The Weekend View

A fantastic new partnership has developed in the fight not only against Covid-19 but also cancer and HIV.. the partnership spearheaded by SA born Billionaire Dr Patrick Soon- Shioong will involve the SA medical Research Council, the CSIR, University of KZN and will be based at Stellenbosch University… The man leading it all is Professor Thulio De Oliviera, the man, who along with his team i...

Though the South African Council of Churches (SACC) has welcomed government's move to adjusted alert level 2, it is reported that its pushing for a rethink of the 250 indoor capacity approach. The council thinks the 250 blanket approach should be replaced by a fifty percent capacity restriction.

The final voter registration weekend kicked off to a slow start nationally, but the pace picked up during the day. The IEC says in the first few hours of Saturday over 104 000 South Africans visited their voting stations to register, re-register or update their details.  It says over 230-thousand people have used the online registration facility since its launch in July.

The Constitutional Court has dismissed former president, Jacob Zuma's rescission application with costs. It says he has failed to meet rescission requirements. Zuma had applied to the apex court to have his incarceration overturned. Despite the minority judgement finding that his rights were violated after he was jailed without a trial -- the majority judgement described his attempt to have his 15...

Only 14 percent of South Africans have legitimate wills, according the Professional Provident Society. This is particulaly concerning given the fact that we are living through a pandemic. Close to 43 billion rands in unclaimed insurance benefits is sitting with financial institutions because beneficiaries cannot be found. Experts say some of the reasons include lack of a valid will and outdated or...

The Independent Electoral Commission says it expects between 500-thousand and two-million more registrations throughout its over 23-thousand stations in the country this weekend.  The commission says new Voter Management Devices (VMDs) will also be used for the first time on a mass scale during registration. It also confirmed that by Thursday this week a 156 651 voters had successfully used t...

The IEC is encouraging those who have access to internet to use our online voter registration application. You can register, change address as well as update your details online. South Africa is this weekend registering to vote after a back and forth in court on whether the Local Government Elections should go ahead. The IEC says its sub-dividing some of these big stations to what we call a voting...

Deputy Finance Minister David Masondo has reportedly suggested that foreign investors scrap Eskom's R164 Billion debt so the money can be used by the company to reach climate targets. Masondo says Eskom needs to borrow R400 billion in order to transition from coal to renewable energy supply. He says in exchange for the forgiveness South Africa would pledge an equivalent amount as an equity injecti...

The first South African children taking part in the SINOVAC  COVID-19 trial have been vaccinated  at the Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University in Pretoria. Two-thousand South African children between the ages of six-months and 17 have been enrolled in the trial which involves 14-thousand children in five countries. Participants will receive two doses of the SINOVAC vaccine

Political parties have weighed in on the Biko family's quest for an inquest into Black Consciousness Leader, Steve Biko lambasting the Government for having failed to get justice for the slain student leader. Biko died in police detention on the 12th of September in 1977. The country is set to mark the 44th anniversary of Biko's death in the Annual Memorial Lecture that is set to take place virtua...

U.S. President Joe Biden accompanied by first lady Jill Biden joined mourners at Ground Zero in downtown New York City to mark the sombre 20th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks on America. The first couple were accompanied by former President's Barack Obama and Bill Clinton and former first ladies Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton who joined families of victims and survivors who paid tribute to the...

Tissue donation is an essential component in the work that surgeons and healthcare professionals do to improve the quality of life of their patients. But it has recently been reported that hardly any South Africans are organ donors. The country only has 1.4 donors per 1 millon people. Yet at any given time.... some 4,300 South Africans are in need of organ or tissue donation.

Trade union Solidarity has published a new report suggesting that the burden on South African taxpayers could double if the White Paper on the National Health Insurance (NHI) is accepted and the Green Paper on social security is implemented after being reviewed. According to the report, South Africans pay incredibly high taxes in global terms, while the government generally fails to fulfill its si...

Teenage pregnancy during COVID-19 in South Africa is a double pandemic. That according to a research by Dr Kim Jonas, a Specialist Scientist, Health Systems at the South African Medical Research Council. South Africa recorded increased rates of teenage pregnancies in some parts of the country between 2018 and 2019 and more recently during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Financial services firm Discovery reportedly plans to move to a mandatory vaccination policy from January 1st. The group says it has a moral and legal obligation to introduce the policy. The company says its aim is to make its people healthier as well as to enhance and protect their lives.

The University of Fort Hare law student, Nosicelo Mtebeni, has been laid to rest at her home village of Khauoe near Matatiele in the Eastern Cape. Family and friends described her as a humble and visionary individual who's mission was to contribute to the judicial system. Nosicelo was brutally murdered, allegedly by her boyfriend, at Quigney in East London, last month

President Cyril Ramaphosa had hefty matters to deal with during his appearance in the National Assembly to answer oral questions on Friday. He had municipalities that don't work, payment to victims of the Marikana killings and anti-vaxxer priests to deal with. Yet his humorous side was not left too far behind

The Constitutional court has ruled that the 2021 local elections should go ahead as planned no later than the 1st of November. This has left some parties like the ANC, the UDM and the PAC at a disadvantage as they failed to submit their full candidates list before the IEC deadline of the 23rd of August. The apex court has also declared the proclamation of the 27th of October unconstitutional and h...

Stakeholders in the tourism sector have pleaded with govenment to help them access the market and have more understanding in terms of marketing and advertising their businesses. This was a sentiment at the provincial tourism month launch at Schweizer Reneke in the North West. Small business owners say as part of recovering from the losses incurred due to the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic and c...

Villagers of Silindini at Emaxesibeni, formerly known as Mount Ayliff in the Eastern Cape want answers from the Umzimvubu Local Municipality as to what happened to the eight million rand allocated for the construction of a bridge. The bridge was meant to connect nearby villages to ensure access to government services. The construction company only put three culverts at the center of Mzimvubu river...

SANRAL is calling on high school learners and university students to apply for bursaries and scholarships through their bursary programme. Although the agency’s focus is to develop civil engineering professionals for the national rail network, it has extended the opportunity to those who support the corporate structure including public relations, auditing, supply chain management, law, human...

Head of the SA Vaccination and Immunisation Centre (Savic) at Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University in Pretoria, Prof Hannelie Meyer says while it is possible that the protection of Covid-19 vaccines can diminish, they remain vital in the fight against the pandemic. Meyer says the benefits of the vaccines continue to outweigh the risks. He spoke to Udo Carelse.

Amnesty International says whistle blowers are not getting the protection they deserve. This comes after the murder of senior Gauteng Health Department official, Babita Deokaran. Deokaran was gunned down in Johannesburg after she became one of the witnesses in a Special Investigating Unit probe into multi-million-rand irregular PPE tender in the department. Udo Carelse spoke to Executive Director...

Gender-based violence interventions programme, People Opposing Women Abuse has called for funding from both the public and private sector as it feels the pinch in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic. This comes as the organisation has said that such programmes should be funded at a similar capacity as the Covid-19 pandemic. Udo Carelse spoke to  POWA Legal adviser, Disemelo Tlali.

Economist, Duma Gqubule says the high unemployment problem in South Africa is a national disgrace. This comes after Stats SA announced this week that the figures have skyrocketed to an all-time high of 34,4%.