Daily Insider: SA’s longtime arch-bear who is now excitement personified

START YOUR MORNING BY LISTENING TO TODAY'S BIZNEWS BREAKFAST BRIEFING PODCAST – Shares rocket despite Fed's 0.75% rate hike; Rand rises strongly; BN favourites report – Spotify jumps 12%; Meta falls 6%; Dr Frans Cronje on SA's rebound

Catch up with the latest on BizNews.com

• IRR moves to return Zuma to jail 
• Telkom tries to put a stop to Ramaphosa's SIU investigation 
• Hoffman tells DA its cadre deployment battle 'too widely framed'
• Crime and lawlessness is what SA should fear most 
• Comair flew headlong into a perfect storm of problems 
• The lessons I've learned about the love that never dies 
• Fear and loathing in Mexico's desert – SLR 
• Fleeing the Flock 
• Wildlife conservation scores another landmark judgment 
• You can now diversify and invest in alternative assets like the Ruperts and the other 1% – Wealth Migrate
• Financial Times perspective: Is the dollar about to take a turn? (Premium)

NB: If you're getting this newsletter second hand – click here to subscribe for your own copy. It's free and signing up takes less than a minute.

SA's longtime arch-bear who's now excitement personified 

Dr Frans Cronje reckons many times in the past decade and a half he wondered whether he should discard his Dr Doom persona and give audiences the good news so desperately sought. He never caved, because that would have been dishonest.

The consistency of the former arch bear on SA is the most powerful reason why his new message of hope carries such credence. Cronje was previously CEO at SA's oldest and leading thinktank, the Institute of Race Relations, where he'd spent almost two decades, In our interview yesterday, he shared optimism that had been embryonic when we last spoke, a year ago, just before he left the IRR.

Cronje's upbeat thesis was reached from detailed research into what SA voters are thinking, including hours of engaging with groups of ANC supporters. What emerged are powerful insights for any thinking South Africa – including leaders of opposition parties whose perceived squabbling is their Achilles Heel at a time when power is theirs for the taking. My sense: a dollop of humility there will go a long way.

Dr Frans admits he was excited when we spoke a year ago, but is even more excited today. He says political change in 2024 will be followed by an economic resurgence of the type SA experienced through seismic shifts in the 1980s and 1990s. Click here to watch yesterday's in-studio interview – and access dozens of supportive comments. Hope springs.

UPCOMING EVENTS – SIGN UP NOW 

BizNews Conference – August 30 to Sept 3

All the rooms at Champagne Sports Resort are now allocated. But there are other accommodation options in the Valley which work well with the Day Pass option introduced for the first time. So if you want to spend four days with Paul O'Sullivan, RW Johnson, Rob Hersov, Mavuso Msimang, Piet Viljoen and our other speakers, click here for all the details and to register your interest.

To receive the Daily Insider every weekday at 6am in your inbox click here. You can also sign up to the weekend's BizNews Digest for a wrap of the best content BizNews has to offer, for a leisurely Saturday read.