Rob Rose

Johannesburg

Contributor at Freelance

Journalist, author of Steinheist and The Grand Scam, Currency News, FT and former FM editor

Articles

Daybreak: A stain on South African business

3 days ago | currencynews.co.za | Rob Rose

The escalating fiasco with Daybreak Foods — in which its shoddy management led to the culling of 350,000 chickens — has shone an unflattering spotlight on the oversight exercised by the state-run Public Investment Corporation (PIC). The story dates back to 2015, when the PIC financed the R1.2bn purchase of Afgri’s poultry division by a Black empowerment consortium led by Matome Maponya Investments.
Chasing Ramokgopa’s R60bn nuclear unicorn

1 week ago | currencynews.co.za | Rob Rose |Giulietta Talevi

South Africa’s government is itching to press “go” on another nuclear building plan, less than a decade after former president Jacob Zuma’s conflict-ridden R1.2-trillion nuclear deal with Vladimir Putin’s Russia fell apart. But the odds of any new nuclear assets going online anytime soon remain slim. Speaking at a side event around the G20 energy group last week, electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa launched a full-throated argument for South Africa creating new nuclear energy capacity.
Sustainable funds bloodied – but not beaten - Currency News

1 week ago | currencynews.co.za | Rob Rose

The backlash against environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing is gaining pace, with fund managers in Donald Trump’s America leading the charge. New figures from market experts Morningstar lay bare how rapid the reversal has been: a record $8.6bn was withdrawn from sustainability funds in the first quarter of 2025, aligning with Trump’s tenure since being inaugurated in January. That is a sharp reversal from the previous three months, when $18.1bn flowed into those funds.
Being polite to AI might cost – but it’s worth it - Currency News

1 week ago | currencynews.co.za | Rob Rose

A few months ago, Currency urged users of ChatGPT, DeepSeek and other AI users to stick with the “Ag pleez” in their prompts. And with good reason: researchers from Japan’s prestigious Waseda University found that “politeness of prompts can significantly affect [the AI’s] performance”, as this is “thought to reflect human social behaviour”. Being rude to your machine could lead to greater bias and the wrong answers, they said.
‘Gold mafia’ case exposes Africa’s smuggling crisis

1 week ago | currencynews.co.za | Vernon Wessels |Rob Rose

In an otherwise anonymous court room in Pretoria, acting judge Waheeda Amien delivered a serious blow to gold dealer Andries Greyvensteyn, a man depicted as a central pillar in Southern Africa’s “gold-mining mafia”, in February. If you have no idea who Greyvensteyn is, let alone why he is supposedly one of the masterminds of an illegal gold-smuggling operation, you’re not alone.
A dictator’s playbook: Funnelling funds into South African property

2 weeks ago | currencynews.co.za | Rob Rose |Vernon Wessels

You wouldn’t think of Joburg’s leafy suburb of Bryanston as ground zero for African dictators looking to stash what they’ve looted from their country’s national fiscus. With its high whitewashed walls, brush-cut lawns and country club veneer, Bryanston has an air of aristocratic mining opulence, rather than of a grimy cash laundrette.
Can the GNU survive Enoch’s U-turn?

3 weeks ago | currencynews.co.za | Rob Rose

Helen Zille, chair of the DA’s federal executive, was quick to claim victory after finance minister Enoch Godongwana’s late-night decision to scrap a much-hated VAT hike, but the damage done in the tussle over the budget has left the grand coalition in the balance. The fragility of the coalition became scarily clear at a press conference today at which every other party in the government took its turn to round on the DA for “misleading” the public.
Motsepe’s ARC accused of 'despicable' bid to mine national park

3 weeks ago | currencynews.co.za | Rob Rose

A bitter fight between the World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF) and Patrice Motsepe’s African Rainbow Capital (ARC) over a brazen attempt to mine inside one of South Africa’s most ecologically sensitive national parks has taken a new twist. It is a battle that spotlights uncomfortable trade-offs between mining and environmental damage, with the outcome likely to set a precedent for whether companies are allowed to mine the land under national parks.
Elliott makes a mint as Big Oil wrestles with identity crisis

3 weeks ago | currencynews.co.za | Rob Rose

There are few winners from the global economic upheaval sparked by Donald Trump’s tariff war, but Florida-based hedge fund Elliott Management is certainly one of them – if more by chance than intention. Last month, regulators revealed that Elliott had taken short positions in two oil multinationals – a position in Shell amounting to 0.5% of its stock, and in its French rival, TotalEnergies.
FT: SA's new US envoy Mcebisi Jonas seeks to reset strained US-SA ties

4 weeks ago | biznews.com | Rob Rose |Monica Mark

Mcebisi Jonas named special envoy to mend US–South Africa relationsPast Trump criticisms resurface but Jonas says context has changedTrade tensions, aid cuts, and diplomacy key to Jonas’s US missionSign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here.