In this our final episode, Merchant Banker Mark Barnes and Financial Mail journalist Tim Cohen, say cheers and thanks for the fish. This show, we think, has run its course, and we just want to say a quick goodbye. Along the way, by a rough estimate, we have reached over 300000 listeners and viewers over the past three years, which is pretty cool. We are extremely grateful for those who endured our ramblings, and the fish were great!

South Africa doesn’t need a municipal election popularity contest; it needs a survival strategy. So says merchant banker Mark Barns in conversation with Financial Mail journalist Tim Cohen and former Goldman Sachs Partner and now Adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School Colin Coleman. In this lively discussion, we talk about the November 4 elections not as a political event but as an opportunity to remedy municipal bankruptcy. Perhaps the answer is not a new centrist party but to create an enduring “calibrated equilibrium” between the ANC and the DA, says Coleman. Also, the rand and the global bond market. Because merchant bankers.

South Africa doesn’t need a municipal election popularity contest; it needs a survival strategy. So says merchant banker Mark Barns in conversation with Financial Mail journalist Tim Cohen and former Goldman Sachs Partner and now Adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School Colin Coleman. In this lively discussion, we talk about the November 4 elections not as a political event but as an opportunity to remedy municipal bankruptcy. Perhaps the answer is not a new centrist party but to create an enduring “calibrated equilibrium” between the ANC and the DA, says Coleman. Also, the rand and the global bond market. Because merchant bankers.

The Financial Mail’s cover this week is about the political race for Joburg, the most consequential of the local government elections that are due to take place on November 4, 2026. FM senior editors Guiletta Talevi, and the writer of the cover story Shirley de Villiers, discuss the myriad possibilities in this crucial race, which could provide crucial pointers of SA future political direction.

With just over 80 days to go before the local government, a flood of questions arise over the future of Johannesburg. Investment banker Mark Barnes and journalist Tim Cohen discuss the issue with Financial Mail senior editor Shirley de Villiers. What is going to happen? Who will be mayor? And we arrive at a definitive answer - we don’t know. But that doesn’t hold us back from speculating, particularly about what will be necessary just to start pointing in the right direction. Also, we want to give peace a chance. Instead of thinking that might is right, why don't we think that right is might? Tough question.

Diamonds are Forever - or perhaps not. Every week we provide a brief preview of the Financial Mail's cover story. The week the dramatic advent of lab-grown diamonds on the diamond market, its effects and consequences.

How do sport and money mix? Like oil and water. It's such a difficult balance to get right; sports can generate enormous turnover and need the cash to support development and pay the players. But if you go too far, you lose sight of the public and the ethic. So its turning out for Fifa, despite a fabulous world cup. Talk about an own goal! Merchant banker Mark Barnes and journalist Tim Cohen discuss this issue, and its much less benign distant cousin, war. Is any consideration being given to the possibility that the conflict between Iran and the US will go on for years, as the conflict between Ukraine and Russia have? And what’s behind it all? Listen UP!

Since the Public Investment Corporation, the nominal investor of over R3-trillion in retirement savings of the entire civil service, now has no board or permanent CEO, not to mention a broadly poor investment record, would this not be a great time to do away with it entirely and hand the mandate to the professionals? Merchant banker Mark Barnes and journalist Tim Cohen discuss this issue with SPECIAL GUEST and free market proponent Leon Louw, and you might think the answer is obvious given the panel’s pro-business makeup. But it is not. PLUS glass half full journalism.