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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.

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.