First Take SA

Passenger Rail Association of South Africa (Prasa) LAST NIGHT confirmed that train operations had returned to near normal. This after thousands of commuters were left stranded yesterday when Eskom cut off power to all metro-rail operations in Cape Town. PRASA says Eskom disconnected power to metrorail as a result of an overdue payment.

Finance minister, Tito Mboweni, in his budget speech on Wednesday, warned Religious Organisations to operate within the strict boundaries of the law to continue enjoying its tax exempt status. Mboweni highlighted that they will be keeping a close eye on non-compliance by some religious and public benefit organisations.

Insurance companies say they have picked up an increase in claims over the last few months. While the South African Insurance Association says they cannot pin this increase on loadshedding, the rise in claims has coincided with the re-introduction of loadshedding a few months ago. City Power also says only 10 claims they have had so far, were due to loadshedding.

Cosatu has accused Finance Minister Tito Mboweni of being irresponsible and reckless on his proposed cuts to the public sector wage bill. This came at a media briefing in Johannesburg following the conclusion of its Central Executive Committee meeting. The labour federation was responding to the minister's budget votes presented in Parliament on Wednesday and other issues affecting workers.

Debt servicing costs are among government's top four expenditure items in the 2020/21 budget allocations. This receives about 25 percent of the total expenditure, pushing it into fourth position on the list of allocations.

Government says tax revenue is expected to be significantly lower than the previous estimates. It says low growth and a weakened SARS have led to the 63-point-3 billion Rand projected revenue shortfall for 2019/2020- this is significantly higher than the revised shortfall of 52 billion Rands published in the 2019 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement. Government also says debt is unlikely to stabili...

The EFF has called for an inquiry into the removal of its MPL's during the Eastern Cape State of the Province Address in Bisho yesterday. The party says it finds it appalling that the speaker of the house, Helen Sauls August, called upon the house's security to forcibly remove EFF MPL's over their attire or dress code. Clad in their symbolic red-overalls, black boots and mine safety hats, the EFF...

Gauteng Premier David Makhura has told members of the Provincial Legislature that the Cannabis Sector will receive more attention from his government in the next five years as part of growing the economy. This follows an announcement by Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane last year that this sector will be prioritised by government in order to enhance job opportunities for the youth. Makhura says...

The second day in the trial of the televangelist Timothy Omotoso, saw the first witness, Andisiwe Dike continuing her testimony in the Port Elizabeth High Court. Dike gave details of how young women were allegedly sexually abused and intimidated by the accused. The thirty year old woman spent thirteen months in the church house of the Jesus Dominion International Church in Mhlanga north of Durban,...

The Commission for Gender Equality says forced and coerced sterilisation is a gross violation of women's human rights. The Commission released a report on forced sterilisation of women living with HIV in KwaZulu Natal and Gauteng. The Commission has revealed that women would be forced to sign consent forms under the guise that they were approving a ceasarian section and the nurses and doctors woul...

!!!Please be warned that the following story contains details that might offend sensitive listeners!!!. First witness Andisiwe Dike has given chilling details on how she was sexually abused by controversial pastor, Timothy Omotoso, in his church house in Durban.

SABC reporter, Pimani Boloyi reports on the family of a two year-old boy whose body was found floating in the Letsitele river, outside Tzaneen, in Limpopo believes he had been mutilated and killed before being dumped in the river. Meanwhile, 57-year-old man has allegedly beaten his four-year-old daughter to death in the Dlamini Township in Soweto. It's alleged that the man took his daughter to the...

Finance Minister Tito Mboweni's Budget Speech is expected to look at innovative ways to boost economic growth, create job opportunities and alleviate poverty. As different sectors of the economy continue to lobby Finance Minister Tito Mboweni ahead of his budget speech on Wednesday, the South African Liquor Brand Owners Association has called on Mboweni to consider an inflation only increase to th...

President Cyril Ramaphosa has apologised to the Malema family following accusations of domestic violence that were raised during two seperate occassions in joint sittings of Parliament. During the State of the Nation Address and again during the debate that followed SONA, ANC MP, Boy Mamabolo, accused Malema of abusing his wife, Mantoa. Responding to the debate, Ramaphosa called the allegations un...

South Africa's parole system is once again in the spotlight following yet another young girl child that has been murdered, allegedly by someone on parole. The body of 8-year-old Tazne van Wyk from Elsie's River in Cape Town was found in a stormwater pipe outside Worcester in the Boland, two weeks after she went missing. A 54-year-old suspect is due to appear in court today.

The United States Secretary of State's remarks that land expropriation without compensation would be disastrous for the South African economy are just the latest comments from the US Government casting aspersions on the process. Addressing Ethiopian business leaders in Addis Ababa, Mike Pompeo criticized centralized planning in economies pointing to failures in Zimbabwe and Tanzania among others b...

The war of words between ANC MP Boy Mamabolo, and EFF leader Julius Malema in Parliament has raised concerns over the use of Gender Based Violence to score political points. On Tuesday during the SONA debate, Mamabolo claimed that Malema had abused his wife. And in response, Malema shocked Parliament when he claimed President Cyril Ramaphosa used to beat up his late wife. Now, the fight between Ma...

The City of Cape Town has started the process of identifying suitable venues for the verification of the status of foreign nationals living outside the Central Methodist Church in Green Market Square. On Monday, the High Court granted the City an interim order to remove the group that has been living on pavements in the area. The court also ruled that the Department of Home Affairs should do the v...

The debate of the State of the Nation Address in a joint sitting of parliament descended into chaos when accusations of women abuse were flung around. It led to the EFF leader Julius Malema being asked to leave the house. As is convention, all parties in the House convened to debate the SONA delivered by President Cyril Ramaphosa last week. But when Ramaphosa was accused by Malema of having beaten...

After being booed in KwaZulu-Natal in 2006 following political tensions with his then fired deputy, Jacob Zuma, the province is warming up to former president, Thabo Mbeki. In less than six months, he has been invited twice by the ANC in the province. Last year, he was invited to address the memorial lecture of the late Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. This past weekend, he addressed the ANC Po...

The Cape Town High Court has granted the City of Cape Town an interim interdict to remove a group of foreign nationals living on the street outside the Central Methodist church in Green Market Square. Acting judge Daniel Thulare has ruled that the City has the right to uphold its by-laws. The City applied for an interdict last year after more than 600 foreign nationals moved into the church. Many...

The FW de Klerk Foundation has withdrawn its statement that apartheid was not a crime against humanity. Various political parties, NGOs and members of the public called on the foundation and the last apartheid president, FW de Klerk to withdraw the statement. Some have suggested that De Klerk be stripped of the Nobel Peace prize.

Gauteng Community Safety MEC Faith Mazibuko says the time to talk is over and decisive action is needed to combat crime in the province. Mazibuko was speaking at a Safety Summit in Bramfisherville, Soweto, south of Johannesburg. This is the first of the 33 summits that the MEC will hold across the province aimed at promoting community participation in crime prevention and to promote safety. MEC Ma...

Police Minister Bheki Cele says the continuous killing of members of the South African Police is an attack on the state. Cele was speaking at a funeral of the late Galeshewe Lloyd Poonyane in Viljoenskroon, in the Free State. Poonyane died in the line of duty near Orkney, in North West. He was shot dead by suspects and declared dead on the scene. Cele says it's concerning that many SAPS members wh...

As expected, President Cyril Ramaphosa's State of the Nation Address put emphasis on measures to stimulate economic growth. He addressed the challenges of electricity supply shortages, government spending which he described as misdirected towards consumption and debt-servicing rather than infrastructure and productive activity, and the state owned companies which continue to drain the national fis...