BizNews Radio (OLD)
Welcome to BizNews Radio where we interview top thought leaders and business people from South Africa and across the globe.
BCG vaccine trial update, with Professor Andreas Diacon
Stellenbosch University Professor Andreas Diacon is the force behind a 500-person clinical trial aimed at determining whether the BCG vaccines many South Africans got as children to protect against TB are indeed a shield against Covid-19. The trial involves revaccination of BCG that’s been universally applied in South Africa since…
Booze ban back, curfew, strict face-mask rules; ANC plan to grab your pension fund assets; Old Mutual Zim crisis
In this snapshot of the headlines: * South Africa has reintroduced the ban on the sale and distribution of alcohol, is imposing a curfew and enforcing stricter face-mask rules as hospitals come under pressure from Covid-19. Listen to his key points. * The ANC has released its plan to get…
Cyril Ramaphosa: Here's why SA needs a booze ban, curfews and compulsory face masks
The National State of Disaster has been extended to 15 August. Although the country will remain at level three of the lockdown strategy, some strict measures have been reintroduced - including bans on the sale and distribution of alcohol and family and other social visits - and everyone will be…
Allan Gray's new chief investment officer Duncan Artus on plans to improve investment performance
Duncan Artus is stepping up to become chief investment officer for Allan Gray - an investment company that has attracted huge funds on the back of past superior performance but that has disappointed its clients in recent years. In this interview with BizNews founder Alec Hogg, he picks up on…
ANC wants pension funds to take over restructured Eskom assets - here's its plan
The ANC unveiled its plan for economic recovery post Covid-19 and although its plan has some of the broad measures suggested by B4SA; it includes a proposal that pension funds should take over restructured assets of Eskom. - Linda van Tilburg
SA's R3.4 trillion 'parachute' plan, the 'last chance saloon' - Martin Kingston, B4SA
South Africa's economy was under pressure before Covid-19. Now it is in a very dark place. For B4SA it is over a cliff and it needs a "parachute". B4SA has provided the details of a plan it believes can get SA back on track. Listen to Business Unity SA's spokesperson…
The Editor’s Desk: Was lockdown a mistake (and should insurers pay for it)?
The decision to impose lockdown has come in for a lot of criticism these days, especially as the economic costs of the lockdown continue to mount. In this episode, Felicity Duncan and BizNews editor Jackie Cameron discuss the rationale behind lockdown, looking at the accuracy of Covid-19 predictions and the…
SA epidemiologist warns Covid-19 will leave many ‘alive but permanently impaired’
Epidemiologist Dr Jo Barnes warns about another scary side of the Covid-19 story: many of us will be left alive, but permanently impaired. In this interview with BizNews founder Alec Hogg, she picks up on a heated debate about flawed Covid-19 statistics, saying that the focus on death rates is…
Covid-19 jumps in Gauteng; FSCA to act against insurers in business interruption scandal; JP Markets
In today's news headlines: * Gauteng, the richest province in South Africa, has become the centre of the country’s coronavirus outbreak; * South Africa’s manufacturing output fell 49.4% year on year in April during a nationwide lockdown, says Reuters; * The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has filed an urgent…
Kisby Fund: A life-saving option for SMEs - Mark Barnes
The Kisby Fund is a tech-savvy financial approach to assisting small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs). Its charismatic chair Mark Barnes tells BizNews founder Alec Hogg that the secret to economic dignity is well-funded small enterprises that foster job creation. Barnes is a well-known visionary, widely credited for the financial and…
Early Covid-19 SA sufferer Old Mutual exec Andrew McPherson: 'I still can't smell'
Old Mutual’s Andrew McPherson was among the first South Africans to test positive for Covid-19. He reflects on what life is like three months later and says he still has problems, for example he has not recovered his sense of smell. Although he has suffered from Covid-19, and wears a…
Inside Covid-19: Back to school anxiety; revisiting Dr Jo Barnes, Prof Andreas Diacon and Andrew McPherson. Ep 58
In episode 58 of Inside Covid-19, we assess the anxiety about sending children back to school and media reports the coronavirus is now airborne; we revisit with two of our medical experts, forthright epidemiologist Dr Jo Barnes who sees a bright side for the nation after the very hard road…
Covid-19 in SA hospitals: Dr Noluthando Nematswerani of Discovery on how the pandemic is affecting SA
Doctor Noluthando Nematswerani is with us as one of our regular visitors here on the BizNews Inside Covid-19 podcast. She looks at how infections, and with that, hospital admissions in South Africa are escalating, in this interview with BizNews founder Alec Hogg.
Zondo R700m bill to probe state capture: SA could run out of ICU beds; SAA; Steinhoff; Santam
In today's news headlines: * The Zondo commission into state capture has cost a staggering R700m so far - and still no arrests in sight; * South Africa could run out of capacity in Intensive Care Units, the health minister has warned; * SAA has a new scheme to help…
Outsurance, an outlier pays claims for business interruption - Danie Mathee
This week a Western Cape High Court ruled in favour of a Cape restaurant, Café Chameleon. Insurance Claims Africa, fighting for 500 business in the country to get their claims paid out, says the decision is precedent-setting. But the country’s biggest short-term insurer, Santam, announced yesterday that it is sticking…
Rational Radio: Sean Emery - How Kisby Fund is helping SA businesses to survive, thrive beyond Covid-19
The Kisby fund is bringing in money from investors who want to put their money into getting good businesses back on track as they emerge from the Covid-19 crisis. Sean Emery, a driving force behind the fund, shares the details of the inner workings of the fund, noting that the…
Prof Alan Whiteside on Covid-19: Why SA deaths baffling everyone - and UK, US have made projections look stupid
Prof Alan Whitesite, an HIV/Aids specialist who like many other medical academics has become obsessed with Covid-19, shares his thoughts on the latest developments. Now based in the UK, the ex-KZN University and now the Global Health prof at Waterloo University, keeps a close watch on developments in his old…
Nick Hudson, the PANDA actuary who tells it like it is: SA has more to worry about than Covid-19
Nick Hudson, an actuary at PANDA, gives an update on their projection models from an interview in June and on how South Africa has more to worry about than Covid 19.
Small business wins big victory in Covid-19 insurance battle; consumer confidence hits Rubicon lows; Edcon; SA arms
In today's news headlines: * A small Cape Town restaurant, Café Chameleon, triumphed against Guardrisk Insurance, part of insurance giant Momentum Metropolitan Holdings; * Consumer confidence has crashed to lowest level since 1985; * An anti-arms activist, Terry Crawford-Browne has called for a Parliamentary investigation into arms exports from South Africa;…
Santam fights hard to avoid paying business interruption insurance claims to small companies
The reluctance of the big insurers like Santam to pay claims for Covid-19 business interruption is threatening thousands of jobs. There has been a first victory for a Cape restaurant against Guardrisk, but Santam has dug in its heels and says it is convinced that the lockdown during Covid-19 is…