First Take SA

The Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Ronald Lamola will release the matric results for inmates nationally. Minister Lamola will also award top performing inmates and teachers across correctional centres who are hard at work transferring skills to inmates. Earlier, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said it is commendable that more than 130 of the 900-thousand matric candidates...

Prospective students are reportedly being denied admission Into Universities and TVET colleges due to limited capacity and delays in the disbursement of NSFAS allowances. Scores of first year students were reportedly unable to register nor pay for accommodation due to delayed funding. But the National Student Financial Aid Scheme claims to have paid just under half of last year's outstanding allow...

Gauteng police are still searching for suspects after five men were stoned to death by angry community members in a suspected mob attack at Rabie Ridge in Tembisa, east of Johannesburg. The deceased were accused of being behind several criminal activities in the community of Kanana. Police have urged the public not to take the law into their own hands as this also constitutes to a crime, but rathe...

Elvis Presslin takes a look at the current top African economic stories with Victor Kgomoesoana, author of "Africa Is Open For Business" and "Africa Bounces Back". Victor is also the Executive Director for Marketing and Communication at the University of Limpopo

The murder of Senzo Meyiwa was a contract killing, as opposed to a robbery gone wrong. This according to an affidavit read in court by lead investigator in the Meyiwa case Bongani Gininda, who is currently under cross-examination. Former Bafana Bafana captain Senzo Meyiwa was gunned down in 2014 at singer Kelly Khumalo's house in Vosloorus, Ekurhuleni. Five men are currently on trial for the crime...

The leader of Rise Mzansi Songezo Zibi says key priorities for the party is to put in place capable leaders, end to cadre deployment and fix the government's finances. Zibi outlined his party's offering, dubbed the People's Manifesto, to approximately four thousand party supporters over the weekend in Pretoria. For more on this Elvis Presslin spoke to Rise Mzansi Strategic Campaign Advisor, Khume...

uMkhonto WeSizwe Party's Bonginkosi Khanyile has assured its supporters that former president Jacob Zuma will be the face of the party in the upcoming general elections. Zuma has previously said that he will campaign and vote for the party which currently has an acting president. Khanyile was addressing supporters at the party's rally in Malamulele, Limpopo where he also accused the IEC of prevent...

More than 150 people have been displaced and several have been injured after a residential building caught fire yesterday, claiming the lives of two people. It's alleged a woman sprayed paraffin on one of the shacks and set it alight. A woman has been arrested by the police for allegedly starting the fire. The City of Johannesburg says they are in the process of reclaiming hijacked and non-complia...

A 41 year old taxi owner was arrested for his alleged involvement in taxi violence, extortion, and other crimes in the Amathole District municipality. He was found in possession of an AK-47 rifle and ammunition, and is suspected to be involved in similar crimes outside the province. Eastern Cape Province police say they have increased their deployment of specialised units to combat a recent spike...

The news of an upcoming auction, featuring the late statesman, tata Nelson Mandela's personal items including his green ID book has stirred controversy and criticism among South Africans. This as the South African Heritage Resources Agency says it will appeal the ruling of the High Court in Pretoria. Last month, the court allowed Madiba's daughter Makaziwe Mandela to auction some of his personal b...

City of Johannesburg says it is in the process of reclaiming hijacked and non-compliant buildings in the Johannesburg inner city. This, after a residential building caught fire in the Johannesburg CBD on yesterday morning, claiming the lives of two people.  The two-story building had been partitioned by shacks. It's alleged a woman sprayed paraffin on one of the shacks and set it alight. Elvis Pre...

With matric results released countrywide, concerns about South Africa's higher education system and its ability to prepare graduates for employment remain high. While universities hold limited capacity, high drop-out rates and a 33% unemployment rate for graduates paint a stark picture.  To discuss these issues Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to the Chief Executive Officer of iFundi, Stefan Lauber

A group calling itself SA Citizens will today march to the South African Home Affairs in Pretoria to submit a memorandum of recommendations on the overhauling of the country's immigration laws. The group comprises of residents who say they do not affiliate to any political organisation. For more on this Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to Convener and Chairperson of SA Citizens, Zweli Ndaba

The DA says it categorically rejects the claims for member Ghaleb Cachalia has manufactured in an attempt to justify his resignation, including his mischaracterisation of the party's position on the war in Gaza. Former DA MP Ghaleb Cachalia resignned yesterday saying the leadership of the DA has become increasingly uncomfortable with his public utterances over the past few months. He says the matt...

The Free State is the leading province regarding the matric results, with 89 per cent, an increase of zero-point-five per cent from 2022. KwaZulu-Natal, which is the third best improved province, has achieved 86-point-four per cent up from three-point-four per cent while the Gauteng pass rate is at 85-point-four per cent with a one per cent improvement. Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to the MEC of the d...

Sebenzile Nkambule looks at the current top African economic stories with Victor Kgomoeswana, author of  "Africa Is Open For Business" and "Africa Bounces Back". Victor is also the Executive Director for Marketing and Communication at the University of Limpopo...

Two of the main opposition candidates in Democratic Republic of Congo's December presidential election have called for a protest tomorrow, when President Felix Tshisekedi is due to be sworn in for a second term. Tshisekedi and his party won the general election in December last year, by a landslide, but the vote was marred by widespread allegations of fraud, logistical shortcomings and disruptions...

The suspects arrested in connection with the taxi violence in Port St Johns in the Eastern Cape will appear in the Port St Johns Magistrate court today (Thursday). Police arrested eleven suspects in connection with the incident. Three people were killed and five sustained gunshot wounds, following a shoot-out between Uncedo Taxi Associations and Border Alliance Taxi Association on Tuesday. For mor...

Basic Education Minister, Angie Motshekga will release the National Senior Certificate results for the class of 2023 today. This as the Independent Examinations Board (IEB) attained an overall pass rate of 98.46% in the 2023 National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations. For analysis, Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to Professor of Practice at the University of Johannesburg, Professor Mary Metcalfe

Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane residents are warned of an impending water supply interruption going to take place this Sunday. Rand Water says residents will experience low pressure to no water supply for eight hours starting at eight in the morning to three in the afternoon. This is because Eskom will be carrying out maintenance work on the transformers that supply power to the Zuikerbosch...

The Independent Examinations Board matric candidates obtained a 98.46% pass rate for the 2023 academic year. This is up from the 98.42% pass rate in 2022. More than 15 000 candidates wrote their matric exams set by the IEB. For more on this Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to St John's College Top Achiever with 10 distinctions and a 98.5% pass average, Julian Kuni and Jozi Nupen who started her journey at...

The advancement of digital technology is having a major, and often detrimental impact on the mental health of internet users. This is according to Clinical Psychologist Dr. Rani Samuel. Dr. Samuel says recent reports of a teenager from the UK being gang raped in a virtual reality game are some of the consequences of the Metaverse. Reports in the UK say a girl identified only as being under the age...

Former DA and Gauteng Provincial Legislature member, Khume Ramulifho says he has doubts about the official opposition's performance at this year's polls.  Being a member of the Democratic Alliance for nearly three decades, Ramulifho announced his resignation from the party to join Rise Mzansi, which was formed last year.  He served as the DA Youth Regional Chairperson, the Gauteng Provincial Youth...

The Mayor of Port St John's in the Eastern Cape, Nomvuzo Mlombile Cingo, has called for calm and peace after a shooting allegedly between taxi operators. Heavily armed men allegedly invaded the town and fired shots towards taxi operators. It is alleged that there were bodies on the floor which included people wearing security guard uniform that are seen lying on the street. For more on this Sebenz...

Experts say there are several ways of dealing with stress and depression as a result of unfavourable matric results. This comes as matric class of 2023 is anxiously waiting for their matric results with concerns whether they performed well in their exams. The IEB and the NSC matric results are expected to be released tomorrow and on Friday respectively. To discuss this further Sebenzile Nkambule s...