First Take SA

Petrol prices for both 93 and 95 octane will at midnight increase by a massive R1,71c per litre, diesel by between R2,76c and R2,84c, while illuminating paraffin will increase by R3,70c per litre. The increase will be the highest fuel increase since July last year. Fuel retailers have also urged government to find alternative solutions to the ever increasing fuel prices. To further discuss this El...

The ANC is considering new legal options after the Supreme Court dismissed the party's leave to appeal a cadre deployment ruling. The Appeals court dismissed with cost, the ANC's application to appeal a Gauteng High Court ruling which compels the party to hand over complete records of its national cadre deployment committee to the DA within five days. For more on this, Elvis Presslin spoke to DA s...

Suspended Public Protector Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane says she will be reporting for duty today. In her statement, posted on X - formerly Twitter, Mkhwebane says she informed President Cyril Ramaphosa of her intention to return to work, citing protocol and the expiry of her suspension. Last month, the Section 194 Committee adopted its report following an inquiry into Mkhwebane's fitness for offic...

Victor Kgomoeswana, 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 gives us the latest African economic stories...

The Health and Allied Workers Indaba Trade Union, HAITU says national Treasury will collapse the public healthcare sector by implementing drastic budget cuts. Treasury's cost-cutting proposals will implement a number of stringent measures to rein in government spending which include a hiring freeze, after a shortfall in revenue collection. HAITU says hospitals are faced with staff shortages and th...

 Zimbabwe President-elect Emmerson Mnangagwa will be inaugurated today for the second time after the August 23 elections. However opposition parties have disputed the election results accusing ZANU PF of vote rigging. Some Zimbabweans have called for the establishment of a transitional government. Meanwhile Gabon will swear in General Brice Nguema as transitional president today following a milita...

Lobby group Afriforum is challenging the "Kill the Boer" chant today in the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein. The group is appealing against the Equality Court order that found the struggle song does not constitute hate speech. Afriforum say the chant is a clear-cut example of hate speech that it endangers the lives of farmers in South-Africa. For more on today's appeal, we're now joined on...

President Cyril Ramaphosa says there is no proof that weapons were loaded onto Russia's cargo ship, Lady R last year. Ramaphosa was addressing the nation on the conclusion of a panel investigation into the Lady R vessel which docked at Simonstown Naval Base last year. In May, US ambassador to South Africa Reuben Brigety accused South Africa of providing arms to Russia in the midst of Moscow's inva...

An acclaimed music teacher and church organist Shadè Jansen is on cloud nine after hearing her original music composition called Chorale and Toccata will be showcased on the world stage and will premiere internationally in New York, US, in September. Prof Theo van Wyk from the University of Pretoria, the first person of colour to earn a doctorate in musicology in South Africa added Shadè's Chorale...

Safer South Africa Foundation and Harmony Gold have launched crime prevention initiatives across the country to deal with the scourge of illegal mining. The Communities and Justice Programme will be rolled out in communities near the mining company's operations in Gauteng, Free State and North West provinces to address rising levels of criminality. Elvis Presslin spoke to retired General Riah Phiy...

Africa Brief with Victor Kgomoeswana, 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 Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse, OUTA is heading to court to stop the reinstatement and enforcement of old traffic fines. The Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA) tasked with implementing legislation says the Aarto Act does not prescribe any time limit for the issuance of enforcement orders. The points demerit system, a crucial element of Aarto aimed at removing serial offenders from the roa...

President Cyril Ramaphosa has described the Johannesburg fire that claimed the lives of at least 75 people as a tragic disaster. Ramaphosa cancelled his scheduled address to the nation yesterday to visit the reportedly hijacked building that was ravaged by fire. At least 250 people were injured - 50 of whom are being treated in hospital. Ramaphosa says the issue of inner city housing and the hijac...

Expelled former ANC Secretary General Ace Magashule launched his own political party after months of speculation. Magashule says his party will work with what he calls the politically weary and those abused by the current political system. He was speaking at the launch of his party in Oralndo West, Soweto yesterday. His party - The African Congress for Transformation will host its first conference...

The City of Tshwane says it is going to take civil action against the South African Municipal Workers Union for damages caused by the strike. Workers affiliated to SAMWU have been on an unprotected strike over salary increases since July. The strike turned violent with some of the city's infrastructure damaged and vandalised. Service delivery has been brought to a halt in many areas. To further di...

20 people have died and 43 others injured after a fire broke out at a building in the Johannesburg city centre this morning. Elvis Presslin spoke to Johannesburg Emergency Management Services spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi...

The Right to Read Campaign says it will take 86 years for all South African children to read for meaning. Social justice organisations such as the South African Human Rights Commission, the Legal Resources Centre, Equal Education and SECTION27 launched The Right to Read Campaign at Constitution Hill, in Johannesburg yesterday to address the shocking early-grade literacy rates. The campaign is in r...

General Brice Oligui Nguema has been named as Gabon's transitional leader. Army officers took power in a coup in the early hours of yesterday morning. Appearing on television, the officers said they had annulled the results of Saturday's election. The officers say they have arrested one of President Ali Bongo's sons for treason. Deposed Gabonese President Ali Bongo has appealed for help from the i...

The Marketing, Advertising and Communication (MAC) Charter Council will host a Women's Day event tomorrow, a gathering dedicated to celebrating the achievements and contributions of women in the MAC Sector. The Council believes that through strategic initiatives and collaborative efforts, it can stimulate valuable insight on discussions on women's leadership within the sector. To further discuss t...

The Constitutional Court has heard that the current Electoral Amendment Act disadvantages independent candidates as compared to political parties. The One SA Movement and the Independent Candidates Association of South Africa yesterday, approached the country's apex court in  a bid to challenge the constitutionality of the allocation of seats in the National Assembly and the the 15% signature thre...

Two Home Affairs officials have been charged for their alleged role in granting the controversial Gupta family South African citizenship. This was revealed by the Independent Multi-Disciplinary Task Team that was established by the Home Affairs Department. The task team and the department were appearing before Parliament's Home Affairs Committee to respond to a 2022 report by former director-gener...

Parliament's ad hoc committee, established to select the next Public Protector, will recommend the name of acting PP, Kholeka Gcaleka, to head the Chapter Nine institution. The committee interviewed eight shortlisted candidates last week.  Gcaleka was proposed to be the successful candidate, by the ANC and supported by the IFP.  The DA, FF Plus and EFF did not support the proposal for Gcaleka to t...

North West Community Safety and Transport Management MEC, Sello Lehari has ordered an urgent investigation into a fire that engulfed parts of the Pilanesberg International Airport near Sun City. The fire is believed to have started at the top of a building close to the Air Traffic Control Tower. No injuries have been reported and the cause of the fire has yet to be ascertained. For more on this, E...

Four-million young people have been registered onto the network of the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention (PYEI) through the initiative's national pathway management network where young people were supported to access more than one-million temporary earning opportunities, since the inception of the Intervention in 2020. Government has emphasized that the initiative is a multi-stakeholder p...

 Independent candidates are challenging the constitutionality of the electoral amendment act at the Constitutional Court today. The new act will allow independent candidates to stand in provincial and national elections next year. The apex court will hear applications from the Independent Candidates' Association of South Africa and the One South Africa Movement, who believe the new act favours pol...