There has been no shortage of deal-making this week. Deals worth nearly R4-billion were struck, with the promise of billions more in the pipeline if the government can find buyers for what it regards as noncore assets. And they say there's no economic activity in South Africa! Of course, there are deals and there are deals. Some involve real money and risk, and others, well, don't. The ones that don't are stealing the limelight and appear not to have undergone much due diligence, while the others stand a chance of growing, employing people and paying taxes. The first saw a former civil servant who briefly worked in public affairs at Tiger Brands pay substantially over the odds for a TV channel and a newspaper, neither of which has any serious paid-for advertising. Mzwanele Manyi, via a hastily created entity called Lodidox, is paying R450-million in a vendor-financing deal for the companies that own The New Age and ANN7. That announcement came a day before SAA chairwoman Dudu Myeni ...

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