First Take SA

Residents of Makana Municipality in the Eastern Cape have taken to social media to express their dismay at reports that aid organisation - The Gift of the Givers - is pulling out of the water-scarce area. This follows reports that the Municipality, which hosts Makhanda - formerly known as Grahamstown - is seeking to employ a company in order to deal with the water challenges in the area. Gift of t...

The Automobile Association says the latest fuel price data from the Central Energy Fund shows an unstable fuel price picture and another possible fuel hike next month. The AA has also warned consumers that the forthcoming Carbon Tax due for introduction on June 5 will add an additional nine cents a litre to the petrol price, and ten cents to the diesel price.

Users are being urged to update their WhatsApp smartphone apps immediately because of a security bug that allows hackers to take over phones by simply calling, whether or not the call is answered. The vulnerability reportedly enabled attackers to install surveillance software on smartphones by ringing up targets using the app's phone call function. The messenger and Voice over application is used...

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) is today expected to officially hand over the lists of designated members of Parliament and members of Provincial Legislatures to Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng following the recent elections. The Chief Justice will in turn hand over the National Assembly list to the Acting Secretary to Parliament in preparation for the first sitting of the National Assemb...

Former employees of Lily Mine and community members in Barberton, Mpumalanga have threatened to go underground to retrieve remains of three miners that were trapped three years ago. Pretty Nkambule, Solomon Nyerenda and Yvonne Mnisi were inside a metal container when the mine surface caved in. The former employees have been camping at the mine for more than a week, calling on the mine management a...

Gauteng parents will only be able to register their Grade 1 and 8 learners online next week Monday. This after a number of organisations raised objections to the start of the process TODAY (monday 13/05). Gauteng MEC Panyaza Lesufi has postponed the online registration process saying that he will meet with these organisations in the week leading up to the new date.

Elvis Presslin spoke to the Executive Chair of the Instiute for Elections Management Services in Africa , Terry Tselane on his views of the 2019 general election

The ANC will still be the ruling party after the national elections tomorrow ( Wednesday) and the DA will be the official opposition in the country. That's according to the latest research findings published by market research company Ipsos. The survey also predicts that the EFF should be the official opposition in Limpopo and North West provinces.

National Education Health and Allied Workers Union NEHAWU and the IEC have resolved the impasse regarding organisational structure and other issues - including staff remuneration - just a day before the general election. This means the poll will go ahead on Wednesday across the country without hinderance. NEHAWU says it pushed the IEC to commit to the agreement that was reached at the Electoral Co...

As political parties were out in full force on the final weekend of campaigning before election day on Wednesday -- some political analysts and observers believe this year's campaigns were not as visible as in the previous elections. They attribute the decline in the ANC's campaign to the party's political infightings and factionalism. But, there is also belief that the EFF has improved in their c...

Over seven hundred thousand South Africans will cast their special vote today and tomorrow ahead of the May 8th election. The Independent Electoral Commission says the elderly, sick, disabled and pregnant voters who are unable to make their way to voting stations will be visited at their homes for the special vote if they applied for it.

People who deface election party posters could face a sentence of five to ten years imprisonment. This is according to IEC Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo. It comes in response to the vandalism of party posters ahead of the May 8th elections

Activists from the Cape Town based pressure group 'Reclaim the City' yesterday invaded the Green Point Bowling Green in the mother city demanding that the property to be used for affordable housing, The activists dug foundations and layed bricks for several new homes on the property which includes the bowling greens, vacant fenced-off land and two clubhouses

The International Association of Athletics Federation - IAAF - has welcomed the Court of Arbitration for Sport's dismissal of Caster Semenya's appeal against the introduction of regulations to restrict testosterone levels in female athletes. But the decision has been met with disappointment locally by South Africans who feel its unfair.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation is today heading to the Equality Court seeking an order restricting the public display of the old Apartheid flag. The Foundation contends that displays of the Apartheid flag that serve no genuine academic or artistic purpose

Almost 30-thousand South Africans living abroad have cast their votes for this year's national general elections. Most took to social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to express their joy and excitement at the opportunity to exercise their democratic right. London had the highest number of registered voters living abroad with just over nine-thousand while Dubai followed with just over...

President Cyril Ramaphosa remains tight-lipped about his decision on the recommendation submitted to his office for the release of the Abathembu king, Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo. Ramaphosa met the acting King of the AbaThembu nation, Prince Azenathi Dalindyebo, behind closed doors in Mthatha yesterday. Lately, there's been calls by different traditional leaders for president Ramaphosa to pardon the ki...

The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) says the notice of intention to de-register the union is an onslaught to its efforts for social justice and economic emancipation. This follows the announcement by government which described the union as not being genuine under the Labour Ralations Act. AMCU boasts over 200-thousand members within both the gold and platinum mines which a...

Mopping-up operations continue and residents count their losses, President Cyril Ramaphosa visted many of the areas that have been devastated by the storm

The death toll following the devastating floods in Kwazulu Natal has risen to 51. In the meantime the weather Service is warning that the rains will continue over the province today* - with the weather only expected to clear from tomorrow.

Three disgruntled ANC members in the Free State are today taking the ANC and the IEC to court to have names of 41 candidates nominated at the provincial list conference nullified. They say the ANC Provincial List Conference held in December last year to nominate eleven members to the National Assembly and thirty to the Provincial Legislature was unlawful and unconstitutional. The matter will be he...

24 suspects have been arrested in connection with Sri Lanka bomb explosions that left about 290 people dead and more than 500 injured. The bomb blasts ripped through churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka, in the first major attack on the Indian Ocean Island since the end of a civil war 10 years ago. But it is not yet known who carried out the attacks

The Ombudsman for Banking Services says there has been an alarming increase in credit card fraud over the first quarter of the year. The ombudsman says the increase in credit card fraud had grown from 12.2 percent to almost twenty-percent with more than half of the victims being of pensionable age. According to statistics from the ombud, those aged between 61 and 70 account for 21 percent of fraud...

Calls continue to intensify for president Cyril Ramaphosa to appoint the eight candidates to serve on the SABC board. Director at Media Monitoring Africa, William Bird says they will be writing a second letter to the presidency on why the public broadcaster's board has yet to be appointed. The presidency has meanwhile denied that it is employing delaying tactics citing vetting processes that have...

Alexandra residents, north of Johannesburg have vowed to continue with their total shut down today. The residents are demanding that Joburg Mayor Herman Mashaba meets with them and address their concerns. Last week, protestors blockaded roads, over the mushrooming of shacks and illegal structures as well as a lack of service delivery. Alexandra Community leader, Patrick Baloyi speaks to Elvis Pres...