First Take SA

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

The Congress of the People, COPE has suspended party president Mosioua Lekota, for what it calls, the role he played in dividing COPE. COPE deputy president, Willie Madisha told a media briefing in Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni, that the Congress National Committee decided that Lekota was no longer fit to lead the party. Reports suggest that Lekota held frequent meetings in the Free State, seeking to d...

Mzwanele Nyotsho has been re-elected unopposed as PAC president at the party's national conference held in Seshego, Limpopo.  Apa Pooe also retained his position as the party's Secretary General.  Victor Serakalala replaced Doctor Lunga Mantashe as deputy president and Sbusiso Xaba was elected as National Chairperson. The three-day conference started on Friday. Nyotsho says the party is growing. T...

Deputy Health Minister Dr. Sibongiseni Dhlomo will today lead a march against illegal and unsafe termination of pregnancy, in Germiston, Gauteng's East Rand. Dr. Dhlomo says the aim of the march is to raise awareness among young people about the importance of access to health services, especially sexual reproductive health services. For more on this Deputy Health Minister Dr. Sibongiseni Dhlomo sp...

Eastern Cape Police are investigating a murder case after a ten-year-old boy was stabbed to death - allegedly by a nine-year-old boy in Ntwashu village. It is alleged that the two were fighting when the nine-year-old allegedly reached for a sharp object and stabbed the ten-year-old who died later in hospital. Eastern Cape Police spokesperson Brigadier Thembinkosi Kinana speaks to Elvis Presslin

ANC Treasurer General Paul Mashatile has praised the ANC in the North West for making history by electing 22 women into its leadership. He was speaking at the end of the ninth Provincial Conference in Rustenburg. After having elected one woman as part of the top five officials, delegates elected an extra 21 women as Provincial Executive Committee members. Mashatile says this is historic in the exi...

The DA and EFF are calling for the removal of Limpopo health MEC Dr. Phophi Ramathuba over remarks she made to a Zimbabwean patient in a viral video. Dr. Ramathuba was captured on video talking to the patient at a hospital in Bela Bela, about the burden illegal foreign nationals bring to the province's healthcare system. She further asks the patient if she thinks her department is running a charit...

The DA and EFF are calling for the removal of Limpopo health MEC Dr. Phophi Ramathuba over remarks she made to a Zimbabwean patient in a viral video. Dr. Ramathuba was captured on video talking to the patient at a hospital in Bela Bela, about the burden illegal foreign nationals bring to the province's healthcare system. She further asks the patient if she thinks her department is running a charit...

The Supreme Court of Appeals has rejected Ingonyama Trust's application to appeal an earlier ruling, which found that the Trust was wrong to insist on people living on the land it controls to sign leases and pay rent. Just recently the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal said there were no plans to seize the land under the trust, after media reports that the ANC's Integrity Commission had ordered the governing p...

Tshwane mayor Randall Williams will face a motion of no confidence today (Thursday) when the council meeting sits. The ANC is expected to table the motion against Williams, who faces allegations of interfering in the city's supply chain management processes. This is after a leaked audio recording of a meeting last year between the mayor and senior officials regarding an alleged unsolicited bid. Fo...

The South African National Taxi Council, SANTACO says it will not be joining today's planned national shutdown, despite numerous requests for the association to participate.  This as thousands of workers affiliated to some unions including labour federations COSATU and SAFTU, down tools and take part in the protest action against the increasing cost of living and interest rate hikes. Elvis Pressli...

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, NUMSA says it will not participate in the planned national shutdown today. Speaking to our senior producer Ronald Phiri after welcoming the labour court's decision to dismiss Ruth Ntlokotse's application to hold Numsa in contempt of court for proceeding with its congress last month, the Union's General Secretary Irvin Jim says while they agree wi...

The Constitutional Court has dismissed the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, DIRCO's leave to appeal a decision against its plans to donate over 50 million rands to Cuba. Earlier this year, the High Court in Pretoria granted an application by Afriforum against the donation. Afriforum had argued that the funds could rather be used to help South Africans in desperate need. Elvis...

The City of Tshwane says it has consistently been engaging power utility Eskom over its outstanding electricity debt. This, after Eskom athe nnounced that it is considering disconnecting electricity supply to the City in an effort to secure the payment of up to one point six billion rand. Eskom says the City of Tshwane is in breach of the the Electricity Supply Agreement which was due on 17th of t...