First Take SA

The M1 highway in Sandton, north of Johannesburg has been re-opened to traffic after it was closed for about 24 hours. This follows the collapse of a pedestrian bridge under construction near the Grayston Drive off-ramp yesterday afternoon. Two people died and more than 20 others injured, three of them critically. Johannesburg Mayor Parks Tau re-opened the road after he was assured that it was saf...

The national civic alliance is urging government to conduct an urgent investigation into the cause of yesterday's structural bridge collapse near Grayston Drive in Sandton. Two people died and more than twenty others were injured following the incident.

The Democratic Alliance has welcomed President Jacob Zuma's decision to suspend National Police Commissioner Riah Phiyega. Phiyega has been suspended with immediate effect, pending a board of inquiry into her fitness to hold office. The inquiry was instituted following the recommendation of the Marikana Commission that probed the deaths of 44 people during the strike at the Lonmin platinum mine in...

The AbaThembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo's bid to avoid imprisonment is gradually fading as the state has filed papers opposing his application for the extension of his bail. The King intends taking the Supreme Court of Appeal's decision to the Constitutional Court on the grounds that indigenous legal aspects were never taken into consideration during his conviction. He was convicted of crimes in...

The judge in the case against Northern Cape ANC chairperson, John Block, party deputy secretary, Alvin Botes, as well as Trifecta director, Christo Scholtz is expected to continue to hand down judgment at the High Court in Kimberley tomorrow. The three are accused of fraud, corruption and money laundering relating to multi-million rand government lease tenders. Economic Freedom Fighters members ha...

An agreement has been reached in principle for the world's largest brewer Anheuser-Bush InBev to buy South Africa's British brewing company SABMiller for more than a trillion-rand. If the take-over deal succeeds, a single company will be selling one in every three beers across the globe. The deal is still subject to international regulators' scrutiny

Human Rights Watch in southern Africa says South Africa's threat to pull out of the ICC will undo the country's good work as a promoter of human rights on the continent and worldwide. The ANC has directed government to review its membership of the international court. The governing party says the ICC has lost direction and it is being used by some powerful states that are not signatories to the Ro...

With just hours away from the opening of the ANC's national general council, the governing party's alliance partners - the SACP and Cosatu - have a mixed bag of expectations. E-tolls, the National Development Plan and the struggling economy are some of the issues that the two tripartite alliance members want clarity on.

The ANC's National General Council gets underway tomorrow. The party has confirmed that it's all systems go. Some of the key economic issues that will be discussed include the rand's performance, SA companies listed overseas and the problems facing the low performing economy with high unemployment rate

In 1980 Nkululeko Mxokiswa worked for Mercedez Benz and left in 1984. He received his pension fund payout shortly after leaving the company. In 2008 the Motor Industry Fund Administrators announced that all workers in the motor industry who had withdrawn their benefits before 2004 qualified for a surplus. Mxokiswa tried in vain for the past seven years to get a pay out from the Surplus Fund. This...

The Public Protector cannot fulfill the constitutional purpose of her office if other organs of State second-guess her findings and ignore her recommendations. That's the ruling made by a full bench of justices of the Appeal Court in Bloemfontein. The ruling follows the application lodged by the SABC, Communications Minister and broadcaster's chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng. The court di...

With just hours away from the opening of the ANC's national general council, the governing party's alliance partners - the SACP and Cosatu - have a mixed bag of expectations. E-tolls, the National Development Plan and the struggling economy are some of the issues that the two tripartite alliance members want clarity on.

The Public Protector cannot fulfill the constitutional purpose of her office if other organs of State second-guess her findings and ignore her recommendations. That's the ruling made by a full bench of justices of the Appeal Court in Bloemfontein. The ruling follows the application lodged by the SABC, Communications Minister and broadcaster's chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng. The court di...

African Court on Human and People's Rights has been commended for dispensing justice across the continent. In just a decade of its existence the court is to have recorded tremendous achievements. This year alone the court based in Arusha, Tanzania has received 17 contentious applications. And joining me in the studio is the President of the Court, Justice Augustino Ramadhani.

SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago on the SABC is adamant that there's nothing illegal about the way in which it has obtained emails relating to Bob Hewitt rape and sexual assault case. SABC News is in possession of documents showing that the three women who accused former tennis champion Bob Hewitt of rape and sexual assault may have colluded prior to his trial. The 75-year-old former tennis coach...

The Ibrahim Index of African Governance, launched today, indicates that over the last four years, governance progress in Africa has stalled, and reveals a shifting landscape. During the period 2011-14, the African average overall governance score in the IIAG increased only slightly by +0.2 points to 50.1 with considerable changes in performance during the last four years at all levels of the Index...

Today marks World Teacher's Day. It is a day on which the vital role played by educators in developing and shaping young minds is acknowledged. However this role is being undermined across the world by tecaher shortages. Teachers also face numerous challenges with many working without the necessary resources or proper training.

ON THIS WEEK'S OPEN MIC, Our producer Asanda Ntame caught up with flutist and composer, Wouter Kellerman. The Grammy award winner has released his forth album, titled Love language. The album encapsulates the myriad ways that people connect on the topics of life and love - and the countless languages with which people speak of the universal connection that binds them one to another. The globe trot...

Making a decision to study while working is often difficult but it can be rewarding for many people once made. It was this aim to fulfill a dream that saw Judith Marumo from Rustenburg register to write matric with distance education provider INTEC College at the end of 2014. She paid the required deposit of R2000 but the College failed to honour its part of the agreement. She says she did not rec...

AbaThembu King, Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo, has lost his appeal against his 15 year sentence and has instead been sentenced to 12 years imprisonement. King Dalindyebo was found guilty of arson, kidnapping, assault and defeating the ends of justice. The king was convicted for disciplining a group of people by torching their homes. He appealed his 15 year sentence after he was convicted in 2009

Road Agency, SANRAL, says a court decision halting plans to toll sections of the N1 and N2 in the Cape Winelands means that the highways may not be upgraded for at least the next 20 years, if at all. The agency was reacting to a decision by the Cape Town High Court, which found that the decision to toll was improper and unlawful. The court says if SANRAL and the transport minister want to go ahead...

Quality assurance body, Umalusi, says it has identified risks ahead of the final matric exams. These includes inadequate staffing, lack of transport, lack of secure storage for exam papers as well as inadequate resources. Umalusi officials briefed the media at the University of Johannesburg in Auckland Park today on their preparedness for this year's National Senior Certificate exams. They say the...

Despite NEDLAC not granting the workers a day off to the Anti-corruption much as per request by the organisers, hundreds of people gathered in different parts of the country to march against corruption. Former Cosatu General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi has been leading one of the anti-corruption marches at the Union Buildings in Pretoria

News and Current Affairs show between 5 & 6 am on SAfm 104 to 107 anchored by Tsepiso Makwetla

Audiences should prepare for a night of romance, comedy and pure enchantment when they book for AGP World's spectacular theatrical production 'Blame it on Bollywood'. It's hot off the stages of India where critics have been praising the performances of the star-studded and multi-talented Indian cast.