First Take SA

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in South Africa face a bleak future as about 70 percent of them fail to survive beyond the first five years. Those are some of the issues that will be discussed at the Ignite Summit taking place today, aimed at finding lasting solutions to the current challenges faced by SMES. Elvis Presslin spoke to Vannie Pillay, CEO and MD of Oak Tree People Solutions, who sa...

The Multi-Party pact will host its National Convention over the next two days, to establish a political alternative to unseat the ANC-led government. The Democratic Alliance and six other political parties will hold the historic Convention at Emperor's Palace, in Kempton Park, Johannesburg - the same venue where Codesa negotiations were held. The multi-party pact will negotiate a pre-election agre...

The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union - AMCU - says there will soon be no space to commemorate the site where 34 mineworkers were massacred in Marikana in North West due to encroaching squatter camps. The union says while workers have seen some gains since their protracted strike, much more still needs to be done to better living conditions of workers and communities in mining area...

Victims of the Marikana Massacre are still waiting for justice 11 years on after the tragedy. This according to the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa, SERI which represents the families of 36 striking miners, who were killed by police in August 2012, at a mine in Marikana, North West. As the country marks 11 years since the massacre today, SERI says the state has failed to fathom the...

The National Union of Public Service and Allied Workers, NUPSAW will today march to the North West premier's office to demand permanent employment of expanded public works program (EPWP) workers. The Union is expected to hand over a memorandum of demands to the Premier. The South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) will form part of today's protest. For more on this, Elvis Presslin spoke to...

The West African bloc ECOWAS has described as surprising the plans of the military junta in Niger to prosecute the ousted President Mohamed Bazoum for high treason. The regional bloc has condemned the move saying it represents yet another form of provocation. This as ECOWAS Military chiefs are set to meet in Ghana tomorrow, to consider the possibility of intervening in the Niger Republic. Niger ha...

Economists say they expect a slight improvement in the number of jobs created in the second quarter of 2023. Stats SA is expected to release the Quarterly Labour Force Survey today (Tuesday). In the first quarter of this year, unemployment was at 32.9-percent.  Trade union federation COSATU Parliamentary Co-coordinator Matthew Parks says they are fearful of the numbers that will come out today due...

Public Enterprise Minister Pravin Gordhan is demanding a public apology from ANC Youth League President Collen Malatji. This after Malatji accused Gordhan of trying to sell off South Africa's state owned companies including its citizens. Malatji was reacting to the sale of the South African Airways (SAA). Gordhan says he will be meeting with the ANCYL soon. For more on this Elvis Presslin spoke to...

The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse, OUTA is calling on the City of Johannesburg to suspend bills of over 40 000 ratepayers who objected against the valuation of their properties. OUTA has called into questions the credibility of the city's property valuation method for 2023, the General Valuation Roll. According to OUTA's extended survey to determine property valuation increases by the City, Jobur...

Elvis Presslin chats 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 on the top African economic stories 

UNISA's Student Representative Council has pleaded with Higher Education Minister, Dr. Blade Nzimande to reconsider his decision to place the university under administration. Nzimande announced his decision after receiving and studying a report by an independent assessor that found UNISA failed to fulfill its mandate. The report found evidence of wrongdoing against the Vice-Chancellor, Professor P...

The South African National Taxi Council, SANTACO is considering filing another court interdict to stop the City of Cape Town from impounding its members' taxis. The association has accused the City of impounding several minibus taxis, despite a recent agreement not to do so. Last week, SANTACO embarked on a week-long strike after the City's traffic officials used a new by-law and the National Land...

The Independent South African National Civic Organization has become the latest political party to join the National Convention by opposition parties. ISANCO broke away from the ANC-aligned South African National Civic Organisation (SANCO) in 2021 over what it says was the failure to address corruption within the ruling alliance. Alongside the DA, IFP, FF Plus, ActionSA, UIM and SNP, ISANCO become...

Convicted sex trafficker and child rape kingpin Gerhard Ackerman will be sentenced in the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg today. Ackerman was convicted in April for rape and possession of child pornography as well as creating and broadcasting child pornography. He was charged alongside former Acting Judge Paul Kennedy who died by suicide following his arrest. Ackerman was found guilty of...

67 Pakistani nationals who were nabbed during a sting operation at O.R Tambo International Airport have been sent home. Home Affairs Minister Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi says certain nationals are abusing the recently introduced e-Visa system to gain entry into South Africa without complying with immigration laws. Our Senior Producer Ronald Phiri spoke to Home Affairs spokesperson Siya Qoza, about how th...

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, NUMSA will be marching to the Rustenburg municipality to demand that the municipality must not charge Glencore Smelters a surcharge over and above the approved electricity tariff by NERSA. Currently Eskom is making an application to NERSA for a Negotiated Pricing Agreement (NPA) for Glencore. Numsa says the municipality wishes to charge Glencore...

Is former President Jacob Zuma going back to prison? Yesterday Acting Correctional Services Commissioner Makgothi Thobakgale was expected to make an announcement around the fate of the former President. In 2021, the Constitutional Court sentenced Zuma to 15 months in prison for contempt for his alleged refusal to appear before the State Capture Commission of Inquiry. Zuma was eventually released o...

The ongoing taxi strike in the Western Cape is officially over after an agreement was reached between SANTACO and the City of Cape Town. Scores of learners and educators were unable to go to school after more than a week of disruptions. At least five people were killed during the violence that ensued. Taxi body SANTACO's provincial Chairperson Mandla Hermanus says taxis will resume operations toda...

Elvis Presslin speaks to Victor Kgomoeswana, author of  Africa Is Open For Business and Africa Bounces Back on the top African economic stories. Victor is also the Executive Director for Marketing and Communication at the University of Limpopo...

The Radebe family is seeking answers after their son died during a fire at Kutama-Sinthumule prison in Makhado, Limpopo. Jackson Radebe, who was serving a sentence for murder at the facility, died after rioting inmates set the privately run prison on fire this week. The Correctional services department says inmates who wanted to be transferred to other facilities in the province, among other compl...

President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for no bail for perpetrators of GBV. Last year, President Ramaphosa signed three new GBV laws aimed at strengthening efforts to curb gender-based violence in South Africa. Nevertheless, how effective have these laws been in fighting GBV since their inception? To discuss this further, Elvis Presslin spoke to Chrispin Phiri, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Justi...

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has vowed to permanently close all open mine shafts and holes in Riverlea, Johannesburg by the end of September in a bid to curb illegal mining in the area. Law enforcement officers came under heavy gunfire in Matholeville west of Johannesburg during an operation targeted at illegal mining hotspots at the weekend. The operation follows the recent disc...

The Al Jama-ah party is calling on government to revert the Western Cape department of Transport and Community Safety back to national government over its failure to deal with the prolonged taxi strike.  This, as commuters in the province, were once again left stranded as the strike by taxi operators affiliated to Santaco continues. The strike, which started last week, has so far left a trail of d...

A fire broke out last night at the Kutama Sinthumule Maximum Security Prison at Louis Trichardt in Limpopo. Two explosions were reportedly heard inside the facility as the fire raged. The public-private owned correctional facility can accommodate more than three-thousand people. The prison has been in operation since 2002. For more on this Elvis Presslin spoke to our SABC reporter, Michael Makungo

Elvis Presslin spoke to 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 on the current top African economic stories