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A fresh poll had Herman Mashaba running more than twice as strong as his own party in Johannesburg. He called it laughable. Thirteen days before the local elections, the ActionSA leader told Alec Hogg he would be disappointed with anything under 30% in Joburg and set himself a target of half of Soweto's wards. He explained what the 2024 election cost ActionSA, why he stayed out of Parliament to rebuild, and which two DA figures would have to go before he would share a council with the party. He also laid out his three conditions for any coalition partner, his plan to fold Joburg Water and City Power back into the city, and a blunt message for the officials he says crept back in after he left office. And he explained why a professional fisherman never bothers with the dam.

Alec Hogg went into this episode wanting to sell two shares. The rules he built for the Ricardo portfolios talked him out of at least one. In the first of a new run of Premium portfolio updates, he put four fresh sets of results through the same valuation test: Afrimat, whose iron ore profits all but vanished while its quarries quietly earned their keep; Clicks, a business still growing that had turned into a valuation problem; Chubb, the insurer walking away from business it thought was underpriced; and Teledyne, the sensor maker that had just posted the best quarter in its history. One share was put on probation with three tripwires. Another was left hanging until the next Ricardo webinar, along with a new rule and a JSE share the market had priced for a decade of decline.

Enoch Godongwana told Parliament that South Africa had emerged from the fiscal wilderness. Dawie Roodt agreed the corner had been turned, then explained why the reasons should worry anyone who pays tax. William Saunderson-Meyer asked who really gained from 547 parties crowding the 4 November ballot, Ian Cameron described what he found inside three Tshwane police stations, including a motorbike parked in a kitchen, and ACDP deputy president Wayne Thring set out how much water and money eThekwini was losing. Reuters rounded things off with the latest from Wall Street.

In his latest interview with Chris Steyn, Ian Cameron, the Chair of Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Police, shares the shocking findings of his latest oversight visit. He describes finding, at one station, over 30 detectives sharing an office container with only three chairs and one laptop and no official detective telephones. He also details horror findings at two more stations. Cameron says SAPS members are pleading for help. “I've already submitted the reports this morning to both the Minister and the National Commissioner and we will be following it up...” Also discussing the biggest shocks from the Budget Review, Cameron says: “...Only one out of 10 murders are actually detected properly. Remember, it doesn't necessarily mean it is solved or that there's success or prosecution. This is just a complete detection process. So I am extremely concerned.” Lastly, he says police members are hailing the downfall of former Deputy National Commissioner Shadrack Sibiya and former Crime Intelligence deputy chief Feroz Khan. “...Really dedicated ground level members are saying, but this is good riddance. They've been wishing for resolve for so long.”

Enoch Godongwana told Parliament that South Africa had emerged from the fiscal wilderness. Dawie Roodt agreed the corner had been turned, just not for the reasons the minister would want. Debt had stabilised and the primary surplus was growing, but the improvement came from a commodity windfall, an aggressive SARS and a tax burden Roodt said was the highest it had ever been, rather than from growth. Speaking to Alec Hogg hours after the mini budget, the Efficient Group's chief economist took aim at the money flowing to badly run municipalities two weeks before the local vote, the politics behind the fuel levy cut and the social grant court case still hanging over Treasury. He finished with blunt advice for taxpayers, investors and ratepayers.