Episode

SPAR’s comeback story. Plus: High oil prices linger longer

Podcast
Bruce Whitfield’s Business Week
Published
Jun 11, 2026
Duration seconds
2306
Processing state
not_requested
Canonical source
https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/news248/episodes/SPARs-comeback-story--Plus-High-oil-prices-linger-longer-e3klepd
Audio
https://anchor.fm/s/107370458/podcast/play/121338093/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-5-11%2Fd38d1d29-2eb5-8e59-15d0-8643e039874b.mp3
JSON
/v1/public/podcasts/bruce-whitfield-s-business-week-7413177/episodes/spar-s-comeback-story-plus-high-oil-prices-linger-longer
Markdown
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Summary

In this episode, Bruce puts SPAR CEO Reeza Isaacs in the hot seat. Isaacs, the retailer’s third CEO in three years, takes questions on why profits have more than halved, what’s gone wrong with the independent retail model, and how to roll out a turnaround plan that is more than just talk. We also get a glimpse into Handwritten, YuppieChef co-founder Andrew Smith’s new book on building one of South Africa’s most beloved online retailers from the ground up. Old Mutual’s Meryl Pick makes sense of a surprisingly well-behaved oil price, a dovish new Fed chair, and MTN’s long-awaited continental comeback. Lastly, News24 Business editor Helena Wasserman explores the mining sector’s anger over a new industrialisation policy, SA’s better-than-expected GDP number, and a court ruling that could quietly take the shine off crypto in South Africa. This podcast is sponsored by Capitec. To catch every episode, click the follow and subscribe buttons on News24's Spotify, Apple, and YouTube podcast channels. Editions drop on Thursdays at 17:00.