The Weekend View

Today is International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. Here at home the South African Depression and Anxiety Group - SADAG -  is commemorating the day as Substance Abuse Awareness Day. Age and peer pressure combined with the low cost and easy accessibility of drugs and alcohol in South Africa are increasing the risk factors leading to abuse among young adults. The average age for d...

A plane that was earlier this week scheduled to carry asylum seekers from the UK to Rwanda, failed to depart after a last minute challenge from the European Court of Human Rights. The flight would have been the first to take off under a new policy set out by the UK government, that would see those who arrive in the UK illegally, sent thousands of kilometres to East Africa. Despite the block, the U...

As we commemorate Youth Month, many of the challenges that youth of South Africa have expressed are centered around unemployment, lack of  support or funding resources that may young entrepreneurial dreams. Related to that are the mental health issues associated with unemployment. In his Youth Day speech, President Ramaphosa encouraged the young people to use available resources to access job...

Transport Minister, Fikile Mbalula, is this weekend expected to meet with stakeholders in the logistics and trucking industry to help find solutions to the recent blockages of key cargo routes. Motorists experienced a major traffic backlog on parts of the N3 in KwaZulu Natal and N12 in the North West this week, due to truck drivers protesting over the employment of foreign nationals in the sector....

Various political figures have given mixed reaction to the suspension of Public Protector Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane. On Thursday, President Cyril Ramaphosa suspended Mkhwebane pending the outcome of the inquiry into her fitness to hold office. The Public Protector was dealt a further blow on Friday;10 June when the Western Cape High Court dismissed her application to prevent Parliament from proc...

The United Nations is again warning that Somalia is on the brink of devastating and widespread starvation, exacerbated by a severe drought and rising global food prices. The drought has reportedly forced over 800-thousand people from their homes while an astonishing 50% of the population is affected by the drought situation. Recent rains have been moderate, poorly distributed, and insufficient to...

President Cyril Ramaphosa  sidestepped the controversy involving the robbery on his Phala Phala farm when he delivered his reply to the debate on his office's budget vote in parliament. However, his reply was delayed by more than three hours after EFF MPs demanded  that he should not be allowed to address parliament due to the allegations he is facing over the heist on his farm in 2020....

The National Consumer Commission is urging the over 13 000  South African drivers who are in possession of Mercedes-Benz ML, GL, (model series 164) and R-Class (model series 251) to stop driving these vehicles immediately and contact Mercedes-Benz for further assistance. Mercedes-Benz South Africa says the global recall of these models was initiated due to a possible brake failure caused by a...

Today all the Community Policing Forums (CPFs) from three police stations in Cape Town, Khayelitsha, Lingelethu West and Harare,  together with  the neighborhood watches, business and community leaders will hold a mini-summit  to discuss what needs to be done to improve the security situation in Khayelitsha.  We spoke to Khayelitsha CPF Cluster Chairperson, Fransina Lukas

Nations around the globe are today commemorating World Environment Day. Here at home the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment together with various stakeholders have converged in Durban, Kwa Zulu Natal to put their heads together on how to advance the environmental needs of the world under the slogan: One Earth- Living Sustainably in Harmony with Nature. It is reported that the wo...

The Presidency says it has referred a threat made against Director General in the Presidency Phindile Baleni to security agencies. In a statement last night, the presidency said that Baleni found an envelope in her letterbox containing a bullet and a letter threatening her life. The presidency says the threats appear to be an attempt to affect its processing of the findings of the State Capture Co...

Despite the economic woes brought by the Covid 19 pandemic, South Africa now has half a million more new taxpayers, and the country has also created 60 000 new millionaires in the past year. This is according to Brandon de Kock, Director of Storytelling for BrandMapp, South Africa's largest independent annual study of the taxpayer base. BrandMapp says the latest Treasury data shows that around 60...

Presidential spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya has reacted to the criminal charges opened by former director-general of the State Security Agency, Arthur Fraser, against President Cyril Ramaphosa, in connection with the theft of millions of United States dollars concealed within the premises of the President's Phala Phala farm in Waterberg, Limpopo. Fraser also alleged that the robbery suspects had b...

Cyber criminals are always on the prowl and this week they hit rapper Cassper Nyovest who now says he no longer feels his money is safe at banks. The star was in disbelief after someone cloned his bank card and has been having the time of their life with the rapper's money. Taking to Twitter, Cassper revealed he doesn't know how much the card cloners got away with. But if you think hacking only af...

Five former executives linked to TRANSNET including former CEO Siyabonga Gama were arrested on Friday. The executives were charged with the contravention of the Public Finance Management Act, fraud, corruption and money laundering. They appeared in the Palm ridge Magistrate's Court and were granted bail.  They will be back in court in July. The Commission of Inquiry into State Capture recomme...

Zwelinzima Vavi was this week re-elected as General Secretary of SAFTU at its second national congress that ended in Boksburg, East of Johannesburg, on Thursday. Ahead of the election chaos erupted at the congress as Numsa's Irvin Jim threatened court action against the Vavi faction over the election of leaders. Vavi has led both COSATU and SAFTU for a combined 23 years and Jim has been at the hel...

As the country braces for yet another hefty fuel price increase next week, Russia's Minister of Industry, Denis Manturov, has called on BRICS member countries (namely-  Brazil, India, China and South Africa) to establish joint oil refineries with Russia. This as the United States is also pushing  for the 'Countering Malign Russian Activities in Africa Act' meant to curtail Russian econom...

Earlier in the week residents of Umdloti took to the streets to hand over a memorandum, complaining about the alleged failure of developers in the area to follow protocol during construction. The area was among the hardest hit by the recent floods. Houses, roads and critical infrastructure like water, sanitation and electricity have also been heavily impacted. To find out what recourse is availabl...

Environmental group,The Green Connection launched its public awareness and information sharing campaign - which is part of a bigger initiative, called Who Stole Our Oceans - in a bid to stop further government investment in fossil fuels, particularly offshore oil, and gas. Joined by people involved in small-scale fishing and various other civil society organisations,  the Eco-justice organisa...

The Sport, Arts and Culture Department this week made a sudden and dramatic U-TURN when it announced that it will review its proposed flag project worth R22-million.  This comes after South Africans voiced their frustration regarding the amount proposed to be spent and the cause. The 100 metre flag pole was meant to be erected at Freedom Park in Pretoria in a move that was supposed to promote...

The Robben Island Museum says although the tourism industry is opening due the lifting of some Covid 19 restrictions, they are still not getting that much visitors.  Tourism was one of the sectors  that was hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.  The anticipated boom of tourists after lock-down has not materialized for Robben Island as people are not flocking to see Nels...

Sweden and Finland this week submitted their applications to be part of the Western defence alliance, NATO, marking a major shift in European geopolitics. Once-neutral Finland and Sweden are abandoning years of military non-alignment, driven to join NATO's mutual defense pact in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The enlargement of Nato was cited by Russian President Vladamir Putin as one o...

Orlando Pirates unlucky in  the CAF Confederations Cup 

This week's decision by the Reserve Bank to hike interest rates by 50 basis points, taking the repo rate to 4.75%, the biggest rate jump in six years, will further squeeze an already pressed consumer and economy.  But with a massive fuel price hike looming on the horizon, it can only get worse. Next month's fuel increase can potentially push prices to as high as R25 per litre at the pumps. So...

There are increasing reports of residents from various communities around the country being attacked by Pit Bulls. About five months ago, a three-year-old girl was mauled to death by a pit bull in Zwide, Cape Town. Neighbours intervened but it was too late to save the child. Recently, a six-year-old girl was also mauled to death by a neighbour's pit bull inside the house where they were playing at...