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African Bank swung to a loss of nearly a billion rand after a four-year spree of buying and bolting together three banks to build a full-service lender, and the bad debt charge is still climbing. The contrast is brutal: a focused platinum-and-chrome miner, Tharisa, is printing cash with profit up more than sixfold, and the very morning African Bank’s loss landed, Tharisa was locking in fresh funding for its next mine. Anglo American, meanwhile, is reshaping itself around copper, selling out of coal and much of its South African portfolio while holding on to iron ore, and what that signals for local investors is the real question.

In the latest edition of The Electoral Road Show, Chris Steyn and elections analyst Wayne Sussman talk about Ekurhuleni finally managing to pass a R71-billion budget thanks to the Democratic Alliance (DA) supporting the African National Congress (ANC). Sussman warns: “...we know the Freedom Front did far better in Ekurhuleni than the City of Johannesburg in 2021. And they could also say, look, the DA and the ANC are the exact same, there's no difference, vote for us. We will stand up to the ANC. So on the one hand, the DA is saying they're acting in the residents' interest, they're acting in service delivery' interests, but critics of the ANC and DA will paint another picture.” Sussman also analyses the results of last night by-elections in which both the ANC and the DA held wards with “the DA laying down a marker to the Freedom Front in the Northwest, and the ANC certainly making a big point with its strong showing in Bushbuckridge”. As for the spate of killings of politicians and activists over the past registration weekend, he says “it is plausible that these might be politically motivated hits”.

South Africa made World Cup history as Bafana Bafana beat South Korea to reach the knockout stages for the first time ever. Oil slides for a fourth straight session on Iran deal oversupply, and Micron surges 11% on AI chip demand. The bigger question hanging over the morning: what has President Ramaphosa still not told South Africa about the Phala Phala money - and can the truth stay hidden?

Bafana Bafana are one result away from making World Cup history — but the path to the Round of 32 is complicated. With one point from two games and South Korea standing in their way on Thursday morning (3 AM SA time), Hugo Broos' men still have multiple routes through. The question is: how likely is each one?

In this video, we break down every scenario that could see South Africa advance — from the clean path (win and you're through) to the long shots that would have the whole country refreshing standings tables in the early hours. We look at what the betting markets say, what Opta's numbers tell us about Bafana's actual performance level, and what the BizNews AI Predictor — our new data-driven match analysis tool — makes of South Africa's chances against South Korea.

⚽ Every qualification scenario explained

📊 Opta xG data, betting odds, and deep stats unpacked

🤖 The BizNews AI Predictor verdict: South Korea 56% | Draw 31% | South Africa 13%

🇿🇦 Can Bafana make history?

The alarm is set for 3 AM. Let's talk about it.

Nedbank confirmed its guidance this morning, and its East Africa deal is weeks from closing - a transformation most investors are still underpricing. Grindrod's Port of Maputo posted extraordinary volumes, but the share may already be priced for perfection. A small coal miner no one follows just disclosed an 1,800% earnings swing, and the full story has not landed yet.