First Take SA

Different organisations are today expected to participate in pro-Palestinian marches as part of International Solidarity Day with Palestine. The organisations are calling for a permanent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas citing the violation of human rights in the ongoing conflict. Last week Parliament voted in favour of a motion to close the Israeli embassy in Pretoria and to suspended all diplo...

Police in KwaZulu-Natal have launched a manhunt for at least five suspects who shot and killed four family members and injured another in Mfume, Amanzimtoti the early hours of Monday. This is a second incident at the same household in a space of a year. In 2022 the mother of house sustained gunshot wounds during a shooting, and the matter is still under investigation. Police are appealing to anyon...

Over 100 miners are reportedly trapped underground at an Impala Platinum mine in the North West. The Incident allegedly occurred last night. Emergency personnel are currently at the scene trying to rescue the trapped workers. For the latest Elvis Presslin spoke to Johan Theron, Spokesperson for Impala Platinum (Implats)

The National Assembly will today vote on whether to suspend former Transport Minister Dipuo Peters for her alleged role in state capture at Prasa. This after Parliament's Joint Committee on Ethics and Members Interest found she breached the ethics code and recommended the sanction. United Behind lodged a complaint last year alleging Peters dismissed the Prasa board after it uncovered R14 billion i...

The South African Jewish Board of Deputies have welcomed the release of two South Africans who were held hostage by Hamas. Sixty-four-year-old Aviva Siegel and 79-year-old Channah Peri were taken hostage when Palestinian militant group launched a surprise attack on Israel in October. Both women were released during a truce between Israel and Hamas in the ongoing conflict. For more on this Elvis Pr...

Elvis Presslin takes a look at the current top African economic stories with Victor Kgomoesoana, author of  "Africa Is Open For Business" and "Africa Bounces Back". Victor is also the Executive Director for Marketing and Communication at the University of Limpopo

Human Rights Watch say there is no political will to address the surge in alleged ethnically-driven killings in the Darfur region of Sudan. Hundreds of Masalit civilians were reportedly targeted, tortured, raped and killed earlier this month in Ardamata town, West Darfur by the Rapid Support Forces. The paramilitary group which is at war with the Sudanese army, has been accused of committing human...

Deputy President Paul Mashatile has over the weekend launched the 16-days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children campaign in Mpumalanga. Meanwhile, the mental health of South African men needs attention, says Limpopo Health MEC Phophi Ramathuba.  Ramathuba says she believes the mental health of the country's men is an important aspect of the battle against gender-based violence. El...

The ANC could lose its assets after another court defeat in a multi-million-rand elections campaign dispute. This after the Supreme Court of Appeal upheld a decision by the Gauteng High Court which found the ANC liable for over R100 million for election banners. KwaZulu-Natal branding company Ezulweni Investments applied to seize assets worth more than R102m from the ANC after the party failed to...

DA Leader John Steenhuisen will today conduct an aerial oversight inspection of the Durban port, In KwaZulu Natal to assess the logistics crisis. The visit comes after Transnet experienced a backlog of over 70,000 containers that needed to be offloaded. At Richards Bay, the port terminal suspended the receiving of goods due to truck congestion. For more on this, Elvis Presslin spoke to Christopher...

Energy analyst Chris Yelland says loadshedding will play a major factor in next year's general elections if higher stages of power cuts persist. This after Eskom implemented stage 6 load shedding over the weekend due to the heatwave, a shortage of generating capacity and emergency reserve. Speaking to our Senior Producer Ronald Phiri, Yelland outlined how Eskom's challenges will have a political b...

Police in Mpumalanga have urged parents and guardians to be vigilant following a string of rapes against minors in Vosman. The incidents date back from March this year, when a seven year old victim was abducted and raped, according to local authorities. The police say from there on, a number of similar incidents involving victims aged between seven and thirteen were reported. This, as Deputy Presi...

The Department of Social Development will today lead a march against homophobia, biphobia and transphobia in Pretoria. The walk comes right after a Grade 6 pupil Sibusiso Mbatha, at Khahlekile Primary School in Thokoza committed suicide due to being bullied about his sexuality. To discuss more about homophobia and the walk Elvis Presslin spoke to Deputy Chairperson of the South African National Ai...

Parliament's Powers and Privileges Committee will today hold a hearing into former Minister Mosebenzi Zwane's failure to appear before the House to apologize for undeclared state capture and Gupta-related benefits. In May the National Assembly adopted findings of Parliament's Joint Committee on Ethics and Members' Interests that Zwane failed to disclose the benefits he received from the controvers...

Oscar Pistorius will know his fate at his second parole hearing today. The former Paralympic athlete and convicted murderer made an application for parole in March this year but was denied. Pistorius will now appear before the Kgosi Mampuru parole board in Pretoria for his second attempt to be release. He was sentenced to 13 years and five months in prison in 2017 for killing his then girlfriend,...

Elvis Presslin takes a look at the current top African economic stories with Victor Kgomoesoana, author of  "Africa Is Open For Business" and "Africa Bounces Back". Victor is also the Executive Director for Marketing and Communication at the University of Limpopo

The Democratic Alliance has laid a complaint against President Cyril Ramaphosa with the South African Human Rights Commission. The DA says Ramaphosa is responsible for the starvation of almost five million of South Africa's children. 4.8 million of the country's 20 million children are starving, this according to latest statistics from the State of the South African Child Report, by the Nelson Man...

The Reserve bank's monetary policy committee is expected to announce its decision on interest rates this afternoon.  This, as data released by Statistics South Africa shows that consumers continue to buckle under the pressure of high prices as inflation increased on average by 0, 9-percent in October.  The annual consumer price inflation (CPI) increased for the third consecutive month from 5,4-per...

Should Transnet be placed under business rescue? Well NT55 Investments, operator of the Port of Gauteng seems to think so. This as the state-owned logistics company struggles with backlog issues with more than 70 000 containers anchored at the Port of Durban. Transnet says the congestion may be cleared by the end of February next year. For more on this Elvis Presslin spoke to Sibusiso Nduna, a Bus...

The South African Communist Party (SACP) in the Free State Province says it disagrees with ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula after he ordered the suspension of the mayor of Kopanong Local Municipality - Xolani Tseletsele. Mbalula directed the immediate recall of Tseletsele as Mayor and suspension of his ANC membership, after a video went viral of Tseletsele threatening a resident of Jagersfonte...

Higher Education Minister, Dr Blade Nzimande had dismissed calls for the scrapping of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme and rather distribute funds directly to higher institutions of learning. NSFAS has been rocked by a series of scandals including leadership instability and the irregular awarding of four fintech companies to disburse student allowances. Funding applications for the 2024 a...

The National Assembly has voted in favour of a motion by the Economic Freedom Fighters for government to shutdown Israeli Embassy in South Africa, pending a ceasefire as the war ranges on between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. The motion was passed following an amendment by the African National Congress which resulted vote supported by 248 members of parliament from the EFF, ANC, Al Jama ah, NFP, ATM a...

Former Eskom CEO, Matshela Koko has accused the state of pursuing what he calls a hate crime against him and his family. Koko's remarks follow a decision by the Middelburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court which struck the corruption case against him and 18 co-accused off the roll on Tuesday afternoon. The court found that there have been unreasonable delays in the case involving alleged corrupt...

National Treasury has announced that the government of South Africa has signed loan agreements with the World Bank, the German government and the African Development Bank. According to a statement released by the department, the loans will be provided below market rates in order to support South Africa's just Energy Transition. The World Bank is set to provide a R1-Billion loan for a duration of 1...

The South African human rights NGO Africa4Palestine has welcomed Israel's decision to recall its ambassador to South Africa for consultations. This ahead of a parliamentary motion calling for the Israeli embassy in South Africa to be closed. The Israeli Foreign Ministry recalled its Ambassador Eli Belotserkovsky to Jerusalem for consultations due to recent comments from South Africa on the ongoing...