Author: Alec Hogg
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BizNews Edge: Second prosecution boss falls at Madlanga Commission; ANC heads into a tough November
Two prosecution bosses down, and counting. The Madlanga Commission has just claimed its second casualty, and a leaked recording shows exactly how bad it got. Meanwhile fresh polling suggests the ANC is about to lose over 500 council seats, Interpol has crowned South Africa the ransomware capital of the continent, and the FSCA has landed…
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BN Daybreak: SA corruption probes; Trump’s Iran pause; SpaceX upcoming earnings, FIFA backlash
Listen here Today’s BizNews Daybreak examines Japan’s US-coordinated currency intervention, OPEC+ production increases, and energy lobby opposition to US biofuels legislation. South Africa’s corruption commission delivers unprecedented accountability, while Donald Trump pauses planned Iran strikes pending rapid talks. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 opens at 7,489 and SpaceX prepares for a high-stakes earnings call this Wednesday.…
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FSCA levies record R2.8bn fines – led by Banxso, Grobler plus 74 others
The FSCA’s latest Regulatory Actions Report, released on Friday, reveals a dramatic escalation in enforcement: R2.8bn in penalties across 76 people and entities, twenty-four times the prior year’s total. Banxso, the trading platform behind deepfake ads featuring Elon Musk and Johann Rupert, accounts for most of it – fined over R2bn after a whistleblower’s BizNews…
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AI is getting better at writing. Humans must get better at editing
Writing has always been a struggle – even for the greatest authors. But now artificial intelligence promises to remove the pain, producing words at a speed no human can match. As machines become increasingly skilled at mimicking our voices, a new question emerges: what happens to creativity, originality, and the craft of writing? Explore the…
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Ramaphosa finally forces Eskom to stop being referee and player
For a century, Eskom has generated South Africa’s electricity, owned the wires that carry it, and sold it to customers – a conflict of interest that helped produce the rolling blackouts we came to call load shedding. On Friday, President Ramaphosa endorsed a plan to finally separate the transmission grid into an independent operator, making…
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Lewis Group’s R88 share price doesn’t add up – good news for Ricardo Portfolio
Lewis Group’s furniture and appliance business just delivered a stellar year. Yet the shares still trade on a price-earnings multiple of roughly 5 times. That gap between performance and valuation is exactly what caught our eye for the Ricardo portfolio. Weighing net asset value, earnings power and dividend yield together, I’ve lifted our adjusted intrinsic…
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Amazon’s AI gamble pays off as cloud growth sends shares soaring
Amazon’s massive AI bet is starting to deliver results, sending shares soaring and reshaping expectations around the future of cloud computing. After months of investor questions over whether billions in spending would pay off, the tech giant has revealed new momentum that could change the conversation. With demand for artificial intelligence accelerating and its cloud…
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The NdB Sunday Show – The fall of Malema’s “Winnie” Johnson – and an Arab Spring brewing…
Listen here In this edition of the NdB Sunday Show, Chris Steyn and Jonathan Deal, the founder of Safe Citizen, talk about the fall of Investigations Directorate Against Organised Crime (IDAC) Chief Andrea Johnson – whom Economic Freedom (EFF) Fighter CIC Julius Malema likened to the late Winnie Mandela – and who was tipped to…
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August curse returns as Rand faces seasonal slump and policy uncertainty
August has long been the rand’s most unforgiving month, but this year the usual seasonal pressures are colliding with fresh uncertainty over South Africa’s monetary policy. A surprise Reserve Bank decision, shifting investor sentiment, and renewed expectations of higher US interest rates have left traders questioning whether the currency’s recent resilience can last. As foreign…
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When history rhymes: AI’s dangerous parallel with 2008 – John Authers
History may not repeat, but it often rhymes – and today’s AI boom is echoing a far more troubling chapter than the dot-com crash. As investors pour billions into artificial intelligence, growing debt, soaring infrastructure costs, and mounting pressure on cash flow are raising fears of a 2008-style credit bubble. This thought-provoking analysis explores why…
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UCT’s 35% medical-aid cut for retirees exposes its denials of financial crisis
Marika Sboros writes that UCT gave retirees less than two business days’ notice before announcing plans to cut their medical-aid subsidies by 35%, affecting around 1,800 people (1200 retirees plus their spouses and dependents). The move directly contradicts Council Chair Norman Arendse’s public claims that UCT remains financially healthy despite donor losses linked to its…
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UCT’s 35% medical-aid cut for retirees exposes its denials of financial crisis
Marika Sboros writes that UCT gave retirees less than two business days’ notice before announcing plans to cut their medical-aid subsidies by 35%, affecting around 1,800 people (1200 retirees plus their spouses and dependents). The move directly contradicts Council Chair Norman Arendse’s public claims that UCT remains financially healthy despite donor losses linked to its…
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Empathy is a skill: Here’s how to learn it
By Toni Botes While we need to satisfy our most basic needs, such as food, shelter, and Wi-Fi, to exist; it’s a pretty miserable existence without emotional connection. In our increasingly productivity-driven world, many of us are beginning to realise that perhaps human connection is more critical than ever. The foundations of such connection can…
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US tourists outnumber all of BRICS combined — SA’s real friends aren’t who Pretoria says
South Africa’s foreign policy rhetoric and its tourism numbers tell two different stories. New Stats SA data shows nearly 190,000 Americans visited SA in the first half of 2026 — almost double the combined total from Brazil, Russia, India and China, SA’s own BRICS partners. The UK and Germany added further evidence: together with the…
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SA-founded crypto exchange Luno slashes 20% of workforce in major shake-up
Luno, the crypto exchange that started in South Africa and is now owned by Digital Currency Group, is cutting about 20% of its global staff as it restructures around institutional clients rather than volatile retail trading. CEO James Lanigan says automation and operational efficiencies have reduced the resourcing the business needs, freeing it to expand…
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Amazon, Microsoft results show Big Tech’s AI spending spree is far from over
Amazon has lifted its 2026 capital spending forecast to $220 billion, mostly earmarked for AI, while Microsoft’s cloud growth triggered a $450 billion single-day jump in market value, the biggest in stock market history. Alphabet and Meta also raised spending guidance, but investors punished both over unclear returns, with Meta down nearly 8% and Alphabet…
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As Europe burns, insurers warn climate risk is now permanent
Europe’s insurers, reinsurers and brokers say the wildfires tearing through Spain, France, Greece and even the UK aren’t a one-off shock but a long-term shift in the continent’s catastrophe risk. Axa, Allianz and Aon all warn that rising temperatures, now climbing twice as fast as the global average, are driving bigger losses and higher premiums,…
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Lesaka locks in new boss Mazanderani through 2029 — why the fine print matters
Lesaka Technologies, the Nasdaq- and JSE-listed fintech born from the ashes of Net1, has extended Executive Chairman Ali Mazanderani’s tenure through mid-2029 via two newly signed contracts disclosed to the SEC. The filing formalises what markets had long suspected: Mazanderani, who also chairs Teya and has sat on StoneCo’s and Network International’s boards, works at…
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Infantino puts the FIFA ‘Greed Machine’ into overdrive with $20bn proposal
FIFA president Gianni Infantino wants to sell a minority stake in a new $20 billion commercial entity to outside investors, dangling $20 million in development funding for each of football’s 211 member associations, including the South African Football Association. UEFA has voted to boycott FIFA tournaments if the plan proceeds, and Britain’s prime minister has…
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Magnus Heystek: Why I didn’t bring one cent back from abroad
Magnus Heystek defends his long-standing recommendation to keep client money offshore, despite the JSE’s standout 2025 (53% vs the S&P 500’s 17%). He argues that the rally was narrow and misleading, driven mainly by gold shares and Naspers/Prosus — with gold alone estimated to account for roughly 40% of the ALSI’s five-year gains despite representing…