LATEST ON BIZNEWS RADIO: Inside August’s CompCom raid on life offices – Sanlam’s bemused CEO Paul Hanratty still none the wiser why it happened (For Spotify, click here)
After Wednesday’s two contests, there have now been 41 by-elections since the November 2021 Local Elections. Voters delivered a different winner in 11 of those wards – two of them in this week’s by-election in the Central Karoo where the DA defeated a local party; and uMhlathuze (Richard’s Bay) in KZN, where the incumbent ANC lost after a swing to the IFP.
___STEADY_PAYWALL___By-election results of the past month, including Wednesday’s, confirm a continued decline by the ANC, especially in urban areas. The party’s average for its share of November’s vote in all 41 wards contested since November dropped from 47% to 43%. Of the 40 by-elections the ANC contested, it won only one ward seat and lost seven.
The DA’s gain in the Prince Albert municipality on Wednesday came on a surge to 51% of its share of the vote from 30% in November. That was only a couple percentage points ahead of the Karoo Gemeenskap Party, but sufficient to give the DA its first majority municipality in the Central Karoo. A hefty 75% of eligible voters participated in the tight contest.
All of which points to a watershed 2024 National Election ushering in a significant change in SA’s political leadership. On current trends, the country is heading for its first coalition government in over 90 years. At BNC#4 Rob Hersov told us to diarise the election date as 1 May. If he’s right, that’s 19 and a half months away today. Roll on 2024.
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A cracking interview with Sibanye-Stillwater’s founding and still current CEO Neal Froneman, who believes political correctness is for the insincere – especially in the South African context. In this fascinating half hour he explains why the solution to SA’s fraught labour relations lies in “share value” and “stakeholder capitalism” rather than confrontation with “increasingly irrelevant” trades union. Froneman also explains why he supports Rob Hersov’s forthright message expressed at BNC#4, shares his view of what is urgently needed for SA Inc to effect a turnaround, and the impact of a sanctioned Russia for platinum and palladium, where Sibanye is a major player. He spoke to Alec Hogg of BizNews.
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