Rational Perspective

In this episode, Alec Hogg and Felicity Duncan dig into the Budget, asking what message Cyril Ramaphosa and Tito Mboweni are sending investors and what that means for South Africa. With all the bad news so clearly and honestly laid out, how will Ramaphosa entice investors? And what will happen if he fails to do so? They also look at the latest news on Tesla - it's a mixed bag, with a strong quarter undermined by news of a criminal investigation into the company's production figures. They also chat about South African entrepreneur Brian Joffe and his take on BEE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s exactly 30 years since chartered accountant Brian Joffe created Bidvest, a multinational conglomerate which peaked at a valuation of R160bn before the unbundling of its Foodservice arm. With that done, Joffe left his creation. But soon after leaving Bidvest he embarked on a second act called Long4Life. Investors loved the story of this experienced entrepreneur returning to the fray. Especially small punters who saw it as a chance to get in on the ground floor with a partner with legendary deal-making and capital allocating talents. We are among these fans, having allocated 8% of the Biznews SA Champions portfolio to Joffe’s new creation. But it’s been a rough ride. Initially Long4Life shares traded at a generous premium to the pre-listing issue price. But as the South African economy came under increasing pressure, so too has Long4Life’s shares. This year so far the stock has lost a third of its value and now trades just above the level at which Joffe himself invested R100m, chafing the competitive

JOHANNESBURG — If you invest in actively managed funds, this interview with Zack Bezuidenhout of S&P Dow Jones Indices is sure to make you sit up and take notice. According to the latest SPIVA South Africa Scorecard Mid-Year 2018 report, over a one-year period, 51% of actively managed South African equity funds and 82% global equity funds failed to beat the S&P South Africa DSW Capped Index and S&P Global 1200 Index respectively. Meanwhile, during a three- and five- year period, the percentage of actively managed South African equity funds underperforming the S&P South Africa DSW Capped Index increased to 60% and 76% respectively. But there's more as Bezuidenhout explains...take a listen. Gareth van Zyl See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The folks at KPMG complain, sometimes, that their critics (including Biznews) are unfair and too quick to pass judgement. But evidence has emerged that KPMG played a role in facilitating the VBS bank heist. Add this to the auditing firm's role in a laundry list of scandals around the world, from state capture in South Africa to shenanigans at Carillion in the UK, and you have a distinct picture of an organisation with some real ethics problems. Obviously, this is not to say that everyone who works at KPMG is on the take. There are many hard-working and honest auditors there - some even appear in the VBS story, trying to raise questions about the bank's books during the audit process. But with so many problems and so many scandals, it's getting very hard to believe that there is not some kind of rot at KPMG, or at the very least, a desperate need to revise ethics controls and start to take these issues seriously. In this episode, Alec Hogg and Felicity Duncan talk about KPMG's role in the VBS heist. They discu

It’s over a decade since David Rattray was murdered at his famous Fugitives Drift Lodge. Historian Rattray was a masterful storyteller whose tales of the 1879 Anglo Zulu War, and particularly the historic battles of Isandlwana and Rorkes Drift, built him a global following that attracted packed houses, especially in London. The obvious successor to the famous Rattray is chartered accountant turned storyteller Michael Charton, who works off a wider canvass, but like his fellow South African, specialises in forgotten stories drawn from the troubled history of his homeland. Charton, whose events at home are booked out months in advance, will be addressing London audiences for the first time this month. His first event was sold out within 24 hours. The second one, on Tuesday 30th October, is filling up fast. I caught up with Charton to tap him on another fascinating topic, the story of Second World War fighter pilot Sailor Malan, a war hero written out of history by the apartheid government. See omnystudio.co

South Africa’s internationally admired renewable energy programme was jumpstarted by the Ramaphosa administration, with the new president’s immediate deployment of a new Minister helping to accelerate the latest agreement with the private sector. Biotherm Energy, a participant in the very first Renewables round back in 2011, returned to the fray for the latest edition. But with Round Four dragging on four two years, when the green light finally came, Biotherm needed a different BEE solution. That opened the way for a new association between the leading Renewables group and a well established RMB and Thebe partnership. With the funding completed the construction phase of a R6.5bn investment now begins, with four new plants built, adding 283 megawatts to the South African grid. Solar plants will be built in the Northern Cape at Konkoonsies – 86 mw – and Aggneys – 45MW. And winds generating plants in the Cape at Bedford – 120 mw - and Swellendam – 32Mw. In this special podcast we hear from RMB transactor Mpho

JOHANNESBURG — Cape-based startup Aerobotics is seriously making headway in improving the way farmers farm. The company specialises in using drone and software technology to help farmers identify possible problem pests and diseases on their crops. The company does this by using incredible image capturing technology that can go down to individual tree-level and even further. The service has already taken off in South Africa with drones surveying around 100 000 hectares. James Paterson, the CEO and founder of Aerobotics, tells me more about his fascinating company in this podcast. - Gareth van Zyl See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are advantages to coming off a low base. As their financial sectors start catching up to the world’s more sophisticated markets, Sub Saharan African countries have been growing their global borrowing presence. So how have they been impacted by recent rocking of the Emerging Market boat through the well documented crises in Argentina and Turkey. Here’s Nanagolo Phiri, co-head of the debt financing group at RMB... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Uncovering of the VBS scandal is a marvellous example of how the sophisticated, first world side of South Africa’s economy can be practically applied to the benefit of the entire nation. The plundering of a small mutual bank created in the Apartheid’s Venda homeland, was very third world in its application. Ditto the reaction of conspirators, whose defence was ignorance, or the concoction of obviously fabricated tales. But as the saga unfolds, it’s becoming increasingly obvious that kingpins Matodzi, Ramavhunga and Malaba and their VBS stooges like Truter, Nesane, Magula, Ramikosi and others plus a long list of elected municipal officials never stood a chance. It was as if they had a knife in a gun fight. Or bows and arrows when opponents possessed a Gatling gun. Lies and subterfuge by those who perpetrated industrial scale plunder of small scale savers and the deposits of municipal ratepayers, were smashed by a very first world tool – South Africa’s Financial Services Regulation Act. This potent act was

JOHANNESBURG — Over the last few weeks, I've been interviewing business leaders and school principals involved in something called 'Partners for Possibility' (PfP). It's a programme that is helping to empower schools by focusing on something that is often overlooked in this vital sector: leadership. By getting business owners and CEOs to engage with school principals, the PfP programme has made a huge difference to the quality of education being delivered in over 800 schools by helping to empower principals. The end-result is eye-opening. PfP is targeting all 20 000 public schools in South Africa and, in this interview, PfP founder Louise van Rhyn explains how the programme works and why it's making such a huge impact. - Gareth van Zyl See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The VBS Bank scandal dominated news headlines this week and in today's episode, Alec Hogg and Felicity Duncan break down the latest we've learned. We look at the role ANC leaders in Limpopo played in facilitating the scheme and explore the possible links between VBS and the Zuma family. As the details of this astounding and massive heist continue to emerge, South Africans can expect to see serious political and legal consequences. We also take a look at the latest in Steinhoff news - this time, evidence of insider trading by disgraced former CEO Markus Jooste - and discuss the recent turmoil in stock markets. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Biographies account for at least half the books I own, a legacy of long held fascination for learning about people, a subject to which I devote a good chunk of my leisure time. Latest investment was in a 413 page masterpiece by Anthony Butler - his superb biography on South African president Cyril Ramaphosa. Classically trained Butler, who read a PPE at Oxford and has a PhD from Cambridge, wrote the book in 2008 after taking a nine month sabbatical from the University of Cape Town, where he is a professor in political studies. He used the time to interview those close to this very private, deeply thoughtful politician who has, and is, playing such a massive role in his homeland. Butler returned to the manuscript in 2013, providing an insightful postscript. He is working on another update, but waiting for the updated edition makes little sense. Because his biography opens an important window into an enigmatic statesman, offering a perfect antidote to the fake news and whispering campaigns of our times – a

JOHANNESBURG — There are two things that will solve South Africa's economic woes over the long-term. The first is improved education standards, particularly at primary and secondary school levels. Our feeder systems into tertiary level need to be of the very highest standard, but right now they're a complete mess and fall totally short of global standards. Secondly, we need greater levels of entrepreneurship. We need SMEs to become the engine of growth. One man is trying to spark the latter by encouraging township residents to create their own businesses. Meet Bulelani Balabala. - Gareth van Zyl See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

JOHANNESBURG — Financial services veteran Stephen van Coller left a top job at MTN to join EOH Holdings in September this year. As EOH's new group CEO, a lot is riding on van Coller to turn around the IT company, which has faced several scandals, a falling share price and financial performance challenges in the last 18 months. But van Coller - a former ABSA CIB CEO and local Deutsche Bank exec - comes highly regarded and respected, and he is definitely EOH's best shot at becoming a JSE darling once again. In this interview, van Coller explains why he joined EOH, how he's dealing with challenges at the company and what his big plans are. - Gareth van Zyl See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Steinhoff shareholders seemed to breath a sigh of relief this week when Steinhoff-owned retailer Mattress Firm managed to secure an eleventh-hour bank bailout. But is this really the good news it seems, and what may be behind the deal? Alec Hogg and Felicity Duncan dig into events at Steinhoff as the consequences of the scandal continue to unfold. They also take a look at Nhlanhla Nene's big week (and his Gupta apology) and chat about Elon Musk's latest Tweet-storm. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Listening to yesterday’s testimony by South African finance minister Nhlanhla Nene was riveting. It also forces the rational mind to ponder where the country would be if this modest man from rural KwaZulu Natal hadn’t stood up against the financial wrecking of former president Jacob Zuma and his cronies. The country was headed the same way as Turkey. And if Edrogan’s example is overlaid on SA, the currency would today be trading around R25 rather than R14 to the US Dollar; and interest rates would certainly be well above 20% - and the stock market (and hence citizens' retirement savings) would be substantially lower. We got a taste of where the country was heading during two insane trading sessions that followed Zuma’s decision on 9th December 2015 to fire his respected finance minister, an action spooked investors, sending shockwaves through the financial system. The Rand plummeted, bond prices soared and the stock market tanked. I crunched the numbers and quantifiable losses on stocks and bonds totalled

JOHANNESBURG — JSE-listed Grand Parade Investments is a food and gaming company that boasts brands such as Burger King, Dunkin Donuts, and SunWest International, but it has gone through a rough time of late. Just last week it reported a net loss of R106m, while its share price has fallen by more than 70% from 2014 levels. Meanwhile, Burger King has reported six years of losses in South Africa. However, there’s now a group of activist shareholders, with a combined stake of just over 12% in the company, who want answers and a new board at Grand Parade Investments. They are so intent on forcing accountability that they've called for a special meeting at the end of October 2018. One of those shareholders is Denker Capital. And in this interview, Ricco Friedrich of Denker Capital explains what's going on. - Gareth van Zyl See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When future historians chronicle the beacons of resistance during South Africa’s destructive Zupta era, they are sure to be surprised by how much extraordinary courage was displayed by seemingly ordinary people. Adrian Lackay is one of the most obvious examples. Our paths first crossed more than a dozen years ago when SA’s tax collection agency SARS was in combat with serial entrepreneur Dave King, the once-time billionaire tax fugitive who disputed he owed anything but eventually made a record R706m settlement. Lackay who was then the SARS communications manager, was subsequently promoted to its spokesman. Judging by our interaction over the years, he was deeply trusted by National Commissioner Pravin Gordhan, who has gone on to play a key role at the very highest level in South African governance first as Finance Minister then in his current role with responsibility for Public Enterprises. As you will hear in this episode of the Rational Perspective podcast, like his former boss, Lackay’s integrity resu

JOHANNESBURG — Futuregrowth Asset Management, acting on behalf of client funds, recently concluded an investment in the Impact Bond Innovation Fund (IBIF), a South African outcome-based financing mechanism that seeks to improve early childhood learning and development (ECD) outcomes in the Western Cape. The IBIF, a social impact bond, is the first ECD-focused transaction of its type in the Global South. The transaction has been structured and led through an intermediary partnership between mothers2mothers (m2m), an international nonprofit organisation, and Volta Capital - an international impact investment structuring specialist. In this interview, Michelle Green, who is an Investment Analyst at Futuregrowth Asset Management, and David Torres, who is the Senior Advisor to the CEO at mothers2mothers, explain more about the transaction. - Gareth van Zyl See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

JOHANNESBURG — The tobacco industry and smoking are controversial topics in South Africa. But a newly proposed bill appears - on the surface - to risk basic civil liberties and entrench what could be interpreted as a nanny state. The Draft Tobacco Bill intends banning smoking in your own home and implementing standardised packaging on cigarette packs, among other more stringent measures to curb smoking. It's a step too far says Andrew Neumann, who is the general manager for Japan Tobacco International (JTI). In this interview, Neumann also explains the rationale behind something called the #HandsOffMyChoices campaign. Take a listen. - Gareth van Zyl See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.