BizNews Radio

The DA set out to win Johannesburg, and it did: 91 seats, up from 71, and first place in South Africa's economic heartland. But it fell 45 seats short of a majority, and the two parties that could get Helen Zille into the mayor's office both came with strings attached. ActionSA's Herman Mashaba had made her candidacy a deal-breaker; the ANC had spent the campaign on the receiving end of her attacks. Zille told Alec Hogg why she found Mashaba's condition absurd, why she was keeping her hands off the talks, and why she read the ANC's response to its worst local result as a sign that South Africa's democracy was maturing. She also looked back three decades to a hostile press conference at the Carlton Centre, explained the whiteboard triangle she once drew in the Drakensberg, and set out the DA's next target: becoming the biggest party in the country.

While Namibia drilled its way towards an oil boom, South Africa produced court cases. Economist Iraj Abedian told Alec Hogg that the research needed to change that was finished years ago. He revealed the plan he drew up as a ministerial adviser to turn the Northern Cape into a petrochemical hub, and warned why gas under the Orange Basin may not wait for South Africa to make up its mind. He also took on the ANC's slide to around 31%, whether its leaders would ever vote for an early election, the personal feud stalling Joburg's coalition, and the single habit he said linked the ANC's decline to Donald Trump's midterm hiding.

Herman Mashaba went into the local elections with commentators writing ActionSA off. He came out holding the balance of power in all three Gauteng metros. Speaking to Alec Hogg days after the count, the ActionSA leader revealed the offer he made to DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis in a private phone call, named the two people whose appointment would end talks before they began, and explained why a DA-ANC pact in Joburg would suit him just fine come 2029. He also set out the price of his support in Tshwane, why he turned down a cabinet post, and what he believes township voters were really saying at the ballot box.

If you wonder why State Capture accused are roaming free, watch Chris Steyn’s interview with former BOSASA COO Angelo Agrizzi. Ever since implicating himself when he blew the whistle on corruption at BOSASA, he has battled to hold accountable politicians also fingered only to now be told that the evidence has been destroyed. “Apparently it was in a courthouse that was affected by a fire or a flood. It's very sketchy details. Naturally it would be sketchy. I've been asking questions for the last two, three years. Why is nothing happening? I've done countless affidavits. I have written countless statements, sworn statements, under oath. I have given all that information. I can recreate all the evidence that they had. It's there. It's on the Cloud. It's available. Why has no one ever contacted me and asked me to assist in reproducing and giving evidence.” Agrizzi vows to “continue fighting and asking questions about what the South African government is doing about the Zondo Commission recommendations, what is going to happen to Nomvula Mokonyane, Gwede Mantashe, Tabang Makwetla, all the people listed in there…I. will continue. If it means I've got to go on the international platform and start doing it there, then so be it.” Meanwhile, Agrizzi describes his dealings with Advocate Glynnis Breytenbach from her time at the NPA; how corruption destroyed his relationship with Gavin Watson; the death threats to try and stop him from exposing the rot; the possible agenda behind his own arrest - and why he will be fighting the State’s R1,6 billion confiscation order.

DA chief whip Glynnis Breytenbach, a former senior prosecutor, tells BizNews that IDAC must be closed down - you cannot build a clean unit inside a corrupt NPA - and that the ANC, sitting on 30%, is getting about 20% more than it deserves. She also says South Africa may be the only country with its entire police top structure suspended or arrested, and wants the criminal justice system reset. Political analyst Mzo Mpolase sees no long game, only an ANC still blaming the voter. Plus Lincoln Mali on pre-loved boots for township rugby, and Wall Street's tech bounce.