First Take SA

The South African National Taxi Council, SANTACO, says it's the first time the taxi rape incidents are being brought to its attention. Police are investigating several cases in which men picked up victims and raped them. Tsepiso Makwetla speaks to SANTACO secretary-General, Ralph Jones who says they will take action where necessary

The Competition Commission has conducted search and seizure operations at the premises of nine fresh produce agents in Gauteng today. The agents are alleged to be involved in price fixing conduct. They are said to have disadvantaged smaller suppliers by charging prices way below the market price. The agents are also accused of determining when prices should increase and preserving certain grades o...

On speak out this week we look at Stock Market College which is NOT accredited. The College says it is in the process of registering with the relevant bodies

The South African Revenue Service says it will support a probe by the Tax Ombudsman into its tax refunds system. Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas granted the office of the Tax Ombudsman permission to investigate whether it has been withholding refunds to boost tax revenue artificially. This follows numerous complaints from individual taxpayers and companies about delayed refunds. Tsepiso Makw...

The Gauteng government is mulling the idea of bringing in soldiers to assist in facilities caring for the vulnerable members of society. NEHAWU members at these facilities are on strike for better wages. Six months old Singalaka Sonamazi died yesterday after being moved from a child care centre last week to another centre due to the nationwide strike. Gauteng Social Development MEC, Nandi Mayathul...

Comedian Tumi Morake is set to grace the stage at the Baxter Concert the 31st of March and and the 1st of April 2017. She is embarking on her first official South African tour and entertaining audiences across the country. She spoke to Tsepiso Makweta ....

The United Nations estimates that over eighty percent of global waste-water remains untreated and pollutes the environment. Proponents for water re-use believe this water can be recycled to benefit millions of people without access to clean water globally. Tsepiso Makwetla spoke to Professor Stefan Uhlenbrook, Director of the UN World Water Assessment Programme....

A video of a racial incident between a female and a male at a Spur restaurant at the Glen in South of Johannesburg has gone viral and caused an outrage on social media. In the video, a white male is seen standing by a table where a black woman was dining with several kids. He tells her that she needs to discipline her child after an alleged physical altercation between their children. The heated e...

The Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution, Casac, says it is deeply disturbed by the burglary at the office of Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng. This follows the break-in at the Office of the Chief Justice in Midrand at the weekend. Fifteen computers containing sensitive information about the country's judges were stolen. CASAC says the burglary raises suspicions about politic...

Mpumalanga authorities have expressed shock at the death of 14-year-old Siphamandla Choma who was left paralyzed after he was assaulted by his principal at Manyano Primary School, in Middelburg. His death was confirmed by the Health Department this morning. Choma had been admitted to a Middelburg hospital for observation. The department has since suspended the principal. Tsepiso Makwetla spoke Cho...

The South African National Roads Agency, SANRAL, says it welcomes the Pretoria High Court judgment for the non-payment of e-tolls. The court has ruled against an Alberton-based company which reportedly owes SANRAL, over 400-thousand rand in e-toll fees. Sanral says the judgment sets a precedent for those who do not pay e-toll debt to be prosecuted. However, Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA), s...

World Oral Health Day (WOHD) is celebrated every year on 20 March. It is an international day to celebrate the benefits of a healthy mouth and to promote worldwide awareness of the issues around oral health and the importance of oral hygiene to looking after everyone old and young. Research shows that 90% of the world's population will suffer from oral diseases in their lifetime and many of them c...

Minister of Social Development Bathabile Dlamini has welcomed the Constitutional Court ruling on the social grant contract. Addressing community leaders, the minister says she will abide by the court's judgement. The Court extended the CPS contract by 12 months and has resumed its supervisory role. Dlamini has also admitted that she should have apologised when she appeared in parliament last week....

Parliament's Police Portfolio Committee will request permission to hold a special meeting during recess to discuss the position of Hawks' head Berning Ntlemeza. Parliament will go into a short recess next week until early May. The Pretoria High Court found that Ntlemeza's appointment was unlawful and invalid, following an application by Freedom Under Law and the Helen Suzman Foundation. Tsepiso Ma...

Lawyers for Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini and SASSA have managed to file their affidavits a few minutes after today's deadline. The Minister and the social grants agency were supposed to file papers in the Constitutional court by three O'clock today to explain why they did not comply with yesterday's Concourt deadline responding to questions from the Judges about its social grant p...

The Minister of Communications, Faith Muthambi is taking the report by the Ad-hoc Committee which was set up to look into the SABC board's fitness on a judicial review. Muthambi has written to the Speaker of Parliament, Baleka Mbete, urging her not to implement the recommendations of the report just yet. The report is highly critical of Muthambi and recommends that she be fired. Sipho Seepe who is...

South African Revenue Services has accused Judge Dennis Davis of "unashamedly" misleading the public by claiming that the revenue services was at a risk of imploding. Davis is the chairperson of the Davis Tax Committee. He addressed a conference in Cape Town last weekend - saying SARS does not have the capacity to deal with multinationals that seek to evade tax and that he's concerned about the er...

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has ordered the SABC Board to revert back to its 2004 editorial policies, ruling that the 2016 amendments to its editorial policies were invalid in terms of the Broadcasting Act 1999. This follows a complaint from S.O.S Support Public Broadcasting Coalition and Media Monitoring Africa alleging that the SABC failed to comply with the...

Three advertising companies are going to be prosecuted by the Competition Commission for price fixing and collusive tendering. This after the commission's investigation found that Human Communications, Kone Staffing and Jobvest agreed on prices at which to quote their customers. The accused link job seekers to potential employers and assist their clients place advertisements in newspapers. Tsepiso...

In August 2016, Lesego Tsoku subscribed to be a trader with STOCK MARKET COLLEGE. Upon signing up the college promised him that he will make a fortune, however this was not the case for Lesego- when he started to trade on the college system, he lost ten thousands rand within three-days. Here is his story…

Passanger Rail Agency Board Chairperson Popo Molefe says he will legally challenge Transport Minister Dipuo Peters's decision to dissolve the Prasa Board. Molefe says he wants to demonstrate that South Africa is a constitutional democracy. Peters sent a letter to Parliament's Transport Committee today, informing it of her decision to dissolve the board. This followed hearings at which committee me...

The minister of Transport Dipuo Peters, has dissolved the PRASA board. This after calls by the portfolio committee on transport that the current board be done away with. On Tuesday, the PRASA board and former acting CEO, Collins Letsoalo appeared before the committee where they had a heated exchange over his alleged 350 per cent salary increase. Tsepiso Makwetla spoke to the Chairperson of the Par...

The Constitutional Court has issued notice to the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa), requesting for details on when exactly the agency realised it would not be able pay welfare grants by itself when Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) contract expires. Tsepiso Makwetla spoke to Tim Sukazi, who is Sassa Transition Program, Legal and Legislative Framework Leader....

The National Assembly has adopted parliament's Ad Hoc Committee report into the SABC board's fitness to hold office. All parties involved adopted the report, except for the UDM who raised an objection due to Hlaudi Motsoeneng not being given an opportunity to make submissions before the committee. During the debate DA MP Mike Waters called on President Jacob Zuma to fire Muthambi. Waters says Muth...

The deaths of 14 people believed to be illegal miners in Benoni, east of Johannesburg, have once again put the spotlight on illegal mining activities and the dangers posed by disused mines. The discovery of the 14 bodies in the past few days come after five-year-old Richard Thole fell into an open mine shaft at Jerusalem informal settlement near Witfield in Boksburg, over a week ago. His body is y...