First Take SA

The City of Tshwane says it is going to take civil action against the South African Municipal Workers Union for damages caused by the strike. Workers affiliated to SAMWU have been on an unprotected strike over salary increases since July. The strike turned violent with some of the city's infrastructure damaged and vandalised. Service delivery has been brought to a halt in many areas. To further di...

20 people have died and 43 others injured after a fire broke out at a building in the Johannesburg city centre this morning. Elvis Presslin spoke to Johannesburg Emergency Management Services spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi...

The Right to Read Campaign says it will take 86 years for all South African children to read for meaning. Social justice organisations such as the South African Human Rights Commission, the Legal Resources Centre, Equal Education and SECTION27 launched The Right to Read Campaign at Constitution Hill, in Johannesburg yesterday to address the shocking early-grade literacy rates. The campaign is in r...

General Brice Oligui Nguema has been named as Gabon's transitional leader. Army officers took power in a coup in the early hours of yesterday morning. Appearing on television, the officers said they had annulled the results of Saturday's election. The officers say they have arrested one of President Ali Bongo's sons for treason. Deposed Gabonese President Ali Bongo has appealed for help from the i...

The Marketing, Advertising and Communication (MAC) Charter Council will host a Women's Day event tomorrow, a gathering dedicated to celebrating the achievements and contributions of women in the MAC Sector. The Council believes that through strategic initiatives and collaborative efforts, it can stimulate valuable insight on discussions on women's leadership within the sector. To further discuss t...

The Constitutional Court has heard that the current Electoral Amendment Act disadvantages independent candidates as compared to political parties. The One SA Movement and the Independent Candidates Association of South Africa yesterday, approached the country's apex court in  a bid to challenge the constitutionality of the allocation of seats in the National Assembly and the the 15% signature thre...

Two Home Affairs officials have been charged for their alleged role in granting the controversial Gupta family South African citizenship. This was revealed by the Independent Multi-Disciplinary Task Team that was established by the Home Affairs Department. The task team and the department were appearing before Parliament's Home Affairs Committee to respond to a 2022 report by former director-gener...

Parliament's ad hoc committee, established to select the next Public Protector, will recommend the name of acting PP, Kholeka Gcaleka, to head the Chapter Nine institution. The committee interviewed eight shortlisted candidates last week.  Gcaleka was proposed to be the successful candidate, by the ANC and supported by the IFP.  The DA, FF Plus and EFF did not support the proposal for Gcaleka to t...

North West Community Safety and Transport Management MEC, Sello Lehari has ordered an urgent investigation into a fire that engulfed parts of the Pilanesberg International Airport near Sun City. The fire is believed to have started at the top of a building close to the Air Traffic Control Tower. No injuries have been reported and the cause of the fire has yet to be ascertained. For more on this, E...

Four-million young people have been registered onto the network of the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention (PYEI) through the initiative's national pathway management network where young people were supported to access more than one-million temporary earning opportunities, since the inception of the Intervention in 2020. Government has emphasized that the initiative is a multi-stakeholder p...

 Independent candidates are challenging the constitutionality of the electoral amendment act at the Constitutional Court today. The new act will allow independent candidates to stand in provincial and national elections next year. The apex court will hear applications from the Independent Candidates' Association of South Africa and the One South Africa Movement, who believe the new act favours pol...

The City of Cape Town says it will sue the South African National Taxi Council, Santaco for damages caused during the taxi strike earlier this month. Speaking to our Senior Producer Ronald Phiri, City Mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis say the recent agreement to end the strike does and did not absolve the provincial taxi council of responsibility for the damages caused

Elvis Presslin takes a look 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

Investigations are underway into the cause of a shack fire in which five children were burnt beyond recognition at the Itireleng informal settlement near Laudium in Pretoria. Tshwane Emergency Services say two little girls and three young boys died in the blaze. The children belonged to two sisters. Mabaso says it is alleged the two sisters left the children in a shack overnight and went out to dr...

EFF Leader Julius Malema says over 200 public representatives who failed to organise and pay for buses for the party's 10th anniversary celebrations must resign. He was briefing the media on the outcomes of the EFF's Central Command Team meeting in Kempton Park, Johannesburg. Malema says the public representatives which include MPs, MPLs and several councillors across the country failed to adhere...

Some of the parties making up the Government of Local Unity currently running the City of Johannesburg say they are not anxious nor perturbed by calls for mayor Kabelo Gwamanda to step down and for council to be dissolved and for fresh elections to be held. Action SA is expected to bring a motion of no confidence against Joburg mayor Kabelo Gwamanda during the sitting of council this week, while t...

Emmerson Mnangagwa has been declared President-elect in Zimbabwe. He has trounced his main rival Nelson Chamisa of the Citizens Coalition for Change. The opposition alleges that election was rigged. ZANU-PF has been in power for more than four decades. Elvis Presslin spoke to Professor Kealeboga Maphunye, a Professor of African Politics at the University of South Africa, UNISA and Peter Ndoro, our...

In continuing to remember Uyinene Mrwetyana and many others who lost their lives due to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), the University of Cape Town (UCT) will gather in support of a unity walk organised by the Uyinene Mrwetyana Foundation tomorrow, Saturday 26 August. Uyinene  a UCT first-year student, went to the post office in Clemont, Cape Town to pick up a parcel and ended up being br...

Six countries will be joining the BRICS group of nations next year. The annual BRICS summit held in Sandton, Johannesburg announced the admission of Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates into the bloc. The membership of the new countries will come into effect in January next year. So what does this new BRICS expansion entail? To answer this and more, Elvis Pre...

Time to take a look 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

At least 41 independent election monitors have been arrested for allegedly trying to disrupt Zimbabwe's general election. The monitors are from civil society groups trying to verify the ballot counting. Zimbabwe's main opposition party Citizens Coalition for Change is concerned that the ruling ZANU-PF may try to rig the results. For more on this Elvis Presslin spoke to our reporter Khayalihle Khum...

ActionSA has brought a motion of no confidence against Johannesburg Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda. The motion will be tabled at the next Ordinary Council meeting set to take place on 31st August. The party says with a budget close to R80 billion, the City needs a credible leader at its helm. Gwamanda faces serious accusations of running a Ponzi scheme which stole from residents in Soweto. His educational...

Leaders of the BRICS group of nations are discussing the possible expansion of the five-nation bloc. The Brics countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa who are currently meeting at the 15th BRICS Summit in Sandton, Johannesburg have also initiated talks to create their own currency, economic and trade systems within the bloc. For more on this, Elvis Presslin spoke to Professor Chr...

Angry parents of learners from Dr. Mathole Motshekga Primary School in Rabie Ridge, Johannesburg have shut down the school in protest over its poor infrastructure. Yesterday parents and members of the school governing body (SGB) resorted to shutting down the school after the Basic Education Department failed to meet their demands of building a new school. The primary school has been teaching learn...

Voting in Zimbabwe's general election was marred by delays with opposition parties already crying foul about vote rigging. Yesterday Zimbabweans went to the polls to elect a president, legislators and local authorities in a contest in which incumbent president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, is seeking a second term. Most urban polling stations in Harare and Bulawayo, where opposition leader of the Citizens...