Sharp sharp podcast

PODCAST: ‘Sharp Sharp’ – PIC cleared for crash-landing

The PIC is back in crisis, Ramaphosa is losing business support, drought threatens Southern Africa, and Air Zimbabwe’s latest comeback comes with caveats ... all in this week’s episode.
July 24, 2026
1 min read

Rob Rose and Zukile Majova are joined by Patrick Smith from Africa Confidential for the 17th episode of Sharp Sharp, the weekly podcast on South African politics, money and power from Currency and Scrolla.Africa.

This week: the Public Investment Corporation, Africa’s biggest asset manager, is in freefall. The CEO has been suspended, five directors have resigned, and two of the ANC’s most powerful finance figures are locked in a turf war over who actually runs it. Rob and Zuks unpack why a body managing R3.7-trillion in government pensions keeps ending up here, and Patrick brings in comparisons from across the continent, including Zimbabwe’s opaque Mutapa Investment Fund and Nigeria’s own pension fund troubles.

From there, the conversation turns to business’s fading faith in Cyril Ramaphosa, why replacing bad ministers with worse ones keeps costing him credibility, and what a looming super-El Niño could mean for South African farmers and food security across the continent.

They close on Air Zimbabwe’s resumed London route, and why the story behind it isn’t quite the comeback it looks like.

Sharp Sharp is a podcast on South African politics, money and power from Currency and Scrolla.Africa. New episode every week.

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Rob Rose

With more than two decades in business journalism and as an author of Steinheist and The Grand Scam, Rob knows his way around a balance sheet. While editor of the Financial Mail for eight years, the title bucked the trend of falling circulation, producing award-winning news.

Zukile Majova

Zukile Majova is the political editor at Scrolla.Africa. He also does political commentary on some of South Africa’s leading radio stations.

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