Rational Perspective

In this episode of Personal Finance Live, we talk global property investing for South Africans keen to diversify their portfolios, with: Brenthurst founder and chairman Magnus Heystek who likes the appeal of Mauritius but warns against indiscriminate purchasing as not every property project is created equal. Orbvest director Justin Clarke who updates us on the mushrooming company which focuses on medical properties in the USA, applying knowledge acquired in this specialised niche back home. Cape property icon Johnny Rabie - whose company with his name developed the massive Century City project - whose first offshore development, in Portugal, is going gangbusters. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last week, South Africans came together to mourn the loss of musician Johnny Clegg. Clegg, who was born in the UK, moved to South Africa as a young child. His wholehearted embrace of Zulu culture and his political advocacy against racism and apartheid set him apart in a relentlessly divided country. In this episode, Alec Hogg describes his experiences at Clegg’s memorial service and reflects on the life of a great South African. On a more sombre note, he and Felicity Duncan discuss his visit to KwaZulu-Natal and the evidence of corruption and mismanagement that he say in Zuma’s heartland. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Alec Hogg's weekly Rational Radio show: Former SARS spokesman and co-author of the "Rogue: The inside story of SARS's elite crime busting unit." He talks about what happened at SARS, the rolling back of State Capture - and the shadowy antibodies fighting it. Whistleblower Juan Lerena who was sued by former employer Sime Darby after he reported the company and Unilever to the Competition authorities for collusion. He has paid a hefty price for his action. Fasie Malherbe, co-founder of Lobster Ink, which was recently sold to multinational Ecolab for well north of R1bn. He shares his entrepreneurial journey and offers some advice for fellow SA business builders. Whistleblower Cynthia Stimpel, former treasurer at SAA, who was dismissed for standing in the way of a corrupt deal that would have cost the airline R250m. She shares what happened and her journey since July 2016. SA's favourite market commentator David Shapiro takes a closer look at the impact of the electric car revolution and lets u

In this producer's cut of the inaugural episode of Personal Finance Live: Biznews.com's London-based "take no prisoners" columnist Simon Lincoln Reader shares what friends and associates of say makes new UK prime minister Boris Johnson tick - and how the UK will fare under his leadership; Orbis head of UK Dan Brocklebank shares his thoughts on investing in that country, the pound, stocks (and bonds) to be wary of and why his favourite share is Chinese; and South African forensic investigator Paul O'Sullivan unpacks what got the country's embattled Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane into the mess she's in - and how the Forensics for Justice investigation into a corrupt contract at Transnet is linked to yesterday's arrest of the Kenyan finance minister. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Corruption and mismanagement are far from a uniquely public sector problem, as the tales of EOH and Hulamin show. Hulamin has succeeded in destroying billions of rands in capital over the last decade through sheer poor judgement and bad management, while EOH has found itself mired in a billion-rand corruption scandal that reaches all the way to board level. In this episode, Alec Hogg and Felicity Duncan discuss this sorry state of affairs, looking at how these companies managed to get so far off the rails. They also discuss the latest developments in the Bosasa/Cyril Ramaphosa case, looking at the Public Prosecutor’s Friday decision that Ramaphosa is guilty of an offense. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When I met Lyndsey Duff she was based at South Africa House on Trafalgar Square in London, responsible for inward investment into the country. That must have been one of the most difficult jobs on earth, given the State Capture chaos being wrought by the Zuptoids. Instead of following one of many alternative paths, the former diplomat returned home to help introduce the revolutionary What3words system into a country that desperately needs to extend benefits of the formal economy to millions excluded from it. She explained the progress on this week's Rational Radio. - Alec Hogg See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of my scariest moments as a crime reporter in the 1990s was being shot at by a gangster in the Cape Flats. I was driving alone in a gang-infested suburb when a young boy, who couldn't have been 13 years old, suddenly stepped out of a group and pointed a gun at me as I drew to a stop at an intersection. As he readied to pull the trigger I put my head down below the dashboard and drove, like a blind person, at speed across the intersection, thinking I had a better chance of surviving a car crash than the young boy's bullet. Miraculously, I got through the traffic unscathed. That was just one of many close brushes I had with gangsters. Not all were violent towards me; I was invited for tea on several occasions with a hardened gangland boss, who would update me on the nuances of the turf wars between various groups. I was in his contact book and he was kind enough to call me periodically to give me the heads-up on murders that I'd missed, or read incorrectly, in my daily crime wrap. Nothing has changed since

I met Chris Logan more than a quarter century back when presided over South Africa's hottest unit trust management company in an era when these pooled investment funds were mushrooming.  Under his watchful eye, the funds managed by Logan's star team at BOE Asset Managers (like Jenny Ferrini, Anet Ahern and Tracey Chiappini) topped most performance tables in SA's pre-Allan Gray era. After Nedbank acquired BOE, Logan moved on and after a short spell with HSBC, started his Cape Town-based Opportune Investments. Having his own business enabled the beach boy from KZN's Amanzimtoti to indulge his water-based hobbies - and get more involved in activist investing through attacking value traps like the Liberty and Pick 'n Pay pyramid structures. He has been a long-time and very public critic of accounting practices at Tongaat, and after proving his point there, has switched his attention to its former subsidiary Hulamin. He explained why on Rational Radio. - Alec Hogg See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informati

South African-raised British peer Lord Peter Hain is applying pressure on the Westminster Government to stop doing business with global consultancy firm Bain & Co over its misbehaviour in South Africa. The commission of inquiry into the near collapse of SA Revenue Services concluded that there was a "premeditated offensive against SARS by Bain for former commissioner Tom Moyane to seize SARS." The Nugent Commission's final report says Bain executives "trained" Moyane, meeting with him on numerous occasions in the year before his appointment. Bain officials also met at least ten times with then president Jacob Zuma. The Nugent commission concluded that this was to advance a plan to de-fang SARS, and stop its investigations into Zuma associates. Peter Hain tabled questions about Bain in the House of Lords - we caught up with him for Rational Radio. - Alec Hogg See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

South Africa's favourite market commentator David Shapiro broke away a little from his usual contribution to reminisce about an interview he conducted with the late musical icon Johnny Clegg who passed away yesterday. In this episode of Rational Radio, Shapiro also shares his thoughts about Impala and Aspen, two of the JSE's fallen angels, and points us towards JSE stocks he believes offer value for investors. - Alec Hogg See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Here's the producer's cut of the Rational Radio show broadcast on 17 July 2019. Featured this week in order of appearance: David Shapiro reminisces about the late Johnny Clegg who died yesterday; addresses the reasons for Impala and Aspen's fall from grace; and offers some juicy investment options. Lord Peter Hain speaks to us from London where he is putting pressure on global consulting firm Bain & Co, which has been fingered as the instigator of the decimation of SA Revenue Services. Investec's head of private equity Peter Baird unpacks the rationale behind the bank's Africa fund's first investment into Egypt - a controlling stake in 92 year old quality food retailing group Spinneys for a rumoured $100m. Veteran money manager and activist investor Chris Logan has been taking a very close look at Hulamin - pointing out parallels with its embattled former parent Tongaat. Logan reckons shareholders need to get involved to fix it. The day before his State of the Province address, Western Cape Alan Winde explain

In today’s global business headlines: The Zondo Commission has been adjourned until tomorrow after former President Jacob objected to being cross-examined. The Democratic Alliance has asked the Zondo commission to investigate the ANC role in cadre-deployment at the SOEs. Former PIC chairman Dan Matjila denies having taken bribes. South Africa’s retail-sales grew by 2.2% in May. 1,200 new jobs have been created at Ford’s plant in Silverton. Elon Musk has unveiled Neuralink, a data transmission system between people and computers. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Johannesburg listed ICT group EOH has been rocked by allegations of bribery, corruption and theft, with its CEO Stephen van Coller saying on Tuesday that an internal probe has revealed that "about eight" people had been involved in a "suspicious transaction" totalling R1.2bn between 2014 and 2017. The once-great Tongaat Hulett is fighting for survival. The KwaZulu-Natal corporate giant wants an interest repayment holiday on R11bn worth of debt and is cutting costs and restructuring, says Bloomberg. Anglo American Platinum is set to dazzle investors when it unveils its financial results on July 22. One of South Africa’s biggest shareholders of South African listed companies, the Government Employees Pension fund, wants to invest more of its R2 trillion under management outside the country. Paypal co-founder Peter Thiel has lashed out at Google for cosying up to the Chinese government, with US President Donald Trump moving quickly to support the billionaire silicon valley entrepreneur. See omnystudio.com/liste

Milestone Property CEO Oscar Phoku has been through the wringer over the past five years, courtesy of South Africa's Council For Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration. But his struggle came to a successful conclusion on July 4 when Justice Maletsatsi Betty Mahalelo ruled in his favour, and ordered the CCMA to pay all the legal costs. Now Phoku is suing the CCMA for R80m in damages suffered during those five years of hell after he acquired and refurbished a landmark Cape Town building which the CCMA contractually agreed to occupy - but reneged upon four months after the date of supposed occupation. Phoku unpacked the sage for us on Rational Radio. - Alec Hogg    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Seven years ago, when Juan Lerena encountered things he couldn't stomach at his employer, Malaysian multinational Sime Darby Hudson Knight, he decided to do something about it. After resigning, Lerena reported the company and Dutch multinational Unilever to the South African competition authorities - and every other regulatory body he could think of. Sime Darby has admitted collusion and paid a fine of R35m. Unilever's hearing at the Competition Tribunal began on Monday (15 July) and is set down to run from 10am to 4pm until Friday. There's clearly a great deal at stake for the Dutch company which has invested a fortune in projecting a squeaky clean image. We spoke to Juan Lerena on Rational Radio.      See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There was no time in my recollection when my modest shoe collection did not include a pair of "vellies" - the iconic South African product that goes back to the days when people used animal hide to make their footwear. But it was only in January that I became acquainted with a supercharged version that is now being marketed globally by a company called well, Veldskoen. The stylish version of the old classic came to my rescue, via ace photographer Greg Beadle, during the World Economic Forum in Davos. On Rational Radio this week I got to chat to one of the co-founders of this young business which is now 49% owned by Brian Joffe's JSE-listed investment company Long4Life. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EOH chief executive Steve van Coller has had a roller coaster ride since his appointment a year ago, hitting another trough this morning. At a hastily called media conference this morning, the CEO of the one time JSE darling, did his best to explain that Friday's resignations of two divisional heads and a non executive director of the board had nothing to do with corruption. The EOH share price, which has fallen from over R170 to R20 in the past three years, lost 4% today. Van Coller, who previously ran Barclays Capital in South Africa, joined EOH after a two year stint at MTN. Here is this morning's presentation. - Alec Hogg See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's headlines: Former president Jacob Zuma appeared at the Zondo commission to discuss allegations of corruption and state capture. Andre Pillay, who joined Eskom in 2011 and was made treasurer in 2016, will leave at the end of August. Inflation in Zimbabwe hits an eye-watering 176%, according to data released on Monday.  China's second-quarter annual GDP growth fell to a 27-year low of 6.2%, as expected, but its quarterly growth reading of 1.6% beat forecasts, says Reuters. The big winner on the Johannesburg stock exchange on Monday was mining holding company Assore, which moved up nearly 8%. The big loser was pharmaceutical company Aspen, which shed nearly 4% of its stock price. Currencies: Late on Monday R13.92 would buy you one greenback, the rand was trading at R17.44 to the British pound and at R15.68 to the Euro. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Whomever advised Zuma on how to handle himself when providing testimony to the Zondo Commission Inquiry in to State Capture needs their head read. The first rule when you’re on the record, is to stick to a script: keep it short and clear. Zuma’s testimony was the precise opposite. Another critical rule, especially when you’re appearing on live television, is to pay close attention to your body language. Nowadays a few minutes on Youtube turns anyone into an expert on "exposing" liars. Zuma’s testimony was classic deception down to the fake cough, mouth cover and nose touch. In this episode of the Rational Perspective podcast we draw on Anthony Butler's excellent Ramaphosa biography to provide context to an incoherent couple of hours when SA's fuzzy minded former president increased his prospect of incarceration. - Alec Hogg See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

South Africa's Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are mushrooming as investors snap up exposure to global market indices and assets like gold for as little as R125/month. In 2000, the first EFT was launched. There are now about 105 ETFs and ETNs, issued by about a dozen companies, with more than R90bn invested in these funds. It is the biggest product of its type outside unit trust funds, and is bigger than the private equity and hedge fund sectors. The market capitalisation of the ETF sector jumped by about 20% over the past year. In this interview with BizNews Radio, ETF entrepreneur Mike Brown of etfSA.co.za explains why ETFs are hotting up as an investment option. He picks up on the types of ETFs that are becoming popular, those that are producing tantalising returns for investors and explains how smart beta funds - the sexy new investment option in passive investing internationally - work. If you are looking for investment ideas and want to narrow your choice between more than 100 ETFs available in South Afric