Premium: Mmusi Maimane SA President in 2024? Not as far fetched as you may think

START YOUR MORNING BY LISTENING TO TODAY'S BIZNEWS BREAKFAST BRIEFING PODCAST: Shares rise for fourth successive week; Institutions driving Crypto; Telkom tussles; Some small SA industrial shares post share price increases. .At the second BizNews conference almost a year ago, former DA leader Mmusi Maimane delivered the opening keynote with a thoughtful, prescient address. He spoke of a wave of democracy sweeping Southern Africa – most evident through the presidential victory in Zambia by his reformer friend HH Hichilema. .___STEADY_PAYWALL___.He came through to our Bryanston studio on Friday to provide an update. What emerged supports the prospect of Maimane disrupting SA politics like Emmanuel Macron did in France. With firm evidence that his disruptive ideas are taking hold – those of the French leader have done in Europe. .Maimane told me he will be running for President. That his constituency of independents, is expanding at a rapid clip. And the work being done in communities is paying off (he was en route to rural Limpopo where, he says, his One South Africa Movement is growing fastest.) .A year ago, the former pastor's vision of independent voices with a loud voice in SA's Parliament, seemed fanciful. After two surprise by-election victories this year in previously safe ANC seats, people, and an Obama-style book in the works, SA may just have a President Maimane after 2024. It could do a lot worse. .More for you to read today: .ANC is ideologically handicapped. William Saunderson-Meyer says our liberation movement has failed to adapt to the world as it actually works.A Nation Asks: Are We Ferocious Lions or Peaceful Cats? A new sculpture of India's national emblem divides citizens; 'It looks like a steroid-fed version of a lion.'Meme-Stock Investors Are Back! Sort of, Anyway. Individual investors are back to scooping up stocks, including meme favorites like Bed Bath & Beyond and AMC. Don't expect the frenzy of 2021, though.If Your Co-Workers Are 'Quiet Quitting,' Here's What That Means. Some Gen Z professionals are saying no to hustle culture; 'I'm not going to go extra.'.With suitors for Telkom now rapidly emerging thick, rain chairman and co-founder Paul Harris visited the BizNews studio to offer the elevator pitch for a merger of his speedboat with the supertanker. Of all the bidders, Harris alone is not in unchartered waters. In 1998, Harris together with partners Laurie Dippenaar and GT Ferreira merged relatively small and youthful RMB with venerable First National Bank. That created FirstRand, a group now worth R390bn, by some margin the most valuable financial services company on the African continent. Harris was today chastised by Pretoria for not following the rules when yesterday publicly disclosing rain's desire to merge Africa's leading 5G player with the former State-owned monopoly. He promises to follow the letter of the law – and jump through whatever hoops are necessary to give Telkom's stakeholders a compelling alternative to being swallowed up by MTN – or continuing to go it alone..NB FOR YOUR WALL STREET JOURNAL ACCESS….As a Premium subscriber you are entitled to full membership of wsj.com (normal price $29 a month). Be sure to action your access through the Premium link on the BizNews website. Because of The Wall Street Journal's credential requirements, be sure to create a password which has at least 8 characters and includes at least one letter and one number – NB it MAY NOT contain any special characters (ie #, !, @ etc). To maintain access to WSJ.com, you MUST enter our partner's website via Biznews Premium at least once a month. A final PS, if you had previously signed up for WSJ you'll need to clear the cookies from your device. Our helpdesk can assist – support@biznews.com.

Premium: Mmusi Maimane SA President in 2024? Not as far fetched as you may think

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