The Weekend View

Bapedi and Zulu monarchies on the spotlight 

The National Assembly this week voted by 232 votes to 98 to pass the Electoral Amendment Bill that will allow individuals to stand for elected office as independents. However it has been criticized by some, saying it is a missed opportunity for thorough reform to enhance political accountability. Some independent candidates are not happy with the Bill in its current form and some civil organisatio...

With matric exams set to begin on Tuesday, some matriculants are still without Identity Documents needed to sit for exams. This is causing a lot of frustration and anxiety for both parents and learners. This comes amid reports that some Home Affairs offices are NOT giving matriculants the necessary assistance they need to get their ID's. On Friday some parents and learners spent long hours in a qu...

The battle to succeed outgoing British Prime Minister Liz Truss is gathering steam as hopefuls jostle for support. 5 candidates are being touted as possible replacements with former chancellor Rishi Sunak, House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt and former prime minister Boris Johnson, leading the pack. The candidates have until Monday afternoon to gather the support of 100 MPs to run.  Truss resig...

The South African Water Chamber has blamed the current water crisis in Gauteng to ageing water infrastructure and the lack of foresight, planning and investment in water reticulation.  We spoke to Water Chamber CEO, Le Roy Benoit

The fight against gender-based violence and femicide took centre stage this week when the National Shelter Movement of South Africa held an Indaba on the role the provision of shelter to victims plays as a critical intervention. This is in preparation for the national Presidential gender-based violence and femicide Summit next month. The Indaba follows increased murders of women and children acros...

Property subletting is allegedly becoming popular in South Africa, largely because of aggressive interest rate increases and the high cost of living. Many people look for subtenants to help them pay their rent, while others seek to sublet if they're moving elsewhere and can't get out of their current lease. Subletting can be helpful if you're in need of extra cash, it is however not a decision to...

South Africans are NOT AT ALL happy with the recent revelation that  South African Cabinet Ministers and their deputies don't have to fork out a cent for water and electricity. Our ministers are also NOT at all affected by load-shedding because each of their households has received a generator to ensure that they are never in the dark. While South Africans were processing this information, they al...

Thousands of delegates are gathered in Beijing as China's governing Communist Party starts it's elective Congress today, set to usher in a historic third term in power for Xi Jinping. Xi has been described as  the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong in the 1970s. The decision to extend Xi's presidency comes after a two-term limit was abolished in 2018.  If elected Xi will lead the world'...

Businessman and diamond dealer Louis Liebenberg maintains that there is nothing wrong with him, as an ordinary citizen, giving former President Jacob Zuma five hundred thousand rand to foot his mounting legal bills. This follows Zuma's decision to privately prosecutes state Advocate Billy Downer and Journalist Karyn Maughan. Zuma has accused Downer of leaking his confidential medical records to Ma...

Eskom has signed land lease agreements with 4 independent power producers. These successful bidders are: HDF Energy South Africa, Red Rocket SA, Sola Group, and Mainstream Renewable Power Developments South Africa. Eskom says the companies will now do comprehensive feasibility studies to determine which technologies will be implemented at each site; wind, solar and battery storage. The exact gener...

  Some of our South African Police officers live with the fear of being attacked by criminals at their police stations. One such police station is in Devon, east of Johannesburg, which has allegedly been locking it's gates at 6 o'clock every evening, for fear of being attacked by thugs. That fear, however, became a reality this week when three armed men, who pretended to be hijack victims, attacke...

The South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) and the United National Transport Union (UNTU) say efforts to establish picketing rules with Transnet's management for their planned national strike TOMORROW  have been unsuccessful.  Unions say Transnet had contravened the requirements of the Labour Relations Act by refusing to sign the picketing rules. The unions says Transnet's refus...

African Union-led peace talks that were expected to start in South Africa today to try to end a two-year-old conflict in northern Ethiopia's Tigray region have reportedly been delayed for logistical reasons.  Ethiopia's government and Tigray forces had earlier this week accepted the AU's invitation to talks in South Africa, which would be the first formal negotiations between the two sides since w...

Vote counting is set to begin this morning  in the mountain kingdom of Lesotho following YESTERDAY's parliamentary elections.  More than 50 political parties are vying for a chance to govern. In reality, though it's a race between four major parties including the newly launched party Revolution for Prosperity (RFP). This is the first election the leaders of the four parties are contesting in, so w...

Spokesperson of Jacob Zuma Foundation Mzwanele Manyi AND DA's shadow Minister of Correctional Services Jahno Engelbrecht react to former president Jacob Zuma's end of medical parole.

Your employer may be liable if you are injured working from home. This is according to Independent Consulting Occupational therapist at Workforce HealthCare, Phumla Motsa. Motsa has has an interest in ergonomics which focuses on the interaction between a person and their environment. She says using home office spaces that are not set up correctly may lead to musculoskeletal disorders and repetitiv...

The Deputy Minister of Social Development Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu THIS WEEK announced government plans to decriminalise sex work by 2024. This comes as many sex workers in the Northern Cape say the delay in decriminalising sex work endangers their lives and infringes on their rights to earn an income. Sebezile Nkambule spoke to Sex Workers Education & Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT)'s Spokesperson...

The African Union has condemned the "unconstitutional change of government" in Burkina Faso after the second coup in less than a year, in which a group of junior army officers removed military ruler Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba. The AU has demanded the return of constitutional order by July 2023 at the latest. The 34-year-old self-declared leader, Colonel Ibrahim Traoré says Damiba's inability to de...

Russia's President Vladimir Putin yesterday held a signing ceremony to formally annex four more areas of Ukraine after referendums condemned by Ukraine as a sham. In a speech in Moscow, Putin claimed people living in the regions had made their choice. Russian-backed officials had earlier claimed the five-day exercise secured almost total popular support. The votes were held in Luhansk and Donetsk...

Dada Morero is the new mayor of the city of Johannesburg- this follows the ousting of the former mayor, Mpho Phalatse. She was voted out by 139 votes in the 270-seat council - through a motion of no-confidence. Phalatse insists that the meeting was unlawful. Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance Leader, John Steenhuisen says Action SA's Herman Mashaba is hellbent on destroying the coalition governmen...

Despite opposition from some parties, the Land Expropriation Bill was finally adopted by the National Assembly late on Wednesday evening, taking it one step closer to becoming enacted in law. The DA, EFF, IFP, Freedom Front Plus, and African Christian Democratic Party had objected to the bill for different reasons. The adopted draft allows expropriation only for "public purpose" and in the "public...

Public Enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan announced a new Eskom Board chaired by Mpho Makwana. Included in the new board are some engineers, Mthetho Nyathi, Busisiwe Vilakazi and Tsakani Mthombeni, nuclear scientist Clive le Roux, chartered accountants Fatima Gany and Ayanda Mafuleka as well as trade unionist Bheki Ntshalintshali. The board starts work today. Energy expert, Chris Yelland... 

Today is International Gaucher Day. The day highlights the need for greater awareness of rare diseases to promote early diagnosis. Currently, there are an estimated 6000 - 8000 rare diseases, which affect 350 million people worldwide. Locally, 1 in 15 South Africans is affected by rare diseases. One such rare condition is Gaucher  - an inherited disorder that affects multiple organs. Sebenzile Nka...

Magistrate Leiland Poonsamy has acquitted EFF leaders Julius Malema and Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi of the common assault charge laid against them by Lieutenant Colonel, Johannes Venter. Venter alleged that he was assaulted in 2018 when he tried to stop their vehicle from entering the Fourways Memorial Park, where the late struggle icon, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was being laid to rest. Take a listen to p...