First Take SA

Cape Town's Mayco Member JP Smith, says yesterday's meeting in the Cape Flats gave them a clear picture that they have an extremely dire situation where almost ten people are killed a day.

The South African Municipal Workers' Union says it intends to take the Auditor General's reports to the Public Protector for investigation - after it was revealed that 239 out of 257 municipalities have not received clean audits. Auditor-General, Kimi Makwetu, addressed the media yesterday on the local government audits for the 2017/18 financial year - saying that pervasive control and monitoring...

The high usage of consultants and lack of Chartered Accountants has been pointed as some of the issues that contributed to Limpopo province being one of the worst three financially run municipalities in the AG's report.

EFF Leader Julius Malema has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to come clean about the allegations of money laundering which Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane is reportedly investigating. Malema was taking part in a debate on the state of the nation address which President Ramaphosa delivered last week. Meanwhile, political analyst Ralph Mathekga says Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane's deci...

Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan says Denel employees will receive their full salaries. He was speaking in the National Assembly during the debate on the State of the Nation Address. Earlier reports indicated that the arms manufacturer notified its employees that they would receive 85 percent of their salaries yesterday ( Tuesday) and the balance will be paid in a week's time. Gordhan...

COSATU says it expects President Cyril Ramaphosa to show bold leadership and take decisive actions to deal with the challenges that South Africa is facing. Ramaphosa delivers his State of the Nation Address today. The labour federation says the president needs to act speedily to execute policies to save the ailing economy. Cosatu's Parliamentary coordinator, Matthew Parks speaks to us about what t...

Today (Thursday) is World Refugee Day. Aid organisation Doctors Without Borders (MSF) says there are now over 70 million people forced out of their homes around the world-more than at any time in modern history. The organisation says these are people who have fled extreme danger including relentless bombing, gang violence and other life-threatening circumstances. Liesbeth Schockaert, Southern Afri...

The Federation of Governing Bodies of South African Schools has called for a CODESA type of forum in decisively dealing with social ills plaguing our school. Its CEO, Paul Colditz...

The North Gauteng high court has ordered Gupta-linked consultancy Firm Trillian to repay almost 600 million rands to power utility Eskom. Executive Director at Corruption Watch, David Lewis gives us his reaction...

The Alexandra Shutdown Committee says it is going ahead with its total shutdown of the township today. This, following Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba's promise to rebuild illegal structures which were demolished in the township earlier this month. The committee has indicated that it is against the City of Johannesburg's decision. The mushrooming of illegal dwellings in Alexandra, sparked what h...

In his testimony yesterday at the Zondo Commission, former NPA boss Mxolisi Nxasana, said he was forced out of his job in 2015. Nxasana told the commission he had recordings of former head of NPA Nomgcobo Jiba running a campaign to dig-up dirt on him to get him removed from office. However Jiba's lawyer expressed concern about evidence being heard at the commission that she had not seen and not in...

Former president, Kgalema montlanthe, together with former speaker of the National Assembly, Dr Frene Ginwala will form part of an independent team which will probe whether ANC members were involved in the setting up of smaller parties ahead of the 2019 general election. The decision to establish the team was taken by the ANC's National Working Committee on Monday after allegations that the party'...

An unconfirmed number of SAPS and JMPD vehicles have been damaged following an attack on law enforcement officials in Hillbrow, Johannesburg. The police were conducting raids, targeting counterfeit goods when they were hurled with stones by a group of people believed to be foreign nationals that trade in the area.

The High Court in Pretoria will today hear an application by civil society organisations, Corruption Watch and Right2know - to review and set aside the findings of the Seriti Commission. The Commission was set up in 2011 by then Justice Minister, Jeff Radebe to investigate allegations of fraud, corruption, impropriety or irregularity in the Strategic Defence Procurement Packages. In 2016, the comm...

A survey by the Institute of Internal Auditors South Africa has revealed that one-in-four Chief Audit Executives working in State Owned Enterprises fear for their lives due to the nature of their job. The institute has called for greater protection for its members following what it calls alarming increases in reports of intimidation, harassment and violence against them. This follows the attempted...

Tributes continue to pour in for the veteran journalist and former Rand Daily Mail and Sunday Times editor, Raymond Louw. The Professional Journalists Association of South Africa (ProJourn) has described Louw as a wordsmith and one of the best journalists. ProJourn administration secretary Michael Schmidt says Oom Ray as he was affectionately known, was always at the fore-front of defending people...

The ANC seems to be speaking in different tongues when it comes to the issue of the Reserve Bank. Earlier the party's Secretary General Ace Magashule said they want to expand to mandate of the central bank to include employment and economic growth. But some senior members have voiced their opposition, warning that such a statement creates policy uncertainty and could negatively affect investor con...

Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi has called for the review of the South African School's Act as it currently allows for troubled teens to simply be shifted to a new school without being properly rehabilitated. Lesufi was responding to the stabbing which led to the death of a Grade 10 learner from Forest high in Turfontein, Johannesburg. Lesufi says moving a troubled learner from one school to...

The South African Transport and Allied Workers Union - SATAWU - is demanding an end to salary disparities between white and black workers in South Africa's ports. SATAWU alleges that the wage gap runs in margins of around 500-thousand rands a year between black and white mariners. Negotiations to resolve this between the union and the Transnet National Ports Authority have since collapsed, threate...

The number of ministers has been reduced from 36 to 28. President Cyril Ramaphosa said his cabinet is a mixture of experience, continuity and regional diversity. The biggest surprise is the appointment of GOOD party leader, Patricia De Lille as minister of Public Works and Infrastructure Development

ANC Deputy President David Mabuza has been sworn in as a Member of Parliament at the Sefako Makgatho Presidential Guesthuse in Pretoria. Last week, Mabuza requested that his swearing in be postponed to allow him to respond to the ANC's Integrity Commission report. The report outlined allegations of corruption levelled against him while he was still premier of Mpumalanga.

The African Transformation Movement has also weighed in on the matter between Former Public Eneterprise Minister Pravin Gordhan and Public Protector Adv Busisiwe Mkhwebane by calling on parliament to urgently probe Gordhan's fitness to be a member of Parliament.

The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation has come out in support of Public Enterprises Minister, Pravin Gordhan. Gordhan was also cited by the Public Protector, Adv Busisiwe Mkhwebane for violating the constitution and she instructed President Ramaphosa to take disciplinary action against him. The Kathrada Foundation, has questioned the timing of Mkhwebane's report, citing an alleged agenda on the part of th...

There continues to be wide spread speculation over who will form part of President Cyril Ramaphosa's new cabinet. This as the presidency has announced that the names of those individuals will only be made public later in the week and not today as earlier expected. President Ramaphosa says the new executive should possess the required skills, experience, representivity and a commitment to the publi...

The cash-strapped Makanda Municipality in the Eastern Cape is optimistic that it will find a lasting solution with the Gift of the Givers which has been assisting the drought-stricken Makhanda with water sourcing. The Gift of the Givers has announced that it was withdrawing its services after the Department of Water and Sanitation refused to pay service providers used by the organisation. The foun...