First Take SA

London Bridge is down - Queen Elizabeth passed away yesterday at the age of 96 - Bringing an end to a 70-year reign as monarch. Yesterday a statement from Buckingham Palace stated that the Queen was under medical supervision at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. Her doctors said they were concerned for her health. For more on this, Elvis Presslin spoke to SABC correspondent in London, Laura Makin-Isherw...

Bus company PUTCO has fired 105 employees for taking part in an unprotected strike. The bus company obtained a court order to remove its striking workers from the company's premises to allow for the resumption of its bus services. This is as the unprotected strike action by workers enters its eighth day. The workers are demanding a six percent wage increase and bonuses from 2020. The bus company i...

Time to take 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...  

Protesting Putco Bus employees had until close of business yesterday to explain why they should not be fired and return to work, or face dismissal. About a thousand workers belonging to the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) have been on an unprotected strike for the past week, demanding back pay for a wage dispute dating back to 2020. Police fired rubber bullets to quell te...

The government has established a Sector Council to advance transformation in the marketing, advertising, and communications industry. The Government Communication and Information System, GCIS yesterday made submissions at the South African Human Rights Commission inquiry into racial discrimination in the advertising industry. The inquiry aims to address the publication of adverts with racial under...

A special ANC NEC meeting will be held on Sunday for the party to approve and adopt the final membership audit of all members and branches for its 55th national conference in December. This is after the ANC postponed its candidate nominations process yesterday. The special NEC is expected to sit on Sunday and the nomination process is likely to open sometime next week. For more on this, Elvis Pres...

News24 Editor-in-chief Adriaan Basson says criminal summons served by former president Jacob Zuma's legal team is an attempt to intimidate and threaten journalists from reporting on his corruption case. This is after Zuma initiated a private prosecution against State advocate Billy Downer and News24 Legal journalist Karyn Maughan over the publication of details about Zuma's medical condition. Bass...

Limpopo's Community Safety MEC Polly Boshielo has called on the police to deploy more resources to arrest six gunmen who allegedly gang-raped five women at Leporogong village outside Lebowakgomo. Police say the armed men stormed into a funeral parlor where they gang raped the women. They also shot and wounded one employee and assaulted others on Sunday morning. Cases of rape, kidnapping, attempted...

Economists expect the economy to have contracted in the second quarter of 2022. Statistics South Africa will release its second quarter Gross Domestic Product numbers today (6th September 2022). Markets expect GDP to contract to 0-point- 5 percent quarter on quarter from a growth of 1-point-9 percent in the first quarter. Elvis Presslin spoke to Tertia Jacobs, a Treasury Economist at Investec

The multi-party coalition governing the City of Johannesburg has reportedly laid criminal charges against ANC councillors for attempted bribery and corruption at the Hillbrow Police Station in Johannesburg. ANC councillors reportedly offered R150 000 bribes to some coalition councillors, to vote in support of removing Mayor, Dr Mpho Phalatse. The governing coalition in Joburg includes the DA, Acti...

Seven Political Parties represented in the coalition that is currently governing in the City of Johannesburg have opened a case of corruption and bribery against the ANC, at the Hillbrow Police Station in Johannesburg. This is after allegations from some of the councillors representing these parties, that ANC councillors have approached them, offering an R150 000 bribe in exchange for a vote that...

Time to take 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 ANC in Gauteng has reiterated that premier David Makhura has not been recalled by the party's Provincial Executive Committee.  It has been widely reported that the PEC has decided to push Makhura out of office after Panyaza Lesufi was recently elected as provincial chairperson. Makhura says he initiated the idea that he should vacate office before his term concluded in 2024. The party provinci...

Nearly 300 public servants are moonlighting as municipal councilors, according to the Department of Public Service and Administration. The public servants have been serving as councilors in their municipal councils since May this year. For the latest, Elvis Presslin spoke to Dr. Salomon Hoogenraad-Vermaak, Head of Public Administration Ethics, Integrity and Disciplinary Technical Assistance Unit a...

Civil groups like Operation Dudula say the extension of Zimbabwean Exemption Permits is a slap in the face of South Africans. Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi recently announced the extension of the application period for ZEP holders. This means that Zimbabwean nationals have until 30 June next year to apply, but the minister has warned that there will be no further extensions. To further di...

Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union, POPCRU says there has not been any plan by the South African Police Service to minimize incidents of police killings. The Union's sentiments follow the National Police Commemoration Day held on Sunday at the Union Buildings, In Pretoria. Thirty-three police officers lost their lives in the last financial year. POPCRU say their calls for a Policing Indaba have...

Parents of the 21 children who died in the Enyobeni tragedy in East London say they are frustrated and not happy with the findings the Department of Health has shared with them regarding to what led to the deaths of their children. They say what they have been told by the department regarding the cause of death is not what they had been anticipating based on the preliminary results they were given...

Shell's seismic survey off the Wild Coast in the Eastern Cape has been blocked. This is after the Makhanda High Court set aside a decision by the Mineral Resources Department to grant exploration rights to the petroleum giant for oil and gas. For more on this, Elvis Presslin spoke to Neville Van Rooy, Community Outreach Coordinator for The Green Connection

Time to take 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 National Education, Health and Allied Worker's Union, Nehawu, in the Northern Cape has raised concern about the high number of unqualified senior managers in the province. Acting minister of Public Service and Administration, Thulas Nxesi has told the national assembly that at least 75 senior managers in the Northern Cape are not qualified for their positions. To further discuss this Elvis Pre...

COPE leader, Mosiuoa Lekota says whether or not he continues to be the leader of the party depends on the entire membership of the Congress of the People. He says the constitution of the party stipulates that a leader can only take two terms as president. But, he told a media briefing in Kempton Park, Johannesburg, that, if COPE members feel they still need him to be the president, he will conside...

At least half of South Africa's teachers are in their fifties and in ten or so years, South Africa will lose at least half of its teachers. This is according to Julian Hewitt, Chief Executive Officer of the educator bursary program, the Jake Gerwell Fellowship who says the issue goes down to retirement and not lack of skills and ability. The Institute of Risk Management South Africa report also sa...

Around two-point-two million South African households experienced housebreaking or burglary during the past 5 years. This is according to new data released by Statistics South Africa yesterday which covers the experience of specific types of crime by households and individuals and the reporting of crime. The Victims of Crime report has also revealed that around 40-thousand households experienced m...

The Southern African Music Rights Organisation, SAMRO says women remain poorly represented within the music industry. The music organization says its preliminary study shows that women are largely excluded from key decision-making positions in the industry. The study conducted by Tara Transform also revealed that women feel marginalized and unsafe in the music industry. To discuss this further Elv...

Time to take 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