First Take SA

The Public Protector's Office will go ahead with an investigation into the use of state funds and resources for party interests by the ANC delegation which traveled to Zimbabwe last week. This is despite the governing party apologising and agreeing to pay back to the state the costs incurred for the trip after the ANC delegation used a SANDF plane to transport its officials to a meeting with the r...

The Public Protector's Office will go ahead with an investigation into the use of state funds and resources for party interests by the ANC delegation which travelled to Zimbabwe last week. This is despite the governing party apologising and agreeing to pay back to the state the costs incurred for the trip after the ANC delegation used a SANDF plane to transport its officials to a meeting with the...

'Africa 4 Palestine' to picket outside the embassy of the United Arab Emirates in Pretoria to protest against the Israel-United Arab Emirates normalisation agreement, or the Abraham Accord. The agreement was signed on Tuesday in Washington by US president Donald Trump and the leaders of Israel and UAE. The accord, which normalises relations between Israel and UAE is seen by others as a a 'stab in...

Finance Minister Tito Mboweni has warned that the South African economy faces tough times ahead and that painful sacrifices will need to be made going forward. Mboweni wrote an opinion piece in a Sunday newspaper where he called for structural reforms of the South African economy. This follows the GDP shrinking by a record 51 percent in the second quarter, its forth quarterly contraction in a row....

Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi is to table in parliament amendments to the electoral laws that could pave the way for the introduction of electronic voting over and the above the traditional method of polling. Motsoaledi has disclosed this in a notice on the government gazette. The IEC told parliament in July that it was also considering piloting e-voting. However, such a pilot project wou...

The EFF has called off the protest action at Clicks stores with immediate effect. The party met with executives from both Unilever and Clicks in separate meetings at its headquarters in Braamfontein, Johannesburg yesterday. Clicks committed to drop all Tresemmé SA products from all its stores and replace them with locally produced products, while Unilever promised to withdraw the products from all...

With the unemployment rate expecting to worsen in South Africa and many people struggling to put food on the table, some communities are now setting up groups in an attempt to assist one another. Income deprivation and lack of jobs are becoming more acute, 5 months into the Covid-19 pandemic and lock-down.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has reassured South Africans that the change they want to see in the country will happen. Ramaphosa was speaking to editors in an engagment with SANEF, where he said the work government is doing will reveal itself.

President Cyril Ramaphosa says South Africa will "forever remember" the contribution of veteran human rights lawyer, George Bizos. Ninety-two-year-old Bizos died at his home in Johannesburg yesterday afternoon. Ramaphosa has described Bizos as an incisive legal mind and architect of the country's democratic constitution. And in the words of his late friend, Nobel Literature laureate Nadine Gordime...

Former board chair of Eskom, Zola Tsotsi, yesterday concluded his evidence at the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture. Tsotsi was grilled for two days regarding governance, allegations of corruption at the power utility and how Eskom was captured by the Gupta's. He also gave damming evidence of how former Minister of Public Enterprises Lynne Brown and former President Jacob Zuma, interfered i...

Former Eskom board chair Zola Tsotsi has told the commission of Inquiry into State Capture he received pressure from government regarding how the Eskom board was to be run. He explained how various ministers and the president interfered and gave instructions in board related matters at the power utility. The former board chair also detailed his relationship with the Gupta brothers and how that rel...

The EFF has vowed to continue with its protest against Clicks until Friday. The party says the Johannesburg High Court interdict granted to Clicks does not bar them from protesting. On Monday several stores were damaged when the campaign against an advertisement that denigrated black people's hair was published online by Clicks. The company has since withdrawn the ad and apologised. It has also su...

The Democratic Alliance has defended the party's adoption of non-racialism in its policy to deal with the country's economically excluded. Following its two day virtual policy conference this weekend, the party has resolved that it will champion policies of redress without being racially-specific. It has lauded its conference as the most inclusive it has ever held and dismissed reports of purging...

Exposure to other serious diseases in the past may have created an immunity to COVID-19 for many South Africans. That's according to Professor of Vaccinology at the University of the Witwatersrand, Shabir Madhi. He's currently looking into why South Africa's death rate is far lower than was initially predicted. This comes as the number of daily new infections has also dipped sharply.

Several Clicks stores were yesterday vandalised and petrol-bombed amid the nationwide protest by the EFF following a controversial online advertisement. The company placed an advertisement labelling black natural hair as 'dry, damaged and frizzy', while white natural hair was depicted as 'normal'. The pharmaceutical retailer has however apologised and removed the advert. Clicks has also had its Hi...

The EFF has threatened to shut down all Clicks stores across the country from today if it continues operating. The party has called for the closure of the health and lifestyle retailer's stores for five days after it failed to meet its list of demands for corrective action over its controversial online advert. On Friday, Clicks caused social media outrage after an image of a black woman's hair was...

The KwaZulu-Natal Health Department says it will close the temporary field hospital at the Royal Showgrounds in Pietermaritzburg as the province has started recording a decline in Covid-19 infections. Provincial Health MEC, Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu, says the department is also looking at cancelling contracts for some of the rented facilities including lodges and B&Bs, that have been used as quaranti...

Former Environmental Affairs Minister Nomvula Mokonyane has admitted that she had her birthday dinner at the Victoria Guesthouse. It was her second appearance before the commission on State Capture since July when she denied having any party at the venue. Last month the Victoria Guesthouse owner Frederick Coetzee testified that his guesthouse accommodated a function for Mokonyane's 40th birthday i...

DA interim leader John Steenhuisen says the party's former Gauteng Provincial Leader, John Moodey has spread falsehood and untruths to justify his reasons for leaving the party. Steenheisen was briefing the media responding to Moodey's resignation. Moodey, who was a contender for the DA's top job with Mbali Ntuli and Steenhuisen, resigned on Wednesday. He said he no longer felt at home in the part...

The Office of Deputy President David Mabuza, has confirmed that he will be available to answer oral questions from the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) today. This follows several postponed appearances, due ill-health.

Police Minister Bheki Cele says they are following up on some leads in the killing of Glenn and Vida Rafferty at their Normandien farm, just outside Newcastle, in northern KwaZulu-Natal. Cele was addressing a meeting of community policing and farming structures in the area. The elderly couple was shot dead by unknown suspects as they entered their home.

The Democratic Alliance has lost its direction according to the party's long-time Gauteng leader, John Moodey. Moodey resigned from the party yesterday. He says it doesn't care about black, coloured and Indian voters and has been captured by individuals, who want to maintain the status quo in the organisation and the country. Moodey is the fourth senior leader to leave the party in less than a yea...

Artists in the entertainment industry have called for the immediate release of 35 people who were arrested yesterday after they blockaded the N3 near the Pavillion, West of Durban in KwaZulu Natal. This after a group of Durban-based artists took to the highway to highlight the impact the national lockdown has had on their livelihoods. The artists, who also included event organisers, are demanding...

Nelson Mandela Bay councillor, Andile Lungisa says he intends on taking the fight against his suspension back to the ANC headquarters at Luthuli House in Johannesburg. Lungisa was speaking during a media briefing with the SABC YESTERDAY where he announced that he will be writing to ANC secretary Secretary General, Ace Magashule over the decision by the party's regional body to have him resign and...

The National Treasury has told Parliament that various state-owned entities have approached it for extra funding totaling nearly ten-billion rand. These include the SABC, Post Office and the Airports Company of South Africa. The National Treasury was briefing Parliament's Standing Committee on Appropriations on its performance as well as measures taken to curb fraud and corruption related to COVID...