Anti Corruption Commission where prosecutors will have “no fear that their work will be undone by a bunch of politicians who don't like being held accountable”.

*This content is brought to you by Jaltech

In a recent webinar, BizNews' Alec Hogg and Jaltech's Jonty Sacks dissected the Section 12B solar investment incentive and unveiled Jaltech's latest venture in this arena. Investors were presented with an opportunity, with the potential to recoup up to 90% of their investment within the first year through SARS refunds and cash inflows. The investment was touted for its promise of dependable cash flows over its term, leveraging electricity sales to reputable commercial and industrial energy consumers in South Africa. Attendees gained invaluable insights into a venture poised to redefine solar investment strategies and capitalise on emerging market trends.

For more information: https://www.biznews.com/jaltech-solar-investment-taxes.

Australian mining group BHP has launched a R650bn takeover bid for SA’s 107-year-old one-time global giant Anglo American – a company now worth just a quarter of BHP’s value. If successful, the deal would merely be “material” rather than “game-changing” for BHP, which is attracted by its rival’s South American copper mines. A key part of the BHP bid is that Anglo must first unbundle its major South African assets Kumba Iron Ore and Anglo Platinum, which the Aussies don’t want any part of. Veteran asset manager Piet Viljoen explains that this is an opening salvo in what could be a lengthy process. He says the bid illustrates SA’s wealth-destructive political governance, practically reflecting the impact of deteriorating national infrastructure and unfriendly business legislation. He spoke to Alec Hogg of BizNews.

South Africa is a tinderbox waiting for a trigger to explode into violence and destruction. That is the warning from retired General Roland de Vries, the former Deputy Chief of the South African Army. In this interview with BizNews, he shares his in-depth assessment of the threat environment -  and lists the possible trigger events for anarchy in election year. The general warns that the ruling African National Congress  (ANC) government does not  have the capability to protect its citizens adequately – and that it is up to the broader community to protect itself. He also gives his take on coalitions - and expresses concern that "we are going to see political infighting happening as never before and this will cause major political instability in our country". Meanwhile, General De Vries has, over the past seven years, helped over 80 communities develop their own community safety plans to empower themselves.