this is business live from bbc news, with ben thompson and sally bundock. south africa's ruling party scrabbles to find a new leader — a marathon vote to elect a successor to president jacob zuma as leader of the anc. but does this herald a new era for the distressed economy? live from london, that's our top story on business live, on monday 18th december. we're live injohannesburg to assess whether a new political future can revive investor confidence and kick—start the troubled economy. also in the programme... donald trump's much—hyped tax cuts move a step closer, but will they really create jobs and lure back big business to the us? and ahead of the holiday week — traders sign off, but they'll be keeping an eye on eurozone inflation due later and us growth figures expected later in the week.

and we'll be getting the inside track on culture vultures — and how technology has changed the way we book tickets to concerts, the cinema or theatre. also, we want to know... facebook finally admits social media can harm mental health, but says post more to improve wellbeing — what do you think? just use the hashtag bbcbizlive. let's get this right, facebook says it could harm mental health, but also it says to solve that, you should post more? let us know what you think, just use the hashtag and we will be discussing this later in the programme. south africa's ruling anc party is electing a new leader. there are two candidates — deputy president cyril ramaphosa, or nkosazana dlamini—zuma, a former cabinet minister and ex—wife of president zuma.

but whoever gets the job, faces a monumental challenge of reviving investor confidence in south africa and revitalising an economy which has been left in tatters by zuma. the current president inherited an economy in distress in 2009, but he also made it worse. under his leadership — which has been defined by corruption and the weakening of the country's institutions — south africa has endured two economic recessions in less than a decade. unemployment stands at a whopping 27.7%. the growth forecast for this year is just 0.7%. and government debt is more than two trillion rand. the dire state of the economy and its level of debt have led s&p and fitch to cut sa's credit rating to junk, while moody's is keeping itjust abovejunk status, but on review. lerato mbele joins us from johannesburg.

it's good to see you. bring us up to date with the latest, as we said, it's down to these final two candidates. what can we expect to hear later? it has been an evening of voting and early hours of voting for delegates at the anc conference. a short while ago we were told that one more region was due to cast their votes and then counting would begin. it is a slow and arduous process but hopefully by the mid—afternoon we should be hearing who the new president of the anc will be, along with his five officials who will lead the organisation in what many expect to bea organisation in what many expect to be a new era. of course, as you are suggesting, there is a lot of speculation as to who is likely to win ina speculation as to who is likely to win in a two horse race between n kosaza na win in a two horse race between nkosaza na dlamini—zuma and win in a two horse race between nkosazana dlamini—zuma and cyril ramaphosa. all bets, it seems, are on cyril ramaphosa winning and to

that end we have seen the south african rand recovering by nearly 70% overnight. while the voting has been taking place, the round is at its strongest level since september. traders are hoping the winner will be the businessmen turned politician cyril ramaphosa, but for us to get confirmation, we still have a few more hours to wait as the votes are tallied. thank you, we know that you will keep us up to date with events there. ben payton is the head of africa research at global risk consultancy verisk maplecroft. welcome to the programme. you were listening to all of that, what is your thoughts? we were just talking about the fact that the rand has gained overnight, is that because they are hoping that cyril ramaphosa is going to get the job because they know that this marks the ending of president zuma's rain?” know that this marks the ending of president zuma's rain? i think it is because investors are desperate for

cyril ramaphosa to win, it looks like he is in strong possession, there is a chance of upset. investors have been hoping for the end of the jacob zuma error for a long time and they will be looking for cyril ramaphosa to signal a new economic direction —— era. if he takes over the anc and institute a period of do no harm economy. he is one of the wealthiest in south africa, he is the deputy leader of the anc at the moment. is he free of any questions surrounding corruption? it isn't just any questions surrounding corruption? it isn'tjust president zuma seen as someone corruption? it isn'tjust president zuma seen 3s someone who corruption? it isn'tjust president zuma seen as someone who has dodgy dealings, as it were, but other people within the anc? cyril ramaphosa has had a successful career as a ramaphosa has had a successful career as a trade unionist, what he is accused of is failing to stand up to jacob zuma. he has been the deputy president for the last several years and has kept fairly

quiet about the corruption and cronyism state and a jacob zuma until quite recently. but personally, he is not tainted in the same way by corruption. and if he we re same way by corruption. and if he were to get the job, zouma will remain president until 2019 unless there is something going on after cyril ramaphosa's appointment, what is your hope of seeing a beginning ofa is your hope of seeing a beginning of a turnaround for the south african economy, as ben pointed out, statistics right now are pretty dire? the economy is in bad shape, that could be due to them pushing jacob zuma out more quickly than we expect. if ramaphosa takes over the anc, in theory, it would be quite easy for him to force zuma out of office and he can get on with the job of turning the economy around and a key point will be the budget announced in february, the fiscal deficit is now up to about 4% of gdp. 50, deficit is now up to about 4% of gdp. so, investors will be looking

for ramaphosa to take steps to lower that. that could be the last chance to save south africa's credit rating with moody 's. ben, thank you. of course, they want to try and win the election in 2019, it's quite a task on their hands. absolutely. full coverage on that as we get more news from south africa. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. a power failure has caused massive disruption at the world's busiest airport — atlanta in the us. the failure seems to have been caused by a fire in an underground plant. three major airlines, united, american and south—west, all suspended operations at the airport. the airport said power has now been restored. a uk think tank has proposed a post—brexit trading deal based on the uk and the eu sharing each other‘s markets. the institute for public policy research says it would expect the two markets to share the same rules and regulations but form a new customs union similar to the existing one. ryanair pilots have suspended a one—day strike planned

for before christmas. the impact union, which represents irish—based pilots, has agreed to meet ryanair‘s management on tuesday, ahead of the planned action on wednesday. the strike could have caused misery for thousands of travellers as the great christmas getaway got underway. the latest star wars movie, the lastjedi, has generated more than $450 million in ticket sales on its opening weekend. in north america, it's at second place in the all—time box office list, behind only star wars: the force awakens, released in 2015. time for a look at the markets... us numbers finishing higher... as we

mentioned at the start, the rest will pass tax reform plans, that would cut business tax, down to 21%. the big question is, will that be enough to get funds to move back to the us if they have moved overseas, or actually create jobs? using the us if they have moved overseas, or actually createjobs? using money they saved from the tax bill to invest in business? that's a question a lot of investors are banking on. the week before christmas is normally quiet but there are things for us to watch out for this week. europe, there are things for us to watch out forthis week. europe, let's there are things for us to watch out for this week. europe, let's get an inflation of date. it is expected to come in at1.5%, inflation of date. it is expected to come in at 1.5%, slightly up from 1.496. come in at 1.5%, slightly up from 1.4%. remember, the european central bank, like the bank of england, has a target of 2%, it's the opposite problem here in the uk. the president of the eu no sense —— the president of the eu no sense —— the president of the central bank will try and give this a notch. 0n thursday we get the revised

third—quarterfigures in thursday we get the revised third—quarter figures in the thursday we get the revised third—quarterfigures in the us. that's how the markets are looking. let's go over to wall street. everybody is waiting for president trump to sign the republican tax reform bill. it's his first major economic victory since taking office. companies are looking forward to a christmas gift in the shape of a big reduction in corporate tax rate. figures will also show how many construction rejects were started in november and they are expected to be a little lower than in october. sales of new homes are likely to have slowed but there might be some good news, consumer spending numbers are expected to have risen, and companies releasing earnings this week are package delivery firm fedex as well as nike. joining us is simon derrick, chief markets strategist, at the bank of new york mellon. when you away for christmas? this

thursday! nothing is happening in the city on friday? it always happens while i'm away! laughter don't leave your desk on a friday! simon is not around! we were talking about various stories aldi today, ben talking about record highs in the states, a strong session in asia and looking at europe now, following this upward trend. it is, a of it has been driven by the excitement of tax cuts or proposed tax cuts, this will give an enormous boost to the economy. and earnings in particular, some say a 15% rise in earnings because of the corporate tax rate coming down? that's the theory but i've struggled a little, and the reason is over because of the last five, six or seven years, the cost of borrowing for companies has been ultralow. if anybody wanted to make

advances for their companies, it was incredibly easy for them to do so. i'm not really certain that cutting the corporate tax rate will do that. the money has to come from somewhere, we the money has to come from somewhere, we are the money has to come from somewhere, we are talking about over £1 trillion of tax cuts. that adds to the us deficit, the money will be borrowed, the pressure of borrowing rates, that will make life a little harder. it is like borrowing from peter to pay paul. i'm not certain it feeds through in the way that f1 is so excited about. -- everyone is so is so excited about. -- everyone is so excited about. they do have a point though, in some respects, for business, it isn't immediately going to translate? that's the argument, some tax cuts come in but on an individual level, it will not start to impact until late next year at the earliest. in terms of an immediate boost to spending, probably not. we will talk more

later... simon will give us his response to a question we've had on the programme. so many of you have got in search with us, that facebook have admitted that social media is bad for your mental health. a lot of comments coming in. holly says that her doctor told her this, but here she is, on social media! maybe we should have a social media free day? that is my weekend! you are quite good at switching off over the weekend. we cannot get hold of you! forget it! still to come, we speak to the boss of one firm who lets you pay less for the theatre. this is business live on bbc news. the department for work and pensions is set to publish its review of automatic enrolment today.

under new plans, workers as young as 18 will be auto—enroled into pensions, in a bid to boost savings. joining us now is nathan long, senior pension analyst, hargreaves lansdown. it was in a lot of the sunday papers yesterday, this attempt to get more young people saving from an earlier age. that has got to be welcome news because people simply are not putting enough away? absolutely. people are —— young people are being auto enrolled earlier, 18 instead of 22. the other big change is for people paying into their pension, their contribution will start from their contribution will start from the first pounds note they earn. —— from the first pound they earn. that would be a big benefit. we estimate that someone an average earnings,

they will have £60,000 more in their pension pot. really positive changes. can business afford this? that is a good question. the change in the contribution structure itself we think will cost £176 per employee for businesses. i think what we have seen for businesses. i think what we have seen from the review is that it is not going to be implemented straightaway. they are talking about mid-2000 straightaway. they are talking about mid—2000 and 20. plenty of lead in time for businesses. —— mid 2020s. the bigger issue for businesses is that from april of next year and april 2019, the amount that needs to be paid in by employers will be increasing anywhere. thank you very much, nathan. thank you for explaining that. it is really interesting, getting more of us to save at an earlier age. do you know the story we have been following about the honour of pound land?

doubts over pounds and suppliers after insurance caught. —— cook. credit insurers reduced their cover for the retailer. this is all after one of its leading companies has basically been called into question. more detail on that story. do take a look when you have time. you're watching business live — our top story — south africa's economy under the spotlight as its ruling party scrabbles to find a new leader. looking for a new leader of the anc to ta ke looking for a new leader of the anc to take over from president zuma. let's look at financial markets in europe. all extremely strong and

positive following a similar session in asia and record closes in wall street on friday. when we hear news of who has been selected to lead the anc, we will let you know. i had a very cultural week last week. i went to the theatre twice and the cinema once. i have got social life envy when it comes to ben! it's that time of year — when we might think about a trip to a concert, the cinema, or the theatre. and technology has been changing the way we book tickets for cultural events. and it's a growing industry. box office income rose by 18% between 2013 and 2016. that growth is partly due to more tickets being available but theatres being able to fill more seats, more easily. 0ne firm that's tapped into that market is todaytix. it allows users to buy tickets at the last minute or up to a month in advance. it's got 3.6 million users around the world who've spent $150 million on tickets.

but that's mostly in the us so the company has big plans to expand. merritt baer is co—founder and head of europe for todaytix. welcome to the programme. you are mostly in american cities. you are in toronto. you are also in london. when did you establish your? we launched two and a half years ago. we have a wonderful interface and a user base of hundreds of thousands of users. with an average age of 29. a younger demographic. how do you compete in london? there are so many different apps, websites, way to get tickets rather than ringing the theatre itself? sure. we have focused on a preemie user experience. via our mobile app,

website. we make sure we have the best prices, the best seats across the west end and across culture. musicals, plays, opera, dance. with these amazing access programmes we work with a third of the shows in the west end on lottery programmes, maybe for £20 tickets for the front row for a show. where you can on the day sign up first thing in the morning and access tickets for the best of the west end. how does the relationship you have with the theatre work? why is it not cheaper for mejust to theatre work? why is it not cheaper for me just to call the theatre? why go through a middleman? we work directly with every theatre owner, producer and director in the west end to offer our customers the best seats at the best prices. we have great prices. some of these access

programmes. you can see the rsc at the barbican for £10. does the theatre, go to you and say, we have got 50 seats still empty, we need to get rid of them? can they offer you a cheaper rate? we work in a variety of ways with different shows. working with our partners and finding out their needs. do they need more audience numbers for this tuesday? how do we help them with fulfilling seats for weeks in advance because they are already sold out for this week?|j advance because they are already sold out for this week? i was excited when i learned about your appa excited when i learned about your app a week ago —— a year ago. i have got three children. to take a big party to the theatre is really expensive. you want to expose your children to the magic of theatre. yet you can't afford it. yet every timei yet you can't afford it. yet every time i went on your app to find something, i couldn't find it for

four people or more. lots of tickets for one and briton. i struggled to get a booking for four or more. is that an issue? there are not many tickets together. i think it depends on the show. it is whatever the show has available. if you are looking for tonight, if you look for maybe this saturday, the next anatomy, even for the hottest shows, whether thatis even for the hottest shows, whether that is aladdin, maybe a few days out we could find you four great seats together. briefly, how did it come about? you look dead uber and thought, we need this for theatres? we found that the company about five years ago. we were twentysomethings at the time. we were inspired by a bunch of other great user experiences that are mobile. brian andl experiences that are mobile. brian and i have produced broadway shows

and i have produced broadway shows and working on the west end. we thought, why is there not a similar experience? thought, why is there not a similar experience ? that thought, why is there not a similar experience? that is how it came about. how does this compare to putting on a broadway show? there are putting on a broadway show? there a re two putting on a broadway show? there are two very different experiences. we have an amazing team in london and new york. it has been a fantastic experience. thanks for coming in today. thank you. and staying with theatres and cinemas — chances are you've seen a movie lately on a huge screen. the cinema company imax has been working with studios to shoot more and more films especially for their super—sized screens — like dunkirk and the latest star wars. but boss richard gelfond admits that when he took over the firm, he might have gone a little over—board in promoting the new technology. the ceo's secret is don't try to make people go into a new niche business. figure out a way to go into a business they are used to, not make people change what they do.

the strategy in general was to get mainstream film—makers to film movie in imax. and on the other hand to get exhibition chains around the world to build imax theatres. i will never forget stephen spielberg, we asked for a film in imax early on, and he said, tellthem asked for a film in imax early on, and he said, tell them to call me when they have a thousand theatres. we had less than 100. it was a chicken and egg macro situation. we figured out a way to take regular films not needing the cameras, and convert them to imax. we figured out

a way to take regular theatres and developed new equipment to create the imax image. so essentially we we nt the imax image. so essentially we went into their business rather than the other way around. i have never heard a news report with such dramatic music. where have you been?! they were talking about star wars and dunkirk. i've been trying to do some work. let's talk about facebook. social media is bad for your mental health, facebook admits. we have had such a huge response. most people say, yes.|j think the truly remarkable bit is the bit that ben pate up on at the start. they say the solution to it is to do more facebook. clearly they need to keep engagement. they make money from the advertisers.

need to keep engagement. they make money from the advertiserslj need to keep engagement. they make money from the advertisers. i have to say, there are bits of social media i absolutely love macro. i love instagram. and i love the responses you get back. i love the fa ct responses you get back. i love the fact your family and friends... you see it as positive? absolutely. you have to pick and choose. if you become obsessive, that can be different. if there is a bit that fits in your life, like instagram, it is great. they are here to stay, social media. it is not like we're going to stop using them. they are around. cos they invaluable. for everything we do it matters. whether you're talking about it on a personal level, interacting with clients, whether you're talking about giving commentary about the markets, it matters. thank you, simon. have wonderful christmas. and you. we will see you tomorrow.” will see you in 2018! good morning. we have got a largely

dry week this week. high pressure is going to be firmly in charge of the weather. a ridge of high pressure. the isobars fairly widely spread. that means we have light winds at the moment. it is mostly dry. we will see some sunshine today. some fog patches in north—west england and the midlands. they will clear away quickly. for many, staying dry and sunny into the afternoon. more cloud developing towards northern and western parts. temperatures this afternoon getting to five, six, 7 degrees. nine celsius in the far south—west of england. cloud in the north—west of england and northern ireland. patchy rain in the western isles and the northern isles of scotland. for most, looking dry. temperatures in scotland and

northern ireland five to six celsius. this evening fog will form quite quickly initially across central, eastern and southern areas. it will expand further north and west in the early hours of tuesday. some patchy fog further north and west. temperatures close to freezing in the south—east. frost first thing. that fog will be sticking around for much of the morning. it will cause some problems for trouble. this is how it looks on tuesday morning. lots of that fog around. some of the major airports, heat —— heathrow, gatwick, could be experiencing some fog. if you have any christmas plans for the week ahead, have a look at the forecast. the fault may be slow to cheer for some. where you keep fog, temperatures maybe two or three degrees. for many, that fog will lift into low cloud. maybe some bright spells here or there. rain in western scotland. temperatures in

the north—east of scotland 1a celsius. for many, staying in single figures. during wednesday we will see a band of rain moving to a further south and east. it will break as it goes. a cloudy day. temperatures for most getting into double figures with a south—westerly wind. for the rest of the week there is not going to be much rain. that rain moving south during wednesday. light winds for much of the week. dense fog around. if you have travel plans, stay tuned. bye— bye. hello. it's monday, it's nine o'clock. i'm victoria derbyshire, welcome to the programme. this morning — we'll bring you claims that sexual abuse and harassment is "endemic" in the music industry, with "dangerous men" abusing their power. young women are being sexually assaulted, still, today. there are some very dangerous men in this business. right at the top? yes.

currently? yes. that full exclusive report at about 0915 — and if you work in the music industry — really keen to hear from you this morning. do get in touch with your own experience. also on the programme — doctors are warning that tens of thousands of people may be at increased risk of dying early from heart attacks and strokes by misusing anabolic steroids. everything that we do