BizNews Radio

In the latest NdB Sunday Show, gender activist and former president of the Pretoria Diplomatic Association, Simone Heradien, talks to Chris Steyn about The Grand - also known as the unofficial HQ of the Sandton Police - where suspended Deputy National Commissioner General Shadrack Sibiya was arrested on rape and sexual grooming charges. The Grand is also at the centre of an investigation into a former Sandton police station commander in relation to a photograph showing a stripper in what appears to be a police uniform. On the international relations front, Heradien explains why she thinks President Cyril Ramaphosa’s appointment of Roelf Meyer’s performance was a great diplomatic move, but also warns of implications for South Africa - and the president personally - from the “terror-funding” case against MTN that has now moved to the discovery phase in the US. Heradien, once a dedicated African National Congress (ANC) activist - who worked for Willie Hofmeyer - says she now finds herself in “political wilderness” and while “the heart is still there”, she cannot be voting for “what they've brought the country to”. This as a warrant of arrest was issued - but stayed - for former Defence Minister Nosisiwe Mapisa-Nqakula - after she failed to make another appearance at her corruption trial.

Ipsos had MK on 55% in eThekwini and the DA on 17%. Dean Macpherson told Alec Hogg he did not trust those numbers, and said the DA would end up either the largest party in Durban or the largest party in its governing coalition. The DA's KwaZulu-Natal chairperson walked through a little-known rule that, in his telling, leaves only two realistic contenders for Durban's mayoralty, and explained why a single councillor could decide who runs many KZN councils. Wearing his ministerial hat, he argued that the trillion rand set aside for infrastructure was not short of money but stuck in procurement, with only one in six big tenders awarded. He described how the Independent Development Trust went from an entity he considered shutting down to tripling its cash in a year, why the state was now selling land it did not need, and how he squared administering the Expropriation Act with his own party's court challenge against it.

Public Works Minister Dean Macpherson tells BizNews the infrastructure debate is no longer about money but procurement: of 2,800 big tenders published in a year, only one in six was awarded, and 90% of failures trace to weak feasibility work. His department now spends R600 million over three years preparing projects itself. A political commentator reviews the week: commission hearings, Ramaphosa's silence, and Julius Malema's leave to appeal his firearm conviction. AfriForum's Barry Bateman tells Chris Steyn police keep saying GBV suspects were "circulated" while cold cases go nowhere. Plus Wall Street edges up as October Fed hike odds collapse.

“If we're going to look for angels in this stuff, we're not going to find angels. It's the LEAST of the devils, it's WHOM do we choose, what is the thing to focus on, the least worst thing to focus on.” These are the words of political commentator Solly Moeng in his latest chat with Chris Steyn. Moeng slams Cyril Ramaphosa for “forgetting” that he is President. He also comments on the latest testimony before the Madlanga Commission where taxi boss Joe Sibanyoni showed clearly that he is “used to being feared’; Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) CIC Julius Malema’s being granted leave to appeal his firearms discharge conviction and sentence as well as his belated apology to a judge; the bail application of suspended Deputy National Police Commissioner General Shadrack Sibiya who was arrested for alleged sexual offences; and disgraced MP Fadiel Adams going to the High Court to challenge the withdrawal of charges against National Commissioner General Fannie Masemola. Moeng also gives his take on the latest deterioration in US-SA relations and says those who call for US Ambassador Brent Leo Bozell III to be kicked out are being “childish”.

In December 2011, Rael Levitt brought the hammer down on Quoin Rock, Dave King's Stellenbosch wine estate. Within months, Auction Alliance, the business he had spent 20 years building, was gone. In studio with Alec Hogg, Levitt went back over the auction that undid him: the vendor bidder he placed in the crowd, the lie he told billionaire bidder Wendy Appelbaum, and the attempted fix after the event that he admitted made it worse. He described years of investigations, a Consumer Commission ruling that was later overturned, and legal advice to stay silent that he now believes was wrong. Then came the comeback: an MBA in Los Angeles, a run-down warehouse in Epping, and one investor whose backing changed how the banks saw him. Alec put the question his book, It Takes a Tsunami, invites: is it a confession, or a defence? Levitt gave his answer, and told his 40-year-old self what he wished he had known.