Willem Els: The Commander who trained Genl. Mkhwanazi to handle bombs…
KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi is “not scared of all types of bombs”. So says former police commander Willem Els, who is now with the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) as Senior Training Coordinator in the ENACT organised crime programme. Els tells BizNews that the “bomb” dropped by the General last Sunday took “tremendous courage”. Els, who trained the General in Bomb Disposal, described him as a”disciplined officer, a straight talker, a straight shooter, a straight walking” officer who is doing “the right thing as a policeman in his heart, in his actions…”, stressing: “He's a policeman in heart and down to the bone.” Apart from training the General, Els also worked with him on s number of foreign missions, and the two even had to “hot extract” former President Thabo Mbeki and then Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma from a coup in Haiti. They also worked together in Mozambique “where we lifted arms caches and destroyed huge, huge numbers of arms and munitions”, as well as in Equatorial Guinea in preparation of an African Union Summit. Els warns that it would “hurt” President Cyril Ramaphosa “very much” if he deals with the general’s allegations of police-underworld links by using the “old playbook that the ANC (African National Congress) has been using ever since they came to power”. As for threats that black and white citizens could even riot together if the KZN general is not treated right, Els notes there are people who say “we might see a repeat of 2021 if people feel that they're not being listened to…”
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Wine came south, now South Africans are introducing ‘le braai’ and ‘can-do’ spirit to France – Carel Nolte
Centuries ago, the French Huguenots sowed the seeds of winemaking in South Africa. Now, the tables have turned—South Africans are bringing a taste of their own culture back to French soil. One of them is South African businessman Christo Lindeque, who, along with his wife Elbe, breathed new life into Château de Montfleur, a 15th-century turreted château that had stood uninhabited for decades. The manager of Château de Montfleur, Carel Nolte, told BizNews in an interview that there are now about 30 South Africans living in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, including artists and entrepreneurs who have opened shops. Although French bureaucracy can be challenging, Nolte says the community has been exceptionally welcoming—and the South Africans have even introduced their beloved tradition of ‘le braai’ to the locals.
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US dollar's 14-year run hits 'immovable' Trump - structural shift underway
Ninety One, managing £130.8bn, released a white paper, “The Unstoppable Dollar Meets the Immovable Mr Trump,” predicting the end of a 14-year US dollar upcycle. Sahil Mahtani, Head of Macro Research, told BizNews the dollar faces an inflection point driven by geopolitics, interest rates, investment trends, and currency interventions. He forecasts a potential 25% decline, signalling a multi-year bear market with implications for asset allocation. Mahtani notes investors are diversifying from US equities, potentially boosting non-US assets in emerging markets and Europe. He says the Chinese renminbi’s global reserve status hinges on China easing capital controls.
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Lamberti on Sakeliga/Neasa interdicting employee race quotas: An attempt to head off more ANC lunacy
The pot-boiling strategy of destructive ANC economic policies is typified in its approach to employment equity, a quota-based employment system that SA businesses are obliged to implement from September. Sakeliga executive director Russell Lamberti explains why his organisation and Neasa are approaching the courts to block the ANC’s most granular racial policy yet attempted. He spoke to BizNews editor Alec Hogg.
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South Africa’s R5 trillion loss: Investec’s Mazwai calls for urgent 3–5% growth to close global gap
South Africa’s sluggish economic growth since 2010 has left its citizens 40% poorer than the global average. Osagyefo Mazwai, investment strategist at Investec Wealth & Investment International told BizNews in an interview that the country’s GDP per capita decoupled from global peers in 2010, with growth averaging just 1% annually compared to 4.5% for emerging markets. This has resulted in a nominal GDP of R7.4 trillion today, versus a potential R11.5 trillion had growth kept pace. The R5 trillion shortfall in government revenue could have reduced national debt and funded critical infrastructure, like Eskom’s R400 billion transmission network expansion. He said key barriers to growth are energy shortages, logistics inefficiencies, crime, and an under-skilled workforce and called for urgent government action to stabilise electricity, improve logistics, reduce crime, and enhance workforce skills and to foster a business-friendly environment with less red tape.
Sverige