First Take SA

Twelve of the opposition parties represented in parliament and civil society groups including religious leaders were today locked behind closed doors in parliament discussing plans to form a Convention for a Democratic SA (codesa) like process. The aim of the initiatives is to address challenges currently facing the country under the ANC leadership. United Democratic Movement Leader Bantu Holomisa...

The National Consumer Commission says it will work directly with network operator, Vodacom to ensure that the company adheres to its mandate of educating consumers. This is in light of a debacle affecting Vodacom's consumers whose data disappeared overnight. The NCC has held a two-day public hearings in Polokwane on concerns by consumers. Katlego Nyoni reports

Civil Society groups and opposition parties are calling for a review on the decision to give Zimbabwean First Lady Grace Mugabe diplomatic immunity. Mugabe who was granted diplomatic immunity by the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Maite Nkoane-Mashabane, is accused of assaulting model Gabriella Engels. The IFP says Maite Nkoane-Mashabane must be summoned before parliament to ex...

The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) says the Minister for International Relations must summoned before parliament to explain Zimbabwean first lady Grace Mugabe's diplomatic immunity. Tsepiso Makwtla spoke to IFP MP, Mkhulekwa Hlengwa...

Gupta-aligned businessman Mzwanele Manyi says he will ensure his newly-acquired news media companies serve the interest of South Africans. The Guptas have sold ANN 7 and the New Age to Manyi for 450-million-rand. Manyi says the sale is part of his commitment to provide certainty to over seven-thousand-500 employees. Tsepiso Makwetla spoke to Media Monitoring Africa director William Bird

Three people including a traditional healer have appeared at the Estcourt magistrate court in the KwaZulu Natal Midlands, today, for the possession of human body parts. They were arrested after after a man went to a local police station and voluntarily admitted to cannibalism. In another court case, a 24-year old man is expected to appear in the Durban magistrate court today after he was arrested...

The International Red Cross says the number of people killed in the mudslides caused by floods in Sierra Leone has passed 400. Senior officials say 600 more are still missing. The disaster began on Monday when heavy rains hit in and around the capital, Freetown, and the partial collapse of a hillside triggered mudslides, engulfing homes and wreaking destruction. Tsepiso Makwetla spoke to a journal...

A delegation from the Israeli Knesset (parliament) were in the country over the past two days, hoping to meet with the South African parliament in order to discuss cooperation between the two countries. However, the meeting did not take place, this after the ANC Parliamentary Caucus rejected the request by the Israeli government. This comes dead of the heels of the party's policy conference where...

Justice Minister Michael Masutha has welcomed the ruling by the Supreme Court of Appeal to set aside a high court judgement for Janusz Walus's release on parole. The SCA upheld Masutha's appeal after the High Court in Pretoria earlier set aside his decision NOT to grant the parole. Walus and the late Clive Derby-Lewis were jailed for the murder of then Communist Party leader Hani in 1993. Tsepiso...

Today is the deadline for affected families of Life Esidimeni patients to contact the office of the premier in Gauteng, to be a part of a dispute resolution process. The premier's office wants to begin an alternative dispute resolution into the deaths of more than 100 patients who died in 2016 after being moved from Life Esidimeni to non-government organisations that were not qualified to provide...

ANC MP, Dr Makhosi Khoza has been removed as the chairperson of the Public Enterprises portfolio committee. Tsepiso Makwetla spoke to our Parliamentary Reporter, Abongwe Kobokana

The DA's John Steenhuizen says he believes ANC MP Makhosi Khoza is being punished for being outspoken. The ANC has removed Khoza from chairing Parliament's Public Service and Administration Portfolio Committee - citing an irretrievable breakdown in relations between her and ANC Members of the committee. The stems from Khoza's public statements in support of the vote of no confidence in President J...

Civil rights organisation Afriforum says it will provide legal assistance to the family of Gabriella Engels, the woman who is accusing Zimbabwean First Lady, Grace Mugabe, of assault. Afriforum's legal which includes famed Oscar Pistorius, prosecutor and current head of the organisation's special prosecutions unit, Adocate Gerrie Nel has announced that he will assist the victim. Tsepiso Makwetla s...

Over 200-people have filled an application for direct access at the Constitutional Court. This, in an effort to have the highest court in the land hear a 60-billion rand suit against South Africa's largest banks. The claim is related to their conduct in attaching and selling the homes of defaulting debtors at prices below market value. Tsepiso Makwetla spoke to Advocate Douglas Shaw, who's represe...

The legal team of the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal has told the High Court in Pietermaritzburg that it was actually former Premier Senzo Mchunu who called for the convening of the elective conference in the province. Advocate Greg Harpur was responding to claims by five ANC members in the province who want the outcome of the 2015 provincial elective conference nullified. According to the current ANC provi...

The Department of International Relations and Cooperation says it is following up on reports about a 23-year-old woman who disappeared from Richardsbay in northern KwaZulu-Natal and has now allegedly been found in a Nigerian hospital. She claims she was abducted, drugged and woke up in Nigeria. The woman - who is not being named for her own protection - went missing on the day she graduated from t...

On our Arts Culture and Literature feature we profile the founder of Impilo Health Wear. This is a brand that caters for health care professionals including doctors, physiotherapists, dietitians, radiographers and nurses. Dr Siviwe Mila, the founder of Impilo Health Wear, says she wishes to reinvent health wear. She adds that understanding the stresses of their daily jobs, Impilo wants to make hea...

The court battle of the ANC in Kwa-Zulu Natal played out in full view of a full bench at the Pietermaritzburg high court today. At the centre of the attention is the legitimacy of the 2015 ANC KwaZulu-Natal elective conference. The five leaders of ANC branches want the court to nullify the conference along with its resolutions saying the whole process was flawed. However the current provincial lea...

The South African Policing Union - SAPU has denied claims that its members are intimidating non-striking workers at the 10111 call centre offices in Midrand, north of Johannesburg. Police management have filed an application in the Labour Court against SAPU to prevent unlawful conduct by the striking 10111 employees. Ike Phaahla spoke to Brigadier Sally de Beer, National police spokeswoman and Osc...

Kenya's Electoral commission is still to declare the Presidential elections results. Meanwhile, the National Super Alliance (NASA) says it will only accept the election results if the commission gives it access to its computer servers. NASA has disputed the provisional result from the August 8 poll saying they will accept results based on figures recorded on Tuesday. Ike Phaahla spoke to SABC's Co...

On Monday, the Johannesburg Equality Court made a ruling in favour of activist and lecture at the University of the Witwatersrand, Tim Trengove Jones. Jones had brought a case of homophobic hate speech before the court against his neighbour, for making an anti-LGBTI slurs against him. Magistrate P J Stanford, in her ruling indicated that there needs to be a clear deterrent that a behaviour and ver...

As per usual on a Friday we end off with music, on our regular slot Open Mic. Today we profile South African artist Andy Soul. Andy has been making quality soulful vocal house music for the past decade. Producer Ronald Phiri spoke to Andy about his new single "Rise" which is coming out soon on the 18th of August...

Goldman Sachs is quoted saying it's getting more difficult to ignore the cryptocurrency market. A digital currency, called Bitcoin earlier this week had a price surge of 3525-US Dollars. This as the bitcoin community awaits the next big development called the Lightning Network, a technology that enables instant transactions. Ike Phaahla spoke to Russel Luck, technology attorney at SwiftTechLaw and...

The managing attorney of the Gender Equality Programme at Lawyers for Human Rights, Sanja Bornman, says ending impunity will curb gender based violence . She was reacting to Police Minister Fikile Mbalula's defence of police officers, who failed to arrest Higher Education Deputy Minister Mduduzi Manana before his court appearance this afternoon. Ike Phaahla spoke to Sanja Bornman

There are reports that Kenya's main opposition is demanding that its candidate Raila Odinga be declared president, claiming it has evidence that he had won an election. Meanwhile, the heads of foreign observer missions have urged party leaders to be patient and refrain from inflaming tensions. President Uhuru Kenyatta is leading in the provisional results, however, Odinga claims these are a "sham"...