First Take SA

ACTION SA  says they are ready for local government elections 

Western Cape Premier, Alan Winde has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to withdraw members of the South African Defence Force by ending the national state of disaster. The state of disaster was initially declared back in March 2020 and extended in August of this year by a month as a response to the corona virus pandemic. Winde however says a differentiated approach needs to be adopted when imple...

Figures released by Statistics South Africa show that the country's gross domestic product (GDP) increased by one point two percent in the second quarter of 2021. The data shows that contributions to the increase came from transport, communication and the agriculture industry, as well as personal services and the accommodation industry. The figures also indicate that exports contributed positively...

The Forum 4 Service Delivery is today expected to unveil its mayoral candidates in municipalities across the North West province for the upcoming Local Government Elections. This follows the election of ANC veteran, Bushy Maape as the new Premier of the province. The Forum 4 Service Delivery Party is a breakaway party from the ANC which contested the 2016 elections, winning four council seats in t...

The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse - OUTA -  has dismissed as outrageous and unacceptable, a proposal by the Department of Transport which seeks to charge motorists a R250 fee when booking for license renewals online. This comes after Minister Fikile Mbalula published the proposed draft Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) Regulations 2021, which seek to amend the 2007 regulations. The...

ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa has urged government to refrain from outsourcing services that it can render itself in order to create more jobs. Ramaphosa was speaking at the conclusion of the three-day ANC Lekgotla which kicked off at the weekend. Ramaphosa emphasised during his address that the creation of jobs, especially for young people and women, remains one of the key priorities of the ANC-l...

There has been mixed reactions to the decision by the Independent Electoral Commission to re-open registrations for party candidates ahead of the upcoming Local Government Elections. The IEC says the voter registration weekend is scheduled for the 18th and 19th September 2021. The date of the election will be announced on the 20th of September with the IEC having communicated its preference of Nov...

Political parties have reacted differently to former President Jacob Zuma's release on medical parole due to ill-health. The Department Commissioner says Zuma remains in hospital although freed on medical parole. Zuma was serving a 15 month jail term for contempt of court for ignoring an order to appear before the Judicial Inquiry into State Capture. He was admitted to hospital soon after his inca...

South Africa is among nine African countries that have already reached the global target set in May this year to vaccinate at least 10% of every country's population against COVID-19 by the end of September Data from the World Health Organisatio (WHO) shows that forty-two of Africa's 54 nations, that is nearly 80% of the continent will miss the target if the current pace of vaccine deliveries and...

Political parties have reacted with shock to allegations that a Chinese-born South African businesswoman and politician, ANC Member of Parliament Xiaomei Havard, could be sharing classified information about South Africa with the Chinese Communist Party.

Maritime experts have called for greater protection and control of Mozambique's ocean territories, especially in the northern province of Cabo Delgado. This follows reports that at least six people - three villagers and three fishermen - were beheaded by suspected militants. Radicals linked to the Islamic State have been terrorizing the northern parts of Mozambique for a while, recently attacking...

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) says officials of the Department of Health as well as former Health Minister, Zweli Mkhize, flouted the law in awarding contracts to a company linked to Mkhize's associates. The SIU says it has recommended that the department take disciplinary action against officials implicated in the matter. SIU Head Andy Mothibi has told Scopa that the unit has also referred...

US soldiers have destroyed most of the heavy military equipment it was forced to leave behind at the Kabul airport in Afghanistan. This follows the final exit of US soldiers from the country following the force take over by the Taliban. The Taliban group has meanwhile vowed to fix the demilitarized weaponry and appealed to foreign and domestic investors to work with it in rebuilding the country's...

COPE: Presidency's disciplinary process against Diko is 'whitewash'   The Presidency has confirmed that suspended Presidential spokesperson, Khusela Diko, will not be returning to her position but to a different position in the Public Service. The Presidency says it has completed a disciplinary process against Diko which concluded that she failed to disclose her interests in certain companies...

While the EFF has opposed the move, the leader of the United Democratic Movement, Bantu Holomisa, has announced that his party will join the ANC, as it approaches the Electoral  Court asking for the re-opening of the registration of election candidates for a day. The governing party says it couldn't register some of its candidates for the upcoming local elections due to problems beyond its co...

Victor Kgomoesoana, Director at "Africa Is Open For Business" who has also authored a new book "Africa Bounces Back", looks at this week's top African economic stories...... ** Kenya and Tanzania sets December deadline to remove trade barriers ** American company to buy all processed Cashewnuts in Tanzania ** Globacom launches TV streaming service to boost customer experience

South African National Defence Union has written to the Defence and Military Veterans Minister Thandi Modise requesting that she immediately provide starving soldiers who were deployed in KwaZulu Natal and Gauteng, with food or it will take the necessary action. This, as the soldiers have complained about the lack of food allowances since their deployment in response to the unrest last month. Sout...

South African Airways flight tickets go on sale from today (26 August 2021). The airline yesterday announced that it will resume operations on the 23rd of September. Interim CEO Thomas Kgokolo says they will start operating flights from Johannesburg to Cape Town, Accra, Kinshasa, Harare, Lusaka and Maputo. Kgokolo says the aviation sector is currently going through a testing period and that the ai...

Traditional leaders, working together with health experts, have encouraged rural communities to come forward and get vaccinated. This as psychologists have noted that vaccine hesitancy stems from several factors which include, lack of information as well as group thinking influence. The World Health Organization says vaccine hesitancy is one of the main challenges to containing and combating the f...

The governing party's financial woes are continuing to impact employees as salary payments have once again been delayed. The African National Congress informed its staff that it will delay paying August salaries, which were due yesterday (WEDNESDAY). This, as July payments, are also still outstanding. ANC employees have been on a go-slow since last month as a result of late salary payments. For mo...

Non- governmental organisations, Black Sash and the Centre for Applied Legal Studies have welcomed the decision by the Director of Public Prosecutions in Gauteng to prosecute ANC Women's League President and former Social Development minister, Bathabile Dlamini for perjury. The charges relate to her testimony during an inquiry into the social grant crisis by the Constitutional Court in 2018. The o...

The Unemployed People's Movement has described the latest unemployment figures as the next ticking time bomb following the COVID-19 pandemic. This follows the announcement by Stats SA which reveals that the number of employed persons decreased by 54-thousand people in the second quarter of 2021 while the number of unemployed people further increased by 584-thousand people to a total of 7.8 million...

Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema has promised to do away with cadre-deployment during his term in office. Delivering his inaugural speech in Lusaka as the republic's seventh President - he promised an effective executive and a service-driven government. Zambia is a highly indebted country, with high unemployment and high inflation rates. Hichilema's campaign was centered around running an admi...

The IEC has closed the door on political parties and independent candidates after an extended 9 pm deadline to submit their payments and nominations for the upcoming Local Government Elections. This is despite the fact that it still remains unclear when the elections will be held as the promulgated date of October the 27th is being considered for postponement at the Constitutional Court. The IEC i...

DA's mayoral candidate for the City of Cape Town, Geordin Hill-Lewis has promised to bring better service delivery to each and every resident of the City despite their geographical location. Hill-Lewis was announced by party leader, John Steenhuisen as the Mayoral candidate for the Mother City,  set to replace current mayor Dan Plato. His ascension as mayoral candidate was also bolstered by t...