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In April he told the country he was done, headed for the private sector. By July he'd changed his mind. Chris Pappas, the DA's rising star and mayor of the party's only municipality in KwaZulu-Natal, explains to Alec Hogg why nobody in his own caucus would take the job, what that says about the DA's succession problem, and why he thinks a 25 to 30% national showing is realistic for the party come November. Plus: Gayton McKenzie's R31 million World Cup bill, South32's big bet on copper, and the helium squeeze putting an obscure Free State gas field on the world's radar.

Chris Pappas was set to leave politics for the private sector. Instead, he's back, seeking a second term as uMngeni mayor after talks from colleagues, community leaders and supporters. In this candid interview with Alec Hogg, Pappas explains why he changed course, reflects on the DA's prospects ahead of the 2026 local elections, defends the party amid recent controversies, and outlines his long-term ambitions. He also argues that uMngeni's governance record offers a blueprint for the rest of KwaZulu-Natal.

In his latest interview with Chris Steyn, Ian Cameron, the Chairperson of Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Police, reveals that the South African Police Service (SAPS) has 722 brigadiers and generals that cost nearly R3.6 billion in pay and maintenance. In addition, only five of 823 senior SAPS officers underwent lifestyle audits in the 2024-25 financial year - and all five were cleared. Describing how certain officers jump ranks, Cameron says: “It seems that you either need to be well connected, not only politically, but strategically connected in parts of the police, or you need to be up to something that you shouldn't necessarily be busy with.” Meanwhile, Cameron denies reports that Special Leave Minister Senzo Mchunu and all the others were cleared in the Ad Hoc Committee draft report. “That's totally false.” As for breaking news of an explosive affidavit by suspended Inspector General of Intelligence Imtiaz Fazel, Cameron says it “draws a bit more of a dark cloud over” Minister Mchunu. “I think it puts a lot more pressure on the President… I think there are many many missing pieces of the puzzle that could be filled in if he (Fazel) is allowed to testify (at the Madlanga Commission).”

In this episode of BizNews Daybreak, political commentator Solly Moeng examines South Africa's deepening criminal justice crisis. On the global stage, President Trump demands harsher Iran sanctions as Middle Eastern oil routes shift. Meanwhile, Chinese tech startups Moonshot AI and DeepSeek prepare for massive IPOs, investors confront AI energy bottlenecks, Netflix pivots to live content to win screen time, and Andy Burnham prepares for Downing Street.

In this edition of the NdB Sunday Show with Chris Steyn, Political Commentator Solly Moeng lays into President Cyril Ramaphosa - in particular over his desperate court battle to stave off an impeachment hearing. He also reviews a week of extraordinary dramatic scenes at the Madlanga Commission of Enquiry with more pressure building on Crime Intelligence boss General Feroz Khan and IDAC chief Andrea Johnson. “So these are the people who are heading institutions that were designed to stand between South Africa and Hell. But instead they are the ones who are being scrutinised for wrongdoing.” As for tenderpreneur Cat Matlala's fierce legal representative Advocate Annelene van den Heever buying him more time, and businessman Suliman Carrim shopping at Woollies when he was supposed to be in a medical facility, Moeng charges “these guys - including the president - seem to be lawyering up against South Africa's democracy…it's almost like we've been living in some kind of Political Ponzi Scheme. We need to bring down the Ponzi Scheme…”

In today's BizNews Daybreak we dive into Amazon's quiet maneuver past Starlink into South Africa's satellite internet market via Herotel. We also examine the Public Investment Corporation's escalating governance crisis over the Lanseria Airport transaction, alongside policing gaps fueling local pharmaceutical drug crimes. Internationally, we cover SpaceX's scrubbed Starship launch, Netflix's disappointing sales guidance, a White House teleprompter insider-trading scandal, and the sustainability of skyrocketing margins in the AI semiconductor trade.

In their latest interview with Chris Steyn, Willem Els of the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) and Richard Chelin, an independent governance expert, share details of the war on drugs and crime in South Africa. Describing the struggle of dedicated detectives, Els reveals “for the past three months at one of the units they use a private vehicle and they rotate…and they are filling it up…just to do the job. You know, that's dedication - and that's the thin blue line that we are talking about; and those are the guys that actually make a difference in South Africa and stand between us and anarchy if you look at what's going on in the police.” On top of their lack of resources across the board, they are battling huge management challenges: “...they're running out of commissioners or generals to appoint as acting because of the arrests and so on….it is very demoralising if the one that you're looking up, if the one that is supposed to give you guidance, is actually exposed as a possible criminal. And who is guiding them then? You know, so those guys have got a real challenge. Their role models are being arrested. What now?”

The PIC's governance crisis has reached the regulator. Hours after suspending CEO Patrick Dlamini and acting CIO August Uys, the board now faces a formal FSCA Section 135 investigation into governance, leadership and transparency at the R3.5 trillion asset manager. DA federal finance chairperson Dr Mark Burke tells Alec Hogg why this is the fifth executive suspension in two years, how a murky Lanseria Airport shareholding sits behind Dlamini's fall, and why two ANC factions inside the GNU are pulling in opposite directions on the PIC's unlisted investments. Also on today's Edge: Amazon's quiet regulatory win over Starlink, a rescue deal taking shape for ArcelorMittal's Newcastle Works, and a tidy payday for Prosus in Uber's swoop on Delivery Hero.

South Africa's Public Investment Corporation is facing its biggest governance crisis in years. With CEO Patrick Dlamini suspended, senior executives resigning, and the Financial Sector Conduct Authority launching a formal investigation, questions over transparency, accountability, and the safety of government workers' pension funds are mounting. DA finance spokesperson Dr Mark Burke unpacks the unfolding turmoil, the political battles behind the scenes, and why restoring trust at Africa's largest asset manager has become an urgent national priority.

In today's BizNews Daybreak, US-Iran tensions steady oil and Korean tech stocks slide. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh defends his personal trading, while South Africa's PIC faces a deepening executive exodus. We also unpack more on the DA's Tony Leon lobbying scandal, the temporary closure of London's SA House, and a blunt warning from KPMG's Diane Swonk that persistent US inflation demands two interest rate hikes.

In his latest chat with Chris Steyn, political commentator Solly Moeng dissects the widening scandal around Tony Leon's lobbying amid former Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen's mission of vengeance and the damaging fall-out for the party. “...what is very clear is that the DA is no longer just walking on still waters…Geordin Hill-Lewis can't be sleeping with both eyes closed right now...” Moeng also comments on the skeletons toppling out of closets thanks to the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry, including the relationship between Crime Intelligence (CI) Chief General Feroz Khan and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) CIC Julius Malema. As for IDAC Chief Andrea Johnson's sudden hospitalisation ahead of her appearance, Moeng says: “...we see the growth of this so-called Madlanga Ward at some hospital out there…We've been a country of no consequences for too long. They might try…by getting hospitalised, delay processes, lie, protect one another. South Africans must not sleep until there are consequences. We're not just looking for entertainment, we're looking for people to fall because they cannot do this to South Africa and get away with it.” Meanwhile, Moeng hails the arrest of former Ekurhuleni City Manager Imogen Mashazi, one among a spate of top officials and policemen facing the law after being implicated at the inquiry into police and political capture.

South Africa House in Trafalgar Square, a fixture of SA's diplomatic presence in London since 1933, has closed its doors, with the DA's Ryan Smith blaming decades of Dirco neglect and Dirco insisting it's a planned upgrade. Alec Hogg unpacks the row, plus three stories reshaping money and power: the PIC's suspension of chief executive Patrick Dlamini has drawn a formal FSCA probe, chipmaking giant ASML posted a decisive earnings beat, and IBM suffered its worst single-day share drop in history after admitting AI spending is gutting its legacy software business. Four institutions, one lesson: neglect gets found out.

South Africa House, the country's historic diplomatic landmark in London's Trafalgar Square, has closed for major renovations, sparking fierce political debate. The DA accuses DIRCO of years of neglect, poor maintenance and a lack of transparency, while government insists the closure is temporary and planned. Ryan Smith argues the controversy exposes wider failures across South Africa's foreign missions, from crumbling embassy buildings to questionable diplomatic appointments, raising serious concerns about accountability, taxpayer value and the country's global image.

In today's BizNews Daybreak: Trevor Manuel delivers a scathing account of how South Africa lost SAA and Eskom, while the IRR's John Endres warns that trying to wait out the Trump administration could cost the country billions in investment. We also unpacks the first monthly drop in US consumer prices since 2020 under Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, plus OpenAI's deepening legal battle with Apple.

South Africa's weight loss jab boom has a dark underside. A Pretoria pharmacy, iDexis, was producing roughly 84,500 units of semaglutide a month — more than Novo Nordisk's entire local sales of Ozempic and Wegovy — under the guise of a one-off "compounding" exemption meant for individual patients. Regulators only inspected the premises this year, more than two years after Novo Nordisk first complained, and found no sterile ventilation, no batch records, and no adverse-event tracking. Elsewhere, the Public Investment Corporation has suspended CEO Patrick Dlamini over an alleged Lanseria Airport conflict of interest, its fifth executive suspension in two years.

In this wide-ranging interview with Chris Steyn, Ian Cameron, the Chairperson of Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Police, details the shocking DNA testing backlog. “...this is literally how a child rapist, a child murderer, any murderer or rapist for that matter walks free. This is literally the way that the State, the inability of the State to process this evidence, becomes the reason for a rapist to continue raping.” Cameron discusses the widening scandal surrounding Crime Intelligence (CI) boss General Feroz Khan, the case of suspended Lieutenant General Molefe Fani, and others. “What the Madlanga Commission is showing us is that Khan was actually one of the key pieces of the puzzle for Fani to ensure that this procurement process for PPE during the COVID-19 period was smoothly operated with the South African Police Service……a lot of key players in SAPS knew that Fani had been involved in this irregular PPE procurement during his time as a Chief Procurement officer at National Treasury. And he was still appointed in SAPS as the Head of Supply Chain Management. That tells you that it was strategically done. That would be a key way of ensuring that a 360 million Rand Medicare 24 contract can come in. It's a key way of structuring your entire process before the contract could come in, in order for it not to be red flagged… lot of the things that are happening, make no mistake, it was done deliberately - and it was done deliberately to hollow out and to control the system in order to ensure that further criminality would be able to flourish.”

In today's BizNews Daybreak we cover the escalating US-Iran conflict and its impact on soaring crude oil prices. In South Africa, Dr. John Endres critiques low fixed investment rates, SARU faces backlash over overpriced Springbok tickets, and over 53,000 undocumented foreign nationals are successfully repatriated. Finally, Apple hits OpenAI with a massive trade-secrets lawsuit.

John Endres, CEO of the Institute for Race Relations, tells BizNews that the elite consensus defending BEE is cracking, even as its beneficiaries defend it loudest. He points to the Starlink saga - blocked partly over empowerment shareholding while a pricier, slower rival wins state favour - as proof the policy is running out of road. Endres also unpacks why so many of South Africa's estimated one million skilled emigrants stay away, and delivers an unexpected verdict: he's more optimistic about South Africa's prospects than Britain's, arguing the UK has traded freedom for safety and lost its economic nerve in the process.

In this Director's Cut of BizNews editor Alec Hogg's conversation with IRR CEO John Endres, the full, unedited exchange goes well beyond BEE and the diaspora. Endres unpacks why R1.8 trillion in corporate reserves and R1.5 trillion parked offshore still isn't flowing home, why Washington's frustration with Pretoria is bipartisan and deepening, and why Treasury's decision to freeze equitable-share payments to Johannesburg and 68 other municipalities is a warning shot that could escalate. He also weighs in on the DA's internal turmoil following Steenhuisen's public break with new leader Geordin Hill-Lewis, and why he still won't drop his "conditional optimism" on South Africa.

As fresh American strikes on Iran trigger sirens in Bahrain, global traders are left asking whether the world's most vital oil chokepoint is still open for business. Congressman Greg Stanton warns of surging fuel prices and a war with no clear endgame, new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh heads to Capitol Hill to face the economic fallout, and the political landscape shifts following the death of foreign-policy hawk Lindsey Graham. Meanwhile, back home, we dive into two critical local investigations. Explosives expert Willem Els breaks down the chilling reality of what a teenager's online manifesto laid out for a packed shopping mall. Plus, Rory Steyn uncovers how new Springbok ticket deals may be quietly gutting the grassroots rugby clubs that built the game.

In this BizNews interview, Irakli Rekhviashvili sits down with the three people behind FirstRand's R2.5 billion Cape Water Performance-Based Bond, the first time a commercial bank anywhere in the world has tied a bond's payout to nature. The Nature Conservancy's Louise Stafford traces it to 2018, when Cape Town's dams were weeks from "Day Zero" and the catchments were choked with thirsty invasive trees. Her teams have since cleared 40,000 hectares and reclaimed more than 36 billion litres of water. "If we clear that we can reclaim about two months' water supply for Cape Town at a fraction of the cost of grey infrastructure," she says. RMB's Martin Potgieter explains the twist: investors earn a performance-based success payment on top of their coupon, paid only when the trees actually come down and independent verifiers confirm it. The aim, he says, is to "get the investors to start thinking about nature as an asset class," and tellingly, "75% of the outcomes-based funding came from entities that had never before funded nature." Peace Parks Foundation's Colin Porteous frames the deeper problem: "Historically, conservation has been a cash-negative product," and philanthropy alone cannot carry a $700 million, 10-year funding need. Potgieter's parting warning is blunt: ecosystems are "the infrastructure behind the infrastructure," and the money flowing into nature must multiply "by 40, 50, maybe 100 times."

In this edition of NdB Sunday Show with Chris Steyn, explosives expert Willem Els of the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) reveals just how deadly a bomb-making recipe was used by the 15-year-old boy who wanted to commit mass killing at a Ballito mall. “what was really alarming for me when I look at especially the one ingredient that he stipulated…with any explosive substance that you mix, you have to have two ingredients. The one is your reducing agent and one is your oxidizing agent. So… one is the fuel and the other one… provides the oxygen inside the mixture. So that was there. And also we see that it was similar, not exactly the same, but similar to, for instance, the type of explosives that was mixed by ISIS in Europe, especially the attacks in Paris, the attack on the airport in Brussels. And so that killed a lot of people. Very similar. Also, then referred to as the Mother of Satan, those explosives.” The boy's bomb-making recipe was contained in the last paragraph of a Manifesto written by him. As for why the bomb did not detonate, Els says: “I believe it was a flaw in his construction…it was just burning very fast instead of detonating.” Meanwhile, police are on high alert for copy cat attacks, and Els expresses faith that - despite questions remaining about the initial handling of the case - the investigation is now being properly done by expert investigators.

Springbok ticket prices have soared, suites have been taken over under “clean stadium” rules, and loyal supporters are being squeezed out. BizNews Rugby's boots-on-the-ground reporter, Rory Steyn, speaks to representatives from legendary Joburg rugby clubs and bitter rivals Pirates and Wanderers, as well as chartered accountant and former Sun International CEO, David Coutts-Trotter, about the financial damage being done to community clubs and the growing anger among fans. With families facing an ever-rising cost for a day at the rugby and clubs losing vital income, they warn that SARU's pursuit of revenue could weaken the very grassroots structures and supporter base that sustain South African rugby.

A former Air Force brigadier is behind bars in the United States, Jasmine Opperman warns the real failure lies in how the State Security Agency handled her. Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube hits back at claims her department is a mess as the DA looks to 2029, while traders pile into Micron and a record SK Hynix listing even as everyone frets the AI trade is overdone. Plus, we look at Iran choking the Strait of Hormuz, Meta charging for its AI, and Ben Bernanke joining Anthropic.

Siviwe Gwarube says South Africa's education system needs long-term reform, not quick political wins. The Basic Education Minister discusses her first two years in office, tackling textbook procurement concerns, eliminating unsafe pit toilets identified in 2018, strengthening early childhood development, and navigating provincial delivery challenges. She argues the real measure of success lies in improving literacy and numeracy from the foundation phase, while defending the DA's record in government and outlining why investing in young learners will shape South Africa's future.

A former brigadier general in the South African Air Force (SAAF) has been jailed in the United States after she pleaded guilty to one count of acting as an agent of South Africa and one of making a false statement in her security clearance application. In this interview with Chris Steyn, Jasmine Opperman, who spent over 20 years in South Africa's intelligence services, and who is now a senior analyst at Fulcrum Analytics, takes viewers through the case of Portia Anyamba - who held the position of programme management operational specialist in the National Security Programme Office at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. She came under surveillance by the FBI during regular communication with a State Security Agency (SSA) official stationed at the SA Embassy in Washington and was intercepted prior to another meeting with the official who had instructed her: “Please remember to also bring the laptop with.” Opperman says this case comes at a “very convenient time” for politicians in America. “Is this the ideal situation that the Trump government has been waiting for?”

DA insider and Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube responds to claims that DA ministers haven't delivered, days after John Steenhuisen's bombshell interview shook the party. She explains why the DA's current turmoil could actually be its best opportunity yet, and why she says 2029 is now the party's election to win or lose. Also today: Pretoria's risky new carbon regulations, a Russian oligarch turning on Putin, and why Nvidia's trillion dollar selloff might be a buying signal.

Today's BizNews Daybreak covers escalating US-Iran strikes spiking crude oil and Fed minutes warning of upside inflation risks. Trump permits Ukrainian Patriot missile manufacturing and lifts Syria sanctions, while Apple expands a $30B Broadcom deal and China greenlights Nvidia sales. Locally, Frans Cronje analyses the DA's John Steenhuisen fallout and Willem Els goes through a botched police response to a Ballito mall bomb scare.

Chilling details have emerged of a recent failed bomb attack in the packed Food Court of the Ballito Junction Regional Mall. The device was placed by a 15-year-old radicalised teen intent on committing mass killing, but it failed to explode. The FBI alerted The Hawks, but the bomb had already been placed. The teen was finally arrested last week. In this interview with Chris Steyn, Willem Els, the Senior Training Coordinator on Terrorism and Explosives Related Incidents at the Transnational Threat and International Crimes Programme of the Institute for Security Studies, says: “For a long time, we've been warning about your prevalence of the so-called Lone Wolf scenario in South Africa…And this is maybe a wake-up call for South Africa ”. Prior to placing the bomb, the teen had published his Manifesto on Telegram. In it, he glorified mass killings and claimed that traumatic personal experiences had driven him to extremist online communities whose members were the only people who understood him. Listing all the red flags in the subsequent handling of the case, Els calls for a thorough IPID investigation.

Dr Frans Cronje joins Alec Hogg for a wide-ranging catch-up that reframes the week's political noise into something more useful: a structural theory of why the DA is stuck and what it actually has to do next. His regime change argument is sharp — South Africans have lost confidence in the ANC, but they haven't yet gained confidence in the DA as a replacement. Until they do, the country sits in no-man's land. His defense of Tony Leon is equally direct: what Steenhuisen has alleged is lobbying, not state capture, and conflating the two is both factually wrong and damaging to the economy. Also today: Prosus raises $1.65 billion in investment-grade AI-era debt; Hyprop's oversubscribed JSE capital raise proves the exchange is working exactly as it should; and Rob Hersov makes the case for flagpole neutrality at Bishops.

Frans Cronje delivers a hard-hitting assessment of the Democratic Alliance's internal turmoil, John Steenhuisen's dramatic fall from grace, and what it means for South Africa's political future. He argues the DA's biggest challenge is proving it can govern better than the ANC, warns that voter confidence is slipping, and explains why Helen Zille's Johannesburg ambitions could reshape the country. Cronje also defends Tony Leon, dismisses state capture claims, and outlines why he remains cautiously optimistic about South Africa's future.

In today's episode, we cover the surge in oil prices following US airstrikes on Iran. We also review $50 billion in new defense deals from the NATO summit in Turkey. Locally, experts unpack the DA's internal credibility crisis and controversial cabinet appointments, alongside the reality of South Africa's R40 billion automotive subsidy program amid Chery's plant takeover. Finally, we look at Nigel Farage forcing a by-election by resigning as the Clacton MP.

William Sanderson-Meyer has been watching South African politicians for more than three decades. His verdict on John Steenhuisen's News24 interview is unsparing: it was a ransom note. Not a whistleblower's disclosure, not a principled stand — a threat, published in the open, by a man who cannot accept his own demotion and needs the DA to find him a way out. WSM traces the damage: a personal financial hit of half a million rand a year, severed relationships, a tainted brand, and a party now forced to choose between quietly paying him off or risking a public war three months before a local government election. Either outcome, WSM argues, tells you exactly who is really running the DA. Also today: National Treasury pulls funding from 65 municipalities including Johannesburg, Shell sells its South African forecourts to Abu Dhabi's ADNOC, and 91's founders buy their own shares.

In his latest interview with Chris Steyn, Solly Moeng, blasts President Cyril Ramaphosa for his appointments of Ayanda Dlodlo as Ambassador to France and Dina Pule to Cabinet. “...the ANC still looks in its own dustbin of people they've thrown in the past to say, OK, maybe this one, people have forgotten who they are. Let's use them again.” He further slams the President's failure to act against suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu. “It's the same thing as Jacob Zuma not being charged for State Capture… This whole Madlanga Commission was started because this man decided to, from what we've heard, listen to voices that he shouldn't have listened to in order to dismantle a police unit that was busy scratching in places where seemingly the criminal network was not liking it anymore.” Moeng also describes the “mud pit” predicament of current Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Geordin Hill-Lewis over the damaging public spat between two former party leaders, Tony Leon and John Steenhuisen “... whether Geordin Hill-Lewis wants to be part of the conversation or not, it's hurting the political party. This is the DA that has always been positioned as morally higher, holier than thou kind of party…it's pushing the DA morally, ethically on the back foot. So it's going to be interesting to see how they survive this.” Moeng further comments on the latest corruption revelations at the Madlanga Commission, and the games being played by some of the big role players. “I really hope that Madlanga will give the criminal justice system something that will lead to the fall of the big names hidden in there.”

Iran strikes commercial tankers near the Strait of Hormuz as Tehran enforces its shipping lanes, while Samsung's shares slide despite a 19-fold profit jump and NATO allies brace for Trump's push on defense spending. Herman Mashaba hits back at claims he left Johannesburg's finances in ruins, and columnist William Saunderson-Meyer weighs the damage John Steenhuisen's allegations against Tony Leon have done to the DA's brand. Forensic investigator Paul O'Sullivan exposes a recovery scam preying on fraud victims, and Bloomberg unpacks the $2 trillion global race to dominate future battlefields with drones, hypersonic weapons, and AI.

Chery just took over Nissan's old Eastern Cape plant, plugging straight into a subsidy scheme that costs South Africans over R40 billion a year, split between just seven manufacturers. Trade expert Donald MacKay tells Alec Hogg why this isn't a normal acquisition, and how the deal appears to sidestep a contribution other big players like Vodacom and Coca-Cola had to make. With a parliamentary review looming in September, is this subsidy model built to last?

ActionSA president Herman Mashaba reveals what Johannesburg's current mayor told him in a private phone call about why the city can't pay its bills. He also breaks down the Cape Town mayoral race, the anti-immigrant protests spreading across South Africa, and why he won't speak to Helen Zille directly. With the November local government elections looming, his answer to one question raises new doubts about who's really steering Johannesburg into the ground.

Kyiv faces fresh Russian missile strikes ahead of the NATO summit in Turkey, while tensions linger following the death of Iran's Supreme Leader. Meanwhile, OPEC+ quotas drop oil prices, Alibaba blocks a US blacklist order, and investors fret over an AI chip stock pullback. Locally, Jacob Zuma's Gupta meeting and Cyril Ramaphosa's controversial appointment of Dina Pule ignite political accountability debates.

In the latest NdB Sunday Show Chris Steyn talks to Lauren Evanthia, the founder of the Organic Humanity Movement (OHM), about former President Jacob Zuma's reunion with one of the Guptas in India in the presence of a South African diplomat, while South Africa is struggling to find the Guptas and extradite them for State Capture; President Cyril Ramaphosa's appointment of Dina Pule as a Cabinet Minister a decade after she was removed from Parliament; and the revelations of the secret messages on the phone of Crime Intelligence (CI) boss General Feroz Khan who fought so hard to prevent access to his devices and now he is in hospital fighting for his life after an alleged assassination attempt - just days before he was going to be questioned at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry. “... are we just gonna sit here, carry on watching the Madlanga Commission day in and day out and not do anything? Instead of just treating it like a daily soap opera, we should be getting more angry because we are only seeing a small little peek. We're not seeing the full scope of the criminal enterprise that is our government.”

New By-Election data shows the DA outpolling the ANC nationally for the first time. Meanwhile Bloomberg's Mike McGlone explains why crude could fall well below $57 a barrel despite Gulf tensions, KwaZulu-Natal farmer Pete Keen details the mounting cost of the foot and mouth disease crisis, and OpenAI's proposed 5% government stake raises questions about who profits from the AI boom.

Six months ago, KwaZulu-Natal farmer Pete Keene came to BizNews with a warning nobody wanted to hear. His herd was a hundred percent infected with foot and mouth disease, the government's response had a zero percent chance of working, and the law wouldn't even let him reach for a needle and syringe. Today, a lot has changed on paper — the High Court struck down that law, the minister who defended it has been removed — but Pete's message is stark: the fire is still burning, and the real cost, a calving rate that crashed from ninety to thirty percent, won't fully show up until 2032. He never asked for a bailout. He asked to be heard. Also today: Johan Rupert sits on a R100bn cash pile after the cleanest exit in Remgro's history; the DA leads the ANC in by-elections nationally for the first time, then detonates a credibility bomb in the same week; and Business Unity SA walks away from the UIF after six years of being ignored.

Ramaphosa has handed the R300 billion social grants portfolio to Dina Pule - the minister Parliament once fined for persistently lying about a contractor relationship. Forensic investigator Paul O'Sullivan meanwhile spent six hours before the commission this week - speaking to Alec Hogg yesterday, he lays out uncomfortable history on General Mkhwanazi that cuts against the whistleblower narrative. Apple is negotiating chips from Chinese firms blacklisted for military ties to Beijing, while SARB governor Kganyago warns inflation expectations are creeping above target heading into July's rate decision.

In this interview with Chris Steyn, Willem Els of the Institute for Security Studies (SS) and Richard Chelin, an independent governance specialist, describe how organised crime syndicates have transitioned from making fake Covid-19 vaccines to flood the South African market with fake pharmaceuticals, particularly lifestyle drugs, like those for weight loss. They also comment on breaking news that a Magistrate has rejected the plea deal of tenderpreneur Cat Matlala. Chellin raised the question whether the plea deal in this highly politicised case could have been rushed, and Els says: “...if you look at the charges that he is facing and you look at the severity of those charges and you look at the deal that's been cut with him, the two don't add up…that was a sentiment also of the judgment by the magistrate….”. As for the mystery surrounding the apparent assassination attempt on Crime Intelligence boss General Feroz Khan just days short of his appearance before the Madlanga Commission, Els adds: “They have to cut this one to the bone because I think it's in the interest of the rule of law in South Africa.”

Forensic investigator Paul O'Sullivan spent over six hours giving sworn testimony to the Madlanga Commission on Monday — and his argument cuts straight through the mythology around General Ntlantlam Mkwanazi. O'Sullivan says the man hailed as a rare whistleblowing cop has in fact been part of the problem since 2012, when he unlawfully unsuspended Richard Mdluli on what O'Sullivan says were Jacob Zuma's instructions — then covered it up for eight years. A whistleblower, he told the commission, needs clean hands. He also argues Mkwanazi's balaclava-clad press conference of July 2025 was timed to deflect from the arrest of seven senior crime intelligence officers two days earlier. Also today: Ramaphosa's cabinet reshuffle delivers one jaw-dropping own goal — Dina Pule, found guilty of persistent dishonesty by Parliament, now controls R300bn in social grants. And South 32 shares jump 10% as Alcoa commits $5.5bn to South African industrial assets.

South Africa's anti-immigrant national shutdown deadline arrived with violence in Johannesburg and the world watching. The S&P closed its best quarter in six years, Anthropic's export controls were quietly lifted overnight, and Tony Leon is not just firing back at John Steenhuisen - he's now weighing legal action.

Freedom Front Plus leader Corné Mulder gives BizNews the clearest outside read yet on the Democratic Alliance's implosion — tracing the Steenhuisen saga back to Trump's first executive order, the Oval Office "dim the lights" meeting, and a coalition built without a negotiated platform. Mulder explains why he feels sorry for his old rival, draws a hard line between DA and FF Plus values ahead of the local government elections, and warns of "bad actors on the periphery" who want South Africa's economy to fail. Plus: ABSA shares drop 8% despite calm guidance, and Tony Leon hits back at Steenhuisen's claims that his firm pulled strings behind the scenes.

South Africa is not only dealing with a National Shutdown this week, but also with a couple of political hand grenades. In his latest chat to Chris Steyn, political commentator Solly Moeng his gives take on the alleged assassination attempt on Crime Intelligence (CI) boss General Feroz Khan just days before he was due at the Madlanga Commission, which heard testimony today that allies of the General had offered MKP MP Vusi Shongwe a R10-million bribe to back off pursuing testimony from him; as well as bombshell allegations from embittered former Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen. “...Who owns the truth? Do political leaders and other office bearers take decisions because they really came to a point of being informed that this was good for South Africa, or are they doing it because somebody else is paying somebody else to convince them that's the way to go?” Moeng also comments on breaking news of violence erupting between marchers and residents in Yeoville amid relative calm on National Shut Down day.

Author Rian Malan fires off a pointed open letter to Helen Zille on the anti-migrant marches sweeping South Africa, while a former DA leader breaks ranks on his own party just months before the 2026 municipal elections. Also today: oil jumps as Iran moves on the Strait of Hormuz, Tesla rallies on a Full Self-Driving rollout, and a whistleblower pushes for criminal accountability over corporate silencing.

Rian Malan is the author of My Traitor's Heart — a bestseller translated into 11 languages, still in print decades after publication, and a book that drew praise from V.S. Naipaul, John le Carré and the New York Times as one of the most important works ever written about South Africa. In short, he is the real thing, one of the finest non-fiction writers our country has produced. And for me, easily the greatest living SA writer. Commissioning Malan at rates that reflect his stature is beyond what BizNews can fund from its operating budget. The economics of modern media — collapsing CPMs, platform aggregation, subscription fatigue — make it impossible. But a BizNews community member has changed that. Their donation has seeded a commissioning fund dedicated to sourcing the very best South African writing and research for our readers: work we could not otherwise afford. This is not charity. It is an investment in the journalism South Africa needs — fearless, deeply reported, written with the skill that makes it stick. If this piece moves you, consider joining the fund. Write to me via alec@biznews.com. Not to cover salaries or overheads, but to put more Rian Malans in front of more South Africans. And for the rest of the tribe, enjoy. - Alec Hogg

Today's BizNews Edge covers three stories that cut to the heart of South African business and politics. John Steenhuisen has broken publicly with the DA, naming Geordin Hill-Lewis and Tony Leon in allegations that threaten serious damage to the party just months before the 2026 municipals. Prosus, once a byword for discount and drift, has delivered full-year results that show a genuine turnaround — every regional ecosystem now profitable, Takealot breaking even for the first time, and a buyback programme outpacing Meta and Apple. And then the story Alec Hogg has been building toward for months: Malcolm King, the invisible man behind the Steinhoff fraud, found dead in a Cotswolds village — poisoned by a Romanian sex worker — before justice could reach him. The Reserve Bank reckoning rolls on. This one is worth your full attention.

South Africa's first high-profile whistleblower Wendy Addison is done talking shop. She's raised a criminal docket against a corporation and its directors for silencing two financial industry whistleblowers — and she thinks it could be a watershed moment. Can personal criminal accountability finally give whistleblower protection real teeth?