The Weekend View

Some independent candidates in KwaZulu-Natal say they are being threatened by members from the larger political parties in their areas. Over 3-hundred candidates will be contesting the November 1st election as independents, the most in any election.

Its all systems go for the country's sixth Local Government Elections on tomorrow Novermber 1st 2021. These elections are reported to be the most contested with the highest number of ward candidates. Between the logistical challenges of keeping the electorate safe during the Covid-19 pandemic and the dissatisfaction with politicians in general, a significant disruption to the balance of power in a...

An ANC candidate councillor in Tshwane Tshepo Malefane is in hiding following the murder of two residents and a local businessman. They were all members of the ANC's local branch in Soshanguve north of Pretoria. One of the deceased was his uncle, 42 year old Khehla Malefane

The Health Minister, Dr Joe Phaahla, has called on all political parties to adhere to the Covid-19 level one restrictions this weekend as political parties make their final push ahead of the November first municipal elections. Phaahla says the infection rate is stable with a positivity rate of less than two percent. New cases declined by 22% over the last seven days, hospitalisations by 14.5% and...

Johannesburg residents continued to bare the brunt despite the promise that they will be exempted from the black outs since the City managed to secure extra electricity from Independent Power Producers. When that happened Joburg's City Power released a statement rejecting the latest round of load shedding. Saying the 220 megawatts secured from kelvin power station was enough to keep joburg off the...

The South African Human Rights Commission has called on the national government to take over the running of Water and Sanitation Department at the City of Tshwane.in Recommendations from its recent report on the water situation in Hammanskraal, the commission also called for the previous and current management at the City of Tshwane, to be held accountable for the water crisis. The SAHRC found tha...

Another one of our weekly local government election debates with different political parties.

Eswatini Pro democracy groups have  made a call to SADC to send  peace keeping mission in the tiny Kingdom. This come after the groups met with the delegation sent by President Cyril Ramaphosa in his capacity as chairperson of the SADC Organ on Defence, Politics and Security Cooperation. The groups believes that the talks with Troika is a sign to the right direction to bring peace in Esw...

The South African Paediatric Association has encouraged healthy dialogue between parents, guardians and children over the Covid19 vaccine. One dose of the Pfizer jab is  administered to children between the ages of 12 and 17. The Chairperson of the Paediatric Association, Professor Mignon McCulloch, has emphasized the importance of teenagers receiving the Covid19 vaccine - saying it decreases...

I was watching a newspiece just the other day of massive container ships locked in traffic jams across the globe as Supply chains around the world, disrupted by Covid are slowly getting back on their feet... Now we are heading into Black friday and the festive season.... With logistics companies bracing themselves for heavy demand in a climate where Covid has resulted in massive dislocations of th...

Political killings have become something of a norm in some parts of the country, mainly in Kwazulu-Natal during elections campaigning season. This year alone six people have reportedly been killed in politically related killings in the province. Meanwhile, Police Minister Bheki Cele says more police officers have been deployed to hotspots of political killings in the country. Cele was in Pietermar...

The Auditor General's report for 2019-2020 financial year…Shows that only 27 out of 278 municipalities in SA received a clean audit… It further shows… 26 billion rand in irregular expenditure…. What our AG also showed us is that…. Our municipalities by and large are still heavily dependent on Consultants… and that less than a quarter of municipalities can...

People with Disability say politicians use them to get votes whilst government use them as a front to meet disability employment quotas. They say they are continuously ill-treated and discriminated against when they go out to seek government services and assistance, including by law enforcement and health care workers. A newly established political party will be contesting the November 1st municip...

The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal has called on police to arrest those responsible for what appears to be politically motivated killings in the province. The call comes after a councillor candidate and a party member were killed in their vehicle after a door-to-door campaign in Cato Crest near Durban.  Friday night's incident was the second fatal attack ahead of the Local government elections.  L...

Government has strongly condemned the alleged hostage drama that occurred last night at a hotel in Irene, Pretoria. Defence Minister,  Thandi Modise, her deputy, Thabang Makwetla, as well as Minister in Presidency, Mondli Gungubele were allegedly held against their own will by former military veterans whilst having a meeting with them.  The hostage drama had to be defused by police

With load-shedding suspended since Thursday, Eskom says we are not out of the woods yet as a significant risks to the power system remains and load-shedding could again be implemented at short notice. The power utility says the recent loadshedding was due to some power units going offline due to breakdowns. However energy expects have criticised Eskom's poor maintenance planning with claims of sys...

In our ongoing roundtable discussion ahead of the local government we host the National freedom party. Who are dedicating this election to their later leader Zanele Ka Magwasa Msibi. But after missing out on the last local elections what make the party tick and what are they promising to do for you you.

The City of Johannesburg's plan to take over distribution from Eskom faces several costly hurdles, including R7.5 billion in outstanding consumer debt and R4 billion to take ownership of distribution infrastructure. Electricity supply has turned into a critical election issue in Gauteng, where communities have borne the brunt of 'load reduction' by Eskom

The eThekwini Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal says there has been an alarming rate of new HIV infections among girls and young women between 13 and 19-years old. The municipality has launched a programme to help reduce the rate of HIV infections and sexually transmitted diseases. adding to the problems.... Many people also stopped their HIV treatments when health services were disrupted by the outbr...

The recently updated Food Poverty Line Indices report shows a growing or worsening state of poverty in South Africa... With the poverty line now sitting at R624 per capita a month... And if you consider that ther average child support grant sits at 460 per month per child or that the Emergency SRD grant sits at R350 rand per month..., then it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that bot...

We spend the hour with the African Transformation Movement...A Party defining itself as an African Humanist Party.....They launched their manifesto in Mtata yesterday.

The Metro Mall B in the Johannebsurg CBD, situated at corner Simmonds and Bree streets is uninhabitable but yet nothing is being done about it, this is according to the five association that occupy a taxi rank popularly know as Bree. According to SWUTA, an association representing all five association at the rank, the building has been deemed uninhabitable by a team of specialists appointed by the...

With a recent report showing a staggering 23000 of Gauteng teens falling pregnant since the start of Covid 19, Global comapnay Organon has embarked on a world wide campaign to improve awareness and to enabe young people to make informed choices on their sexual and reproductive health. The campaign seeks to provide solutions by educating women about their contraceptive options.

The community of Khutsong near Carletonville in the west of Gauteng, says the improved service delivery they fought for when they objected to being incorporated into the North West, is falling short of expectations. The Merafong City Local Municipality under which Khutsong falls, was part of the North West from 2005 to 2009. But it was reincorporated into Gauteng through a constitutional amendment...

AfriForum is heading to the Constitutional Court in an attempt to force Parliament to change South Africa's referendum legislation. The civil rights group wants government to give premiers legislated powers to call for a referendum. This it says is one of the ways to accomplish its mission to give the Western Cape greater autonomy. To further discuss this we speak to Afriforum CEO Kallie Kriel.