The Weekend View

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...

Residents of Savannah City in De Deur south of Johannesburg say they fear for their lives due to some of the structural defects of their RDP houses. Some of the cracks on the walls are so big that one can fit all four fingers inside them. The plaster cement on the inside and outside walls are wearing off, roof tiles in some of the houses are falling apart and the water pipes are leaking causing da...

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU)  is gearing up for its 14th congress which starts tomorrow. Cosatu leaders say this year's congress comes at a critical time in the country's history - with high unemployment rates and an ailing economy among other issues. Cosatu is expected to reveal its future plans and provide comprehensive reports on various functions during the congress. Two...

Heritage Day today is being marked under the theme, "Celebrating the Legacy of Solomon Linda and South Africa's Indigenous Music". The theme pays tribute to the 60th anniversary of the passing of singer and song writer Solomon Popoli Linda. He is best known as the composer of the song "Mbube" which later became the popular music success "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" and gave its name to the world famo...

As the African Union - AU - turned 20  this year, the debate about its effectiveness is back on the table once again. Established here in South Africa, in Durban, KwaZulu Natal, in 2002 with 53 African nations as members, the AU became the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which had existed since 1963. While the OAU concentrated its efforts primarily on decolonization and the e...

Eskom has implemented Stage 6 load-shedding from around 04:00 this morning. This follows the tripping of generation units at Kusile and Kriel power stations. Yesterday, five generating units at Kusile, Arnot, and Camden, as well as two units at Duvha Power Station, broke down. The embattled power utility has warned that should any further breakdowns occur, higher stages of load-shedding may be imp...

The annual Reed Dance is expected to take place at the Enyokeni palace at Nongoma TODAY. However, last night over ten men, some of whom are members of the AmaZulu Royal family, disrupted a SABC News interview with Prince Simakade's spokesperson, Prince Mandlakapheli. There have been disagreements since the start of the week between those supporting Prince Simakade and the official representatives...

Judgment has been reserved in the urgent application brought by Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane to be allowed to go back to work immediately. This follows the Western Cape High Court that set aside her suspension by the president in June. Mkhwebane wants to be allowed back at work despite an appeal application at the Constitutional Court. Public Protector Busisiwe Mkwebane also had the support...

Advocate Malesala Teffo has been ordered by the Pretoria High Court to surrender all his legal documents. Teffo was YESTERDAY struck off the roll after the Legal Practice Council brought an application following numerous complaints against him. Some of these pre-date the Senzo Meyiwa trial. These include contemptuous behaviour in court, misleading the court, and mishandling the clients' monies. In...

The Gauteng Government has instituted lifestyle audits on driver's licence officials as it tries to clamp down on corruption. This is after reports of widespread bribery, collusion between examiners, fee dumping and eye-test corruption at Gauteng driver's license testing centres. The results of a 2021 investigation, commissioned by the premier's office, which was presented this week conclude that...

Members of the public can, from tomorrow (Monday) until Friday, visit any South African National Park of their choice for FREE! That's because this year's National Parks Week, running from 12th to 16th September, sees entry fees at just about every SANParks gate dropped. SANParks says the initiative aims to give the public an understanding of the role that SANParks plays as custodian of the countr...

The United Nations has again warned that a full-blown disaster is looming in Somalia with famine now unfolding in two areas of the country's south-central Bay region. The Horn of Africa is in the grips of its worst drought in four decades with experts predicting that the region is on track for a fifth consecutive failed rainy reason. The situation has been exacerbated by geo-political tensions tha...

South Africans are being encouraged to carefully consider the contents of the food they are eating and giving to their children, particularly processed, packaged foods. Unhealthy packaged food may be high in sugar, salt, and saturated fat - all of which have been directly linked to life-threatening conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease. This is why the advocacy group, He...

A full bench of the Western Cape High Court set aside President Cyril Ramaphosa's suspension of the Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane. The justices said it was reasonable to perceive the suspension of the public protector was triggered by her probe into the 2020 Phala Phala farm burglary. The Constitutional Court is now set to consider the Court's ruling. Any court ruling that a decision of the...

700,000 people a year take their life around the world. In South Africa, there are 23 known cases of suicide every day and for every person that commits suicide, 10 have attempted it. Experts say the prevalence of suicides in our communities points to the mental health crisis we are facing as a society. It is against this backdrop that TODAY the World is observing Suicide Prevention Day. It is a d...

The South African government has extended the validity of the Zimbabwe exemption permits  by another 6 months. The extension is until June next year.  The Home Affairs department has cited the low number of applications received so far for the extension.   

Health Minister, Joe Phaahla, and Operation Dudula this week reached an agreement to stop picketing outside the Kalafong Tertiary Hospital in Atteridgeville. Phaahla says the protests at the hospital are unwarranted. The Minister visited the facility following the picket by Operation Dudula, which has been ongoing since the beginning of August. It's alleged patients suspected to be foreign nationa...

The tenth edition of the  COSAFA Women's Championship is underway in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape. The tournament is the biggest women soccer competition in the SADC features 12 international teams including the home side Banyana-Banyana. The tournament is being hosted for the 5th time in the Eastern Cape. We spoke to the MEC for Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture in the province, Nonceba Kontsi...

Today, the  4th September, is World Leukaemia Day. Leukaemia is a cancer affecting the blood, a cancer of the tissues where your blood is formed, such as the bone marrow and the lymphatic system, causing rapid growth of abnormal blood cells. One of the reasons Leukaemia was so feared is because it's the most common cancer in children under 18. Campaigning for Cancer CEO Lauren Pretorius says we ca...

The adversarial battles between the ANC and the Democratic Alliance in the the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality are back to the fore as the DA has announced plans to unseat the ANC from power in the metro. The opposition party says that under the ANC's leadership, service delivery is at an all-time low in the city. This comes as the ANC and other parties ousted Vasco da Gama as Johannesburg council...

The Competition Commission has warned that consumers could face opportunistic price increases of sunflower oil. In its latest Essential Food Pricing Monitoring Report, the commission red-flagged high and growing concentration along the sunflower oil value chain. The reasons for the price escalation are being investigated further by the Commission. The report further found that the price of some pr...

Environmental activists around the country are celebrating a huge victory after a full bench of judges at the Makhanda High Court on Thursday set aside the 2014 decision by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) to grant an exploration right to Shell to search for oil and gas off the ecologically sensitive Wild Coast. In December 2021, local communities and environmental justice org...

The Springboks will this morning continue their search for a desperately needed win against Australia, with eight new players named in the starting team earlier this week. The Boks head into the clash in Sydney after back-to-back defeats, a 35-23 loss to the All Blacks at home before crashing 25-17 against the Wallabies in Adelaide last week. The defeats have left the world champions bottom of the...

Kenyans head to the polls tomorrow morning in the country's hotly-contested presidential election. Over nine million registered citizens are set to elect the country's fifth president and successor to the incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta. The country's Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, IEBC has cleared only four candidates to run for the presidency. Elvis Presslin spoke to Africa Affairs An...