Chatsworth scientist scoops prestige UK prize with Moon survival tech
A groundbreaking technology developed by a South African entrepreneur has won the UK Space Agency-funded Aqualunar Challenge. Lolan Naicker’s SonoChem device took the top prize in a competition that featured scientists from some of the UK’s leading universities. His invention uses microwaves to melt ice and ultrasound to filter out impurities from lunar ice, potentially providing astronauts with drinkable water directly from the Moon’s surface. Naicker, originally from Chatsworth in KwaZulu-Natal, told BizNews in an interview that purifying water from lunar ice remains an unsolved challenge. He has identified four potential spin-out technologies from his invention—two for space applications and two for terrestrial use—which have attracted significant interest. The £150,000 prize money will allow him to expand his team, having previously relied on contractors while bootstrapping the venture. This is far from the end for the South African entrepreneur—he says he is surrounded by other partially completed projects, hinting at further innovations to come.
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URC's 'moving weekend' - Niels Momberg unpacks the race for the top eight
This week on the BizNews Rugby Show, guest Niels Momberg – CSA Youth Manager, SA Schools rugby commentator, and "rugby encyclopaedia" – joins Rory Steyn and Patrick Kidd to break down Round 16 of the URC. With the race for the knockouts heating up, the trio dives into key match-ups, bold predictions, and what’s gone wrong at Ellis Park. Plus, Niels shares insights from his deep roots in South African sport, his love for schoolboy rugby, and why the Stormers’ scrum could make or break their season. Don’t miss this passionate, informed, and entertaining episode.
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83% of EFF voters say the Kill the Boer song is “hate speech” or “irresponsible”…
Eighty-three (83%) of Economic Freedom Front (EFF) voters feel that the Kill the Boer song “land somewhere between irresponsible and hate speech”. That is according to a recent Social Research Foundation (SRF) survey on public perceptions around hate speech, free speech, - and that controversial song. In this interview with BizNews, the SRF’s Research Director Gabriel Makin says of that 83%, 57% of EFF supporters say that the song is clearly hate speech as it calls for direct physical harm specifically against white Afrikaans farmers who are being murdered in disproportionate numbers - and as such believe it should be banned. “So that's a majority of the support base of the political leader who's driving the kind of narrative around Kill the Boer saying that actually the song that he's singing is hate speech and that he the song itself should be banned and he should be barred from singing it.” Similarly to EFF voters, former President Jacob Zuma’s MK supporters also express opposition to the song Kill the Boer. “They think it is irresponsible to sing or they think generally it should be banned.” Commenting on these significant findings, Makin says: “…one of the trends…that emerges from our data is that the bulk of South Africa is moderate, it's staid, it's pragmatic. It's not the kind of racially obsessed, radical, radical populist population that some of our political leaders wish it were.”
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BN Briefing: DA VAT victory signals GNU power shift; Mulder: ANC destroys everything it touches
In today’s BizNews Briefing, a major political shift as the Finance Minister moves to settle the DA’s legal challenge against the VAT hike - a win for the opposition and the people of South Africa. Economist Dawie Roodt weighs in on the political impact, while George Glynos highlights that cutting wasteful spending remains key. Also, Colonel Chris Wyatt interviews FF+ leader Dr. Corné Mulder on the ANC’s slipping support. And to close the show, coverage on the IMF’s latest global outlook and Elon Musk's pivot as Tesla faces fresh challenges.
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African Renewal Movement calls for an end to BEE, BELA & NHI…to unite the nation
South Africa has to get rid of policies with “race-related objectives” that “seek to divide us as a nation”. That is the call from Mawande Gqotso, the Founder of the African Renewal Movement (ARM). In this interview with BizNews, he says: “… we need to do away with all the current policies, the Black Economic Empowerment, the Affirmative Actions, the BELA, the NHI, all the things that seeks to divide us and look at more what needs to unite us.” Gqotso says the initial high hopes that the Government of National Unity (GNU) would make a difference in the lives of ordinary citizens, are being dashed because “the two major players are fighting amongst each other”. He says for South Africa to go forward, “we need a clear definition of what is government and what is opposition. And I believe that the current set up doesn't allow that…this arrangement is derailing us as the nation”. Slamming the Budget impasse and the proposed VAT hike Gqotso says: “…it shows a government that has run out of ideas and concepts on how to take the country forward”.
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