First Take SA

The constitutionality of the ANC's step aside rule will be tested in the Johannesburg High Court later THIS MORNING. Suspended ANC Secretary General Ace Magashule is taking his party to court to challenge his suspension in May for failing to step aside over the corruption allegations against him. The matter will sit virtually for two days until Friday.

Chaos errupted at a vaccination site in Bloemfontein YESTERDAY (wednesday 23 June) as hundreds of teachers and non-teaching staff turned up at the Gonyane primary school to be vaccinated. The departments of education and health aimed to vaccinate 500 teachers on the first day.

The SABC will TODAY (Thursday) launch it's new sports channel. This follows an agreement earlier this year with eMedia Holdings allowing its Openview service to broadcast three new SABC channels in addition to the public broadcaster's radio stations. The companies say that this agreement is intended to make the SABC's content accessible to a wider audience.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that the National Port Authority will become an independent subsidiary of Transnet with its own board. He says this reform will enable re-investment in port infrastructure and also ensure that terminal operators are treated fairly and equally. Ramaphosa says the move will also enable greater private sector participation in terminal operations. He was visitin...

President Cyril Ramaphosa has indicated that there's a likelihood of further stricter measures, especially in Gauteng, where Covid-19 infections are rising. However, he says there's a need to strike a balance between saving lives and maintaining the economy. Some citizens and businesses in Gauteng are still not adhering to safety measures.

The vaccination drive targeting over half a million teachers and support staff is expected to rollout from TODAY. The Department of Basic Education is aiming to innoculate 582-thousand teachers including administrative staff, volunteer food handlers and cleaners in both the public and private education sector. Its goal is to complete the exercise by 8th July as more vaccines are expected to be ava...

The National Prosecuting Authority's Investigating Directorate currently has 16 cases involving billions of rands lost due to corruption, in several courts across the country. It also has restraint orders for over two billion rands on assets belonging to some of the accused. In the case against former Transnet Board member and Gupta family associate, Iqbal Sharma, the restraint order for assets is...

Military medics have been deployed to Gauteng as the province's hospitals buckle under pressure due to rising Corona virus cases. The number of new Covid-19 infections has already breached the cases recorded during the second wave by over 2000 . An interim 60-member SANDF team of medics has been brought in to help with staff shortages in hospitals.

The World Health Organization (WHO) YESTERDAY announced that South Africa will be the first location to establish a mRNA technology transfer hub for COVID 19 vaccines. The WHO says South Africa could be producing vaccines in nine to 12 months. Two local companies will work together, Biovac as a developer and Afrigen as the manufacturer. Technology transfer hubs are training facilities where the te...

Parents have ambivalent views on the announcement that schools are to remain open. The Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga made announcement at the weekend. Pressure was mounting for schools to close as the country experiences a third wave of Covid-19 infections

Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu, YESTRDAY hosted a webinar on the rights of fathers in the protection of children. The event was in line with fathers day. It also sought to encourage fathers to be part of their children's lives and upbringing.

Although there are laws in place for the rehabilitation of mines, many mine operators still leave their non-operational shafts unattended. This has led to an increase in illegal mining activities. Billions of rand have been set aside to ensure that proper close-out procedures are followed, yet the shafts remain open.

Zambia's founding father and former President, Kenneth Kaunda, has died in the capital Lusaka at the age of 97. He was hospitalised last week with pneumonia. Kaunda led Zambia to independence from Britain - ruling the country from 1964 until 1991. He was also instrumental in assisting other Southern African countries gain independence from minority rule.

Labour Federation, COSATU, says it will continue to put pressure on both the National Treasury and Parliament to speed up the processing of amendments to the Pension Act to allow workers in financial distress limited access to their pensions. COSATU says it made this call last year after witnessing the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the economy, especially on workers

Some political parties say there is nothing to celebrate this Youth Day if more than 60 percent of young people are unemployed and trapped in poverty. South Africa commemorated the day when thousands of young people rose up against the apartheid government, 45 years ago. Until 1994, many of them were killed in the struggle while hundreds of others left the country to join liberation armies of the...

The situation remains tense in Harrismith in the Free State following a violent protest YESTERDAY. A truck was set alight on the N3 during the protest leading to a temporary closure of the busy highway. Residents are calling for president Cyril Ramaphosa to intervene as they want to be removed from Maluti-A-Phofung municipality due to lack of service delivery.

Concerns over keeping to COVID-19 regulations under level 3 continue to rise as thousands of people flock to the KwaHlathi area in LadySmith, KwaZulu-Natal. This follows a visit by the province's Economic Development MEC, Ravi Pillay who called on people to stop the digging of what they believe to be diamonds. Pillay was leading a fact finding visit with a team of national government officials, th...

Political parties have given mixed reactions to President Cyril Ramaphosa's announcement that government will be amending Schedule 2 of the Electricity Regulation Act for the energy sector. This means that private companies have permission to generate up to one hundred megawatts of electricity and sell it, without a license. The announcement comes as the country is currently experiencing rolling b...

EFF leader Julius Malema has given the Basic Education Department seven days to close down all schools or face a forceful total shutdown. He was briefing the media in Johannesburg earlier YESTERDAY (thursday 10 June). Malema also condemned the fact that the IEC has decided to go ahead with the 2021 local elections while former Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke is still evaluating the impact of...

Public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane says the decision by President Cyril Ramaphosa to ease red tape for independent power producers to generate power will not benefit the poor. Ramaphosa has announced the amendment of schedule 2 of the electricity regulation to increase Nersa's licensing threshold for embedded generation projects up to 100 megawatts.

The private health care sector is also feeling pressure on its bed capacity due to rising Covid-19 infections. In one Gauteng private hospital, fifty percent of the beds are occupied by Covid patients. Patients in a less severe condition, are sent home with oxygen tanks to create bed space. Gauteng accounts for over 50-percent of the total cases reported in the country.

The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI) says the current load shedding crisis facing the country will have a huge impact on economic recovery. Eskom this afternoon announced it will be implementing stage four load shedding because of additional breakdowns of a unit in Medupi and high winter demand. The Chamber which represents more than 20 thousand small and medium sized busines...

Former Transnet board member and Gupta family associate, Iqbal Sharma, will remain in custody after the Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court turned down his bail application. The state opposed bail citing that Sharma presents an overwhelming flight risk and that he has the means and incentive to flee the country. And that he failed to disclose 265-million rand held in his United Arab Emirates' Issar Gl...

President Cyril Ramaphosa has placed beleaguered Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize on special leave. The news broke while the Minister was visiting the Northern Cape YESTERDAY (Tuesday), to assess progress in the vaccination roll-out in the province. The Minister, who is facing allegations of involvement in the irregular issuing of tenders by his department, visited two vaccination sites in Kimberle...

Foods and beverages group, Clover South Africa, has cited the lack of service delivery as a reason behind the decision to relocate its biggest cheese production plant from Lichtenburg in the North West province, to Queensburgh in Durban. Clover says the Lichtenburg factory has been experiencing water and power outages, and the surrounding infrastructure has not been maintained by the municipality...