First Take SA

The State Capture Commisson yesterday heard testimony relating to various covert operations undertaken by the State Securtiy Ageny's Chief Directorate for Special Operations. Amongst them were Operation Justice to deal with judges colluding against the state, Operation Hollywood, aimed at spying on high profile persons and Operation Sisonke set up to stop the so-called Cape Town "poo wars". Accord...

Ms K, an unidentified witness testifying at the State Capture Commission in Johannesburg, has spoken about how the State Security Agency (SSA) established a parallel private protection force for the personal use of former President Jacob Zuma, soon after he took office in 2009. Ms K, is an employee of the SSA and replaced Mr Y who was scheduled to testify on the stand but could not do so due to il...

The South African National Editor's Forum, SANEF is calling for an investigation into claims that the State Security Agency was used as a vehicle to plant positive news stories about government for certain media outlets. On Monday, the State Capture Commission of inquiry heard evidence from Dr. Sydney Mufamadi who claimed that news wire, African News Agency, was paid Twenty million rand in the 201...

South Africa's first batch of Covid-19 vaccines will arrive in the country on Monday. The arrival of the one million doses from the Serum Institute in India was announced by Health Minister, Zweli Mkhize last night*. They will be used to immunise frontline healthcare workers in the first phase of the country's vaccines rollout. Government wants to vaccinate at least 40 million South Africans by th...

Acting State Securtiy Agency Director General Loyiso Jafta says the SSA has suffered from selective adherence to the law, employees being given illegal instructions as well as corruption and theft. Jafta, who was testifying at the State Capture Commission, was appointed in 2018. He confirmed the payment of money to members of the judiciary and the use the SSA for political as well as factional str...

The South African Teachers Union is taking the Department of Basic Edcuation to court for failing to pay up to 4 000 temporary educators' salaries in Mpumalanga for January. Chief Executive Officer at the union, Chris Klopper, says they are taking the department to court on an urgent basis arguing unfair dismissal in terms of the labour relations act and that the department did not comply with the...

The Restaurant Association of South Africa (RASA ) has handed over a memorandum of demands to the office of President Ramaphosa. The association is calling for government to lift the ban on alcohol sales and transportation as well as the curfew times. The association says the ban has left the industry crippled as most of its revenue comes from alcohol sales. The alcohol ban was re- introduced in l...

Former Chairperson of the High Level Review Panel into the State Security Agency, Sydney Mufamadi, has painted a disturbing picture of the State Security Agency over the last ten years. Testifying at the State Capture Commission, Mufamadi said that there had been politicisation and factionalisation of the intelligence community, fuelled by power struggles in the ANC. The Panel was appointed by Pre...

The Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs is assessing the damage caused by tropical storm Eloise in Mpumalanga. Areas in the Ehlanzeni region in the north-eastern part of the province seem to be the hardest hit. Many roads are flooded and at least 100 houses have been damaged

Many people have resorted to steaming using hot water, herbs and mixtures of western medicine and oils to fight Covid-19 infections. Some believe this could cure or kill the virus, while on the other hand, medical practitioners have warned of possible adverse outcomes in some cases.

Government leaders should take the Covid-19 vaccine in public to demystify myths surrounding the vaccine and to show citizens that it is safe. This is a call by Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane as the province gears itself up to vaccinate three-point-seven million people to achieve the mountainous task of defeating Covid-19. Chairperson of the Health Department's Ministerial Advisory Committee...

Disaster management teams in Limpopo, Mpumalanga & KZN remain on high alert as parts of central Mozambique were flooded after Cyclone Eloise struck near the port city of Beira with wind speeds of up to 160km/h. The cyclone, which has now been downgraded to a tropic storm, has hit Zimbabwe and northern parts of South Africa. For the latest on the storm, we are joined on the line from Pretoria by So...

The Pretoria High Court has reserved judgement in former Gauteng Health MEC, Dr Bandile Masuku's application to have the findings of the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) against him declared irrational, illegal and unlawful. In October last year, Gauteng Premier, David Makhura, fired Masuku after the SIU found that he failed in his duty to conduct oversight on Personal Protective Equipment tenders...

The Public Protector, Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane, says she plans to challenge perjury charges against her. Mkhwebane briefly appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court where the matter was postponed to the 25th of March. She believes the charges are frivolous and should be withdrawn. The charges relate to her handling of the controversial ABSA/Bankorp report where she allegedly lied about the nu...

Tributes continue to pour in, following the death of Minister in the Presidency, Jackson Mthembu. Mthembu succumed to Covid-19 related complications yesterday. He was admitted to hospital last week, following abdominal pains and tested positive for Coronavirus. He was 62 years old.

Higher Education Minister Dr Blade Ndzimande has announced that the 2021 academic year will start between March and April. The minister briefed the media yesterday in Pretoria on plans to reopen tertiary institutions.

The DA says its lawyers have written to President Cyril Ramaphosa to set out Covid-19 vaccination issues that the party says are not in line with the Constitution. Party leader John Steenhuisen says they are giving the President seven days to respond, and if his response lacks details, they will take the matter to court. Steenhuisen says they want, among other things, disclosure of the budget for...

Messaging service WhatsApp has sought to reassure users following concerns sparked by its controversial privacy policy changes. The Facebook-owned service says there has been a lot of misinformation about its update to terms of service, where users are now requested to agree to allow Facebook and it's subsidiaries to collect user data from their devices. The move has raised eyebrows and unleashed...

Both the Eastern and the Western Cape have briefed Parliament's Health Committee on their strategies to roll out the Covid-19 vaccine. This as the country is preparing to receive the first batch of the AstraZeneca vaccine by the end of this month and February.

The mood is sombre at the SABC as the retrenchment process unfolds. The public broadcaster has continued to issue letters of redundancy and surplus to affected staff following the conclusion of last month's extended consultation process. The SABC says it has reduced the number of employees who'll be affected from 600 to just over 300. It says it has to reduce the wage bill to make the organisation...

Gauteng Premier, David Makhura says residents must brace themselves for a tough two weeks as they expect Covid19 cases to rise even higher . Makhura says the infection rate in the province has already doubled in the past Seven days. The Premier visited the Steve Biko Academic hospital in Pretoria, which has since turned its parking bay into a ward for patients under Covid19 investigation as it cou...

Teacher unions in KwaZulu-Natal have called for the Education Department to halt marking in centres that are not adhering to Covid-19 safety protocols. This is after a marker died due to Covid-19-related illnesses in Estcourt in the Midlands. Meanwhile, the provincial Department of Education says they have decontaminated the marking centre.

All learners are expected to start the new school year on January the 27th. The Department of Basic Education says it doesn't expect its timetable to be affected by lockdown regulations since there's no evidence that schools pose a greater risk to spread the coronavirus than during the first wave of infections. Basic Education Director General, Mathanzima Mweli, made the announcements at a briefin...

The Solidarity Fund says it will be making a 327-million-rand down payment towards a Covid-19 vaccine as early as next week. The Deputy Chairperson of at the Solidarity Fund - Adriaan Enthoven - says the prepayment will help to secure a vaccine for 10-percent of the South African population. The Solidarity Fund says it has allocated over 800-million-rand towards the procurement of Personal Protect...

Organized business and labour say South Africa cannot afford to go back to a hard national lockdwon. This as as the country is still reeling from news yesterday that the dreaded second wave of with high COVID-19 infections is upon us.