I'm on the pursuit of happiness and I know
Everything that's shine ain't always gonna be gold (hey)
I'll be fine once I get it, get it in, I'll be good
Its redemption now reflects stronger finances and the impact of state-backed debt relief.
Crucially, paying down this obligation should help lower Eskomās borrowing costs going forward.
This may be positive, we still have a long way to go when it comes to strengthening revenue
Eskom has settled its R38bn ES26 bond, closing a long chapter in its funding history and signalling real progress in its financial recovery.
The bond, first issued in 2007, expanded over time as investors continued to back the utility.
Chelsea have lost three straight Premier League games without scoring for the first time since March 1998 šÆ
ā 0-1 vs. Newcastle
ā 3-0 vs. Everton
ā 0-3 vs. Man City
Ye & 80,000 fans singing "Heartless" at SoFi Stadium šļø
"That's what 80,000 people sound like ladies and gentlemen... they said I'd never be back in the states. Two sold-out concerts."
Shareholders have shown Michael Georgiou the door - Hereās what his exit means for Fourways Mall ššļø
I recently tweeted about the co-owner of South Africaās biggest shopping centre that went into business rescue.
The co-owner, Azrapart owns 50% of Fourways Mall while Accelerate Property Fund (APF) owns the remaining 50%. Flanagan & Gerard, along with Moolman Group, are the mall's property managers.
Michael Georgiou is the sole director of Azrapart. He was formerly the CEO and non-executive director of Accelerate Property Fund.
At Accelerateās October 2025 AGM - 97% of shareholders rejected his reappointment to the board after 12 years of being on it.
Hereās a timeline summary of the past decade:
2013 - Georgiou is the CEO and is closely connected to both Accelerate and Fourways Mall.
2022 - he resigned as CEO to focus on developing Fourways Mall, while remaining a board member.
2025 - Georgiou borrowed money from Investec and RMB using his Accelerate shares as security, but when he couldnāt repay the loan, the banks took those shares (312 million of them) - cutting his stake in the company down to 4%.
June 2025 - The Free State High Court put Azrapart into business rescue after Investec and RMB filed an application.
Georgiou is linked to a few companies in the Fourways area that owe Accelerate Property Fund a lot of money - the total was almost R800 million.
The debt breakdown:
⢠R632 million owed by the Fourways Precinct
⢠R134 million owed by the Michael Family Trust
⢠R30 million owed by Azrapart
In 2024, they tried to clean up all the above debt between Accelerate and Georgiouās companies through a debt restructuring deal.
Instead of paying cash directly, Accelerate agreed to pay Azrapart R300 million for a ārebuilt claimā (basically, settling past obligations), including R71 million for delays.
Accelerate also bought 50% of the remaining undeveloped land at Fourways for R75 million, and parking bays for R242 million. After all these transactions, the books were balanced - neither side owed the other anything.
Soon after, Azrapart went into business rescue - meaning it couldnāt pay its debts. As a result, Accelerate didnāt recover the money owed and had to write off R1 billion as a loss.
This now means that theyāve wiped the books clean - no more messy, back-and-forth debts between the mall, Georgiou, and Accelerate. With Georgiou off the board, Accelerate and its property managers now run the show. Hereās hoping the costly short-term losses pass quickly and that we have a more transparent future for Fourways Mall.
šļøšRETAIL: A new 37 000m2 regional shopping centre is opening soon in Mpumalanga
Quick facts about the new mall:
ā¢ā ā Stores: over 100
ā¢ā ā Site size: 120 000m2
ā¢ā ā Mall name: Jumbo Mall
ā¢ā ā Parking bays: over 1500
ā¢ā ā Opening date: 19 March 2026
ā¢ā ā Project status: under construction
ā¢ā ā Jobs created during construction: over 2500
ā¢ā ā Permanent jobs created by the mall: +- 800
ā¢ā ā Location: on the R544, eMalahleni, Mpumalanga
ā¢ā ā Developer: New Africa Developments (NAD) with Investec
ā¢ā ā Tenants include: Shoprite, PEP, Ackermans, Jet, Foschini, Dis-chem, Clicks, Boxer, KFC, Hungry Lion, Romanās Pizza, Chicken Licken, Debonairs, Real Fish & Chips, Roots Grillhouse, Capitec, FNB, Old Mutual, Telkom, Pep Cell and Mr Price
Parking will be free at the mall (how refreshing not to be charged for parking). They will also have one of the largest LED screens in South Africa on the mallās exterior, measuring 140m2.
eMalahleni is a very densely populated area, and this site offers great exposure and accessibility.
The typical LSM of a shopper at this mall is 4-7. In retail, LSM stands for āLiving Standards Measureā - a South African marketing and retail tool that helps retailers, advertisers, and brands understand and target different customer groups based on their living standards rather than just their income.
Itās a scale from 1-10, where 1-3 are lower-income or rural consumers, 4-6 are middle-market or emerging consumers, and 7-10 are upper-income or affluent consumers.
What are your thoughts on this new shopping centre?