Business Bagel

In Today's Show:   South Africa’s local elections are back in focus as President Ramaphosa orders the ANC onto the streets, putting municipal performance - where politics is felt most directly - under renewed scrutiny. We unpack why local elections matter more than most people realise, and how they quietly shape trust long before national votes roll around. In business, Checkers teams up with...

In Today's Show:   South Africa has a new gatekeeper in its corruption fight - appointed quietly, without the usual interviews, and handed one of the most powerful jobs in the justice system. A baby formula recall puts corporate accountability back under the microscope, while the JSE hits a record valuation that says more about global money flows than local growth. Add export delays at the Cap...

In Today's Show:   South Africa’s power crisis has taken an unexpected turn, with Eskom deliberately switching off generators because the grid is finally stable - a move that raises fresh questions about how real this recovery is. At the same time, forecasters warn that a volatile summer weather pattern is locking much of the country into sudden storms and disruption, while a new global corpor...

In Today's Show:   South Africa responds after the US captures Venezuela’s president, exposing how the country navigates sovereignty and pressure in a more divided global order. We then unpack the NSFAS funding decision - why billions have been approved, why students are still stuck in limbo, and what it says about how the system actually works. Fuel prices finally fall to their lowest levels...

In Today's Show:   South Africa is being asked to start the year with optimism, even as daily life still feels tight. The president says the foundations are finally holding, markets are cheering a stronger rand, and regulators have just drawn a firm line under consumer rights after a high-profile used-car case. In business, DStv narrowly avoids losing major channels, farmers get support but st...

In Today's Show:   This is the last Daily Bagel episode of the year. Instead of running through the news, we wanted to take a step back and explain why Daily Bagel exists - what we set out to build, what this year has actually looked like behind the scenes, and why we’ve been so deliberate about staying facts-first and apolitical in a space that often rewards the opposite. In this episode, we...

In Today's Show:   South Africa has quietly locked in a sweeping health reform that could centralise how healthcare is managed, while the Reserve Bank moves to rethink how cash actually works in a country that still relies on it far more than most people realise. In KZN, a razor-thin coalition survives a dramatic no-confidence vote as tempers flare inside the provincial legislature. And in our...

In Today's Show:   South Africa has proposed its biggest citizenship reset in a generation, with government proposing a shift away from time served toward merit-based citizenship - and that’s only the start. The same draft plan also tightens immigration and asylum rules, rewrites how visas work, and lays the groundwork for a far more digital state. In other news, three major private colleges a...

In Today's Show:   The ANC’s succession race has quietly begun, with Ramaphosa still in office but the countdown to 2027 now unmistakably ticking. At the same time, a political fight over Starlink is exposing deeper tensions about who really sets policy, while the party draws firm red lines on NHI and BEE inside an uneasy coalition government. In other news: inflation expectations are cooling...

In Today's Show:   South Africa’s border security takes centre stage as the Home Affairs Minister warns that outdated systems and missing surveillance tech are turning our ports into a national security risk. In business, Mr Price’s R10 billion leap into Europe rattles investors, while Washington hints South Africa could be sidelined from the next AGOA extension. In other news: a matric exam b...

In Today's Show:   Australian teens are waking up to a world without social media after the first blanket under-16 ban goes live - and South Africa is already debating whether it should follow. The ANC’s National General Council is wrestling with its own follow-through problem, while the IMF offers praise with one hand and a debt warning with the other. In other news: WBHO lands a multibillion...

In Today's Show:   South Africa’s defence force is straining at the seams, with only a small band of soldiers fit to deploy and Parliament still in the dark about what’s really going on. In business, SPAR joins a growing list of South African retailers pulling back from costly foreign ventures, while Eskom scrambles to keep the ferrochrome industry from shutting down entirely. In other news: C...

In Today's Show:   South Africa wakes up to Netflix’s trillion-rand swing at Warner Bros and a TV landscape tilting under its feet, even as DStv fends off pressure from every direction. Ramaphosa’s GBV disaster declaration lands with a call for men to change their behaviour, while Traxtion’s multibillion-rand rail gamble tests whether private operators can fix what Transnet can’t.  In other ne...

In Today's Show:   South Africa’s policing crisis comes into sharp focus as the Madlanga Commission reels from the killing of a key witness and rising fears that testimony may dry up just as the inquiry starts exposing criminal networks inside law enforcement. Moody’s and S&P can’t agree on whether the country is turning a corner, with one agency upgrading us and the other holding firm on...

In Today's Show: South Africa’s population puzzle deepens as a fibre company claims the country may be far bigger than official estimates admit, while the ANC walks into a major policy gathering with salaries unpaid and donors disappearing. In business, a nationwide slowdown in store brands hints at a more strategic, promotion-driven shopper, and in sport, Aiden Markram steers the Proteas to a...

In Today's Show:   South Africa’s passport has climbed to 51st on the global index, with new visa-free access opening up even as long-standing barriers in the West remain firmly in place. Parliament’s 30% matric debate turns out to rest on a myth, while DStv’s holiday lineup could shrink as twelve Warner Bros Discovery channels face the chop. In other news: the economy keeps edging forward des...

In Today's Show:   South Africa’s online gambling boom has turned into a regulatory mess, and Treasury now wants to tax its way through it. Inside the ANC, renewed whispers about Ramaphosa’s future are building ahead of next week’s council meeting, even as the party’s leagues close ranks around him. The Hawks, meanwhile, have uncovered a recruitment trail linking South Africans to Russia’s war...

In Today's Show:   South Africa takes a concrete step towards ending Eskom’s decades-long monopoly as NERSA opens the door to a competitive power market, while holiday roads brace for heavier enforcement after a year of brutal crash numbers and a rare drop in fatalities. Banks are fighting AI-driven fraud with AI of their own, blocking hundreds of millions in scam attempts as the festive seaso...

In Today's Show:   South Africa is facing a foreign-policy flashpoint as the US administration tries to shut the door on our seat at the global table - and finds other leaders pushing back just as hard. The MK-linked “training” saga has now pulled in Jacob Zuma’s daughter, while Curro’s transformation into a nonprofit inches closer after a key regulatory nod. Cell C finally returns to the JSE,...

In Today's Show:   The DA has plunged into an awkward internal showdown as its own disciplinary body investigates a feud at the top, just as DStv’s new owners push through rapid changes aimed at winning back subscribers. Sandton City, meanwhile, has pulled off a retail comeback few expected, shaking off vacancies to become one of the country’s busiest malls again. In other news, a High Court j...

In Today's Show:   South Africa’s sudden embrace of the ‘Butterfly Strategy’ reveals a bigger shift in how government is viewing its global partners. SA Tourism’s long-running governance mess has now escalated into a full SIU investigation, while Takealot - after fifteen years - is finally edging toward real profitability in a crowded e-commerce arena. And in the wildcard, we break down how th...

In Today's Show:   South Africa’s most notorious hospital scandal is back in the spotlight, with a Hawks sergeant in tears after a failed bribery attempt exposes just how active the Tembisa networks still are. Naspers hits its strongest e-commerce run heading into Black Friday, while SARS quietly delivers an R18 billion revenue surprise by tightening both the carrot and the stick. In other new...

In Today's Show:   South Africa’s first G20 on African soil delivered more drama than expected: a warm-but-tense weekend, a full declaration pushed through without the US, and a diplomatic crack now forming between Pretoria and Washington. In business, BHP finally walks away from its Anglo pursuit while Mr Price scouts new markets abroad. Government has declared gender-based violence a nationa...

In Today's Show:   South Africa’s three spheres of government get a rare unpacking today as we break down the real difference between Parliament and Cabinet, and why understanding that distinction matters. We then turn to municipalities - the layer of government most visible in daily life - and outline what they are actually responsible for. From there, we look at how global credit ratings inf...

In Today's Show:   Washington’s warning to South Africa now threatens to derail the entire G20 as Ramaphosa pushes ahead with a declaration the US refuses to recognise. At home, the truth behind the 17 South Africans stuck on the Russian frontlines grows murkier, and women across the country prepare for a sweeping national shutdown against gender-based violence. In other news: Eskom’s pollutio...