BizNews Radio

In this fully licensed episode of the Financial Times’ Unhedged podcast, Katie Martin and energy editor Malcolm Moore unpack the escalating global energy crisis triggered by disruption in the Strait of Hormuz. With millions of barrels of oil effectively trapped and supply chains under strain, the impact is already being felt from Asia to Europe — and here in South Africa at the pumps. As prices surge and shortages loom, this sobering deep dive reveals how fragile the global energy system really is — and why the worst may still lie ahead.

President Cyril Ramaphosa's assent to the Public Service Amendment Bill has been hailed as the most significant reform since 1996. In this interview with Chris Steyn, Ivor Chipkin, the Director of New South Institute (NSI), says “we've got now in law a distinction between political office and administrative office…Our politicians, our president, our cabinet ministers and our MECs no longer have the power to recruit and to make operational decisions inside departments. And senior officials extraordinarily can no longer be office bearers of political parties. Again, quite extraordinary…it blocks cadre deployment, makes cadre deployment essentially illegal or …very, very difficult.” Chipkin predicts that the new law is also going to change “the shape of…elite contestation”, saying: “Essentially what the new act does is it reduces the ability of a dominant political party, whether it's the ANC or any other party, to deploy people into the State directly and therefore to gatekeep access to State resources.” Chipkin also explains how South Africa’s foreign policy is “strongly influenced” by political networks, both within the ANC, but also outside the organised political networks.

While the world has been captivated by the celebrity-funded rise of Wrexham, a South African hedge fund manager has been quietly writing an even more impossible football fairytale. Clive Nates, leading a consortium of South African investors, has just engineered Lincoln City’s historic promotion to the English Championship—a tier the club hasn't reached in 65 years. Defying massive 1,000-to-1 odds and competing with a budget that ranked near the very bottom of League One, Nates applied "Moneyball" analytics and pure passion to outsmart the giants. Next season, this underdog squad will face off against massive English clubs, proving that South African grit and data-driven strategy can still conquer the beautiful game.

Behind the headlines lies a far more dangerous reality. Ian Cameron unpacks hidden corruption, failing policing systems, rising violence, and political power plays shaping South Africa today. From shocking testimony to hard truths about crime and accountability, the conversation reveals just how deep the crisis runs - and why fixing it may be harder than anyone admits.

In today's BizNews Daybreak we cover President Trump’s aggressive deadline for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz, threatening the total demolition of Iranian infrastructure. While oil prices climb and the UN warns of international law violations, the Artemis II mission makes history by breaking space travel distance records. Locally, experts debate "state-proofing" South Africa through private sector independence and examine how a permanent global "deep state" may be dictating domestic policy over elected officials.