In this episode, we explore how lessons from the ultimate meritocracy - world class sport - can be applied elsewhere in our lives, including business. Brad Barritt was vice captain of his hometown rugby team, the Sharks, and just 21 when among the 2008 Currie Cup winning team. The day after that triumph he relocated to the UK for what was to become a 12-year-long love affair with trailblazing North London rugby club Saracens, playing a key part in helping rewrite the record books. Barritt was...

In a world overpopulated with fakes, the authenticity of GG Alcock is a beacon of hope. Raised in a mud hut by committed South African Liberals, Alcock's story is inspirational, insightful and uplifting. For those who have read them, his excellent books Third World Child and Kasinomics expose a country few suburb-dwelling South Africans know exists. In this wide ranging discussion, Alcock shares how his roots in rural poverty created unique perspectives on issues that today baffle most of his...

The focus of this episode is one of South Africa's most successful entrepreneurs, Port Elizabeth's Adrian Gardiner. The inspirational story of this low profile family man exposes the ingredients needed by all successful entrepreneurs: curiosity, tenacity, humility, grit and, most of all, the self-belief to dust yourself off and start again. Gardiner lost everything in 1979 when an economic recession pushed his highly geared businesses into bankruptcy. But within a decade he was back on top of...

It's a year since Mmusi Maimane followed the lead of the late Frederick Van Zyl Slabbert and resigned from the Official Opposition to seek a political solution for SA outside of Parliament. History shows Slabbert made the right call, his contribution from outside the tent far more effective than it could possibly have been inside. So too, it seems, with Maimane. The mushrooming of this workaholic One South Africa movement suggests that he, too, is on the road to making a big difference....

Another extraordinary South African features in this episode of the long-form biographical podcast. At 68, Bobby Godsell's passion for his homeland hasn't dimmed and in this rare interview, he proposes an approach to living in SA that works. Born in Boksburg and raised in Durban, Godsell spurned repeated offers by one of the world's richest men to run a mining empire - and not for a moment regrets that decision. And at this difficult time, when many of his countrymen are giving up on SA,...

Our guest in this episode is outspoken economist Chris Hart, a former science teacher who did a B Comm because he thought it would help when he was became a headmaster role. Instead, it was the ticket to a bank’s dealing room where he helped traders make a packet when contrarian forecasts that often beat the economic consensus. But the real story about the free spirited, independently minded Chris Hart is in how he was targeted by political interests ahead of South Africa’s fractious 2016...

Our guest in episode is an extraordinarily talented and courageous young man whom the Scott family call David but the rest of South Africa knows as The Kiffness. His wildly popular musical parodies and satirical Youtube videos have attracted millions upon millions of viewers, turning the mild mannered musician into one of the most recognizable faces in the country. The one-time medical student’s art hasn’t been without risk, however, with occasional puffed up politicians taking sufficient...

Having just turned 60 and with the kind of wealth that brings total independence, globally successful entrepreneur Rob Hersov shares his obsession of helping weld together anti-ANC forces to unseat the ruling political party. Having swum against the tide when returning home three years ago, he has a vision for a South Africa that is very different to today's troubled, failing State. The man who was tutored by two Ruperts (Murdoch and Johann) believes the turnaround will start with ejecting...

Kevin Hedderwick, Supreme Wealth Creator, is our guest in episode eight of The Alec Hogg Show. Hedderwick has had a spectacular career and in this podcast, he openly discusses what happened with the acquisition of Gourmet Burger Kitchen in the UK, his business relationship with Brian Joffe, how he started out with the iconic Halamandaris family at the family's small Steers Group and, of course, Famous Brands. 

Our guest in episode seven of the half hour Alec Hogg show is Allen Ambor, creator of the 600-store Spur restaurant group which he started in 1967 with an instantly successful steakhouse around the corner from Cape Town’s iconic Newlands rugby stadium. Eccentric, focused and opinionated, yoga teacher Allen is still living a full life. Typically, in the interview he doesn’t hold back – whether it’s on the real reason for a sudden departure from Spur or his advice to budding entrepreneurs.

This episode features Sygnia founder Magda Wierzycka, a visionary financial services entrepreneur whose story is an inspiration for all. A rags to riches story of penury in Poland when the country was a vassal to the Soviet Union, to a role model for anyone possessing the grit and determination to overcome the odds. Today Magda is living her dream - but in her words, getting there "hasn't been a picnic."

Our guest in this episode is Leon Louw, the Marxist-turned-Free Marketeer who emerged from a conservative Afrikaner background to embrace communism before having his views reversed by a street vendor in her 70s. For almost half a century louw has provided a clear voice of rationality in a country where economic policies have been shaped by political rather than wealth creating agendas. A riveting half hour.

In Episode Four our guest is a lad from Kensington in London whose chance meeting with a lass sitting on a wall in Cornwall sent him on an adventure that was to have a massive impact on South Africa’s peaceful transition. Until fate intervened, the highlight of Clem Sunter’s life had been playing on the undercard of a Rolling Stones concert at Oxford University as one half a folk music duo called Clem and John. Like other guests on this show, Clem was selected on the basis that if his story...

Next week, 45-year-old restauranteur Anastasia Sideris will enjoy a double celebration: 15th anniversary of the founding of her 25-store Tasha's restaurant group; and the repurchase from Famous Brands of the 51% stake sold in 2008. In this biographical podcast, we get a unique insight into an OCD workaholic who has already surpassed the achievements of her successful restauranteur father. After reaching her targets in SA and UAE, she is about to introduce Tasha's into new geographies,...

South Africa possesses many extraordinary people few of us ever hear about until they get pushed into the spotlight by unusual circumstances. Like the Covid-19 pandemic which was grabbed as an opportunity by politicians to stir up fears enabling them to wield unfettered power. In episode two of the Alec Hogg Show, the founder of Biznews.com taps into one of the few consistently dissenting voices. In this podcast, we get to hear what makes PANDA co-ordinator Nick Hudson tick. And discover a...