First Take SA

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...... * MALAWI: Israeli Company in Malawi for Possible Industrial Hemp Investment * NIGERIA: Freight Forwarders Say Terminal Operators Lack Capacity, Efficiency  * KENYA: Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Records an Increase...

For the first time in the history of South Africa, independent candidates will be able to stand for election. Political parties and independent candidates had until last night to register for the local government elections. To date, more than 350 independent candidates have either captured their nominations or submitted nominations. Organisation, One South Africa Movement, has been supporting and...

A Johannesburg health worker is expected to appear before the Booysens Magistrate's Court for allegedly selling fake COVID-19 negative test certificates to travelers for five hundred rands. The suspect, based at the Parkhurst Clinic in Johannesburg, was arrested over the weekend following a week-long sting operation that was led by the Group Forensic and Investigative Services within the Johannesb...

A 25-year-old male suspect is expected to appear before the East London Regional Magistrate's Court following the gruesome murder of 23-year-old Law student at the University of Fort Hare, Nosicelo Mtebeni. Mtebeni's murder has sent shockwaves across the country as her dismembered body was discovered inside a suitcase and plastic bags on the streets of Quigney in East London on Thursday last week....

The National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NATJOINTS) has confirmed that law enforcement agencies are on high alert following unconfirmed reports of a national shutdown today ( Monday 23rd Aug). The Centre for Analytics and Behavioural Change at the University of Cape Town has studied social media campaigns geared to misinform. They say they are again seeing calls for a shutdown an...

 A major showdown will take place in the Constitutional Court TODAY (20/08) when it hears the Electoral Commission's urgent application to have the October Local Government Elections postponed. Various political parties and civil society organizations including the ANC, DA, IFP, ATM, One Movement South Africa, Makana Independent New Deal and the Forum for Service Delivery will be pleading the...

Several of the opposition parties in Parliament say they will work with the newly-elected National Assembly Speaker, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, even though they were opposed to her nomination to the position. They say they expect Mapisa-Nqakula will reciprocate by respecting all political parties irrespective of their make-up in the house

It's still not known how much it will cost to rebuild the Medupi power station following the recent explosion. Public Enterprise's Director General, Kgathatso Tlhlakudi, revealed this when he was updating Parliament's Portfolio Committee on the state of financial affairs and governance issues at SOEs, as well as the explosion. He says their recovery manager is still assessing the costs

The United States - joined by 19 countries and the European Union - has issued a statement expressing concern about Afghan women and girls - particularly their right to education, work and freedom of movement. The statement comes despite vows from the Taliban to respect women's rights - a position that has been greeted with skepticism given the group's historic treatment of women and girls in part...

The Democratic Alliance is TODAY expected to oppose the election of former Defence Minister, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula as the new speaker of the National Assembly. Mapisa-Nqakula is the ANC's nominee to replace the former speaker, Thandi Modise, who has been appointed as the new Minister of Defence and Military Veterans. The DA has also vowed put forward its own nominee for the position of speaker o...

Former PRASA Board chairperson, Popo Molefe has accused President Cyril Ramaphosa of lying at the State Capture Commission of Inquiry. During his two-day testimony at the commission last week, Ramaphosa said it was disingenuous for Molefe to tell the commission that the ANC Top Six officials failed to help him fight corruption at PRASA. But, Molefe has hit out at the president and says he knew he...

The Solicitor General at the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, Fhedzisa Pandelani, says 35 of the 36 Marikana claimants against the state have been settled following the massacre in August, 2012 at Lonmin Mine in the North West. Pandelani says the total amount that has been paid as compensation to the affected families of the mine workers killed in Marikana to date is almost 70...

The United Nations Secretary General has told the Security Council that the dreams of a generation of young Afghans, particularly women and girls, hang in the balance. Antonio Guterres was speaking during an emergency session of the Council after the Taliban took full control of Afghanistan including the capital Kabul, over the weekend. President Ashraf Ghani has fled to Tajikistan. Guterres calle...

The emergence of the deadly Delta variant in South Africa has retarded the human immunity goals in the country. That's according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases' Dr Melinda Suchard. SA initially intended to vaccinate two-thirds of the population to achieve population immunity. The Delta variant has scuppered these plans. As of last week -- 3.25 million people had received a jab...

Nine years down the line and there's still no accountability for the lives of thirty four people killed by police on the 16th of August 2012 and ten who lost their lives prior to the shocking incident in Marikana in the North West Province. Some political parties are still putting the blame on President Cyril Ramaphosa's door step, who was at the time a shareholder of Lonmin but the Farlam commiss...

Zambian police have appealed to citizens to refrain from expressing their anxiety through protesting on the streets. The country is monitoring the slow trickle of results in the presidential and national elections. Zambians went to the polls on Thursday. There have been several incidents of violence and disturbances around the elections. President Edgar Lungu who is trailing his opposition, Hakain...

Afghanistan president Ashraf Ghani is reported to have fled the country as the Taliban take over Kabul as the last big city under the control of the government. This as foreign nationals scramble to vacate the country fearing for any potential violence that may happen. The Taliban insists it wants a peaceful transition of power following the exit of US led forces which started two decades ago. Tal...

Four countries in Africa have entered their fourth wave of surging COVID-19 infections. According to the Africa Centre for Disease Control, Algeria, Kenya, Somalia and Tunisia are seeing infections rise again for a fourth time since the pandemic. Less than 2-percent of the continent's population is fully vaccinated as countries continue to struggle in securing COVID-19 vaccine doses.

President Cyril Ramaphosa yesterday dedicated much of his second day at the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, to deal with state security and the renewal of the ANC. The president defended his decision to take charge of the Ministry of State Security and rejected the notion that he is amassing power in order to deal with his enemies.  Ramaphosa also reiterated the ANC's commitment to...

A senior official at the WHO has warned against stigmatization, which could emerge as the divide between vaccinated and unvaccinated people within communities or societies, grows.  This sentiment was echoed by an official at GAVI- The Vaccine Alliance who reiterated their view that vaccinations were an individual choice despite the urgent public health implications of not vaccinating.  T...

President Cyril Ramaphosa says he considered a number of options when he found out state capture was happening under his watch as deputy.  He was testifying at the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture YESTERDAY. Ramaphosa, will continue to testify TODAY, giving evidence as head of the ANC and as Deputy President of the Republic from May 2014.  The president also dealt with matters of...

As South Africa continues to record new covid-19 cases and deaths, pharmaceutical company MSD says an effective treatment, in addition to vaccination, could prove to be a critical component in the fight against the virus. MSD says it is in its final stages of developing an Investigational Antiviral Candidate for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19.  The organization says clinical trial...

Demand for oxygen and Oxygen cylinders has skyrocketed in the country due to covid-19 related infections. Health care professionals say consumers are prepared to pay any price to purchase oxygen and oxygen cylinders to save the lives of their loved ones. An oxygen cylinder and a regulator could now cost you about four thousand Rands, while refiling oxygen could set you back more than 200 Rands. Am...

The ANC in the Free State has re-iterated that members can support criminally-charged party members in their personal capacity. This is ahead of TODAY'S multimillion rand asbestos corruption pre-trial hearing in the Bloemfontein High Court. Suspended ANC secretary-general, Ace Magashule, alongside 10 others and five companies face more than 70 charges of fraud, corruption and money laundering. The...

The ANC caucus in Parliament has nominated former Defence minisiter, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, as the Speaker Elect. This follows the selection of National Assembly Speaker, Thandi Modise to replace Mapisa-Nqakula in her former position in last week's cabinet reshuffle. Parliament is currently in recess until the middle of this month after which a Speaker will be elected at the sitting of the Natio...