First Take SA

The decision by the Minister of Home Affairs Aaron Motsoaledi to scrap the Zimbabwean Exemption Permit (ZEP) will be challenged in the Pretoria High Court today. If the Minister's decision is upheld, the government will terminate the permits at the end of June, affecting roughly 180 -thousand Zimbabweans living in South Africa. The Helen Suzman Foundation as the main applicant will be joined by th...

City of Johannesburg mayor Thapelo Amad says the proposed service delivery loan of R9,5 billion was a mere example. This after he came under intense criticism from coalition partners who say they were unaware of the mayor negotiating a loan to address service delivery issues in the city. Mayor Amad revealed the plans to finance the loan during a SABC Interview with Sakina Kamwendo. For more on thi...

Five people have been killed and several others injured in a horrific multi-vehicle pile-up on the N3 between Hilton and Cedara outside Pietermaritzburg. Over twenty vehicles were involved, including minibus taxis. Meanwhile, in the Eastern Cape, 40 people died on the province's roads during the Easter weekend. For more on this, Elvis Presslin spoke to Chief Communication Officer at the Road Traff...

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

Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Thembi Nkadimeng, has expressed satisfaction at what the National State of Disaster to deal with the country's energy crisis has been able to achieve - even as government terminates it with immediate effect. Nkadimeng says it was a necessary response to the impact of critical levels of load shedding on the economy at the time. Following...

Standing Committee on Public Accounts Chairperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa has accused Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana of acting in bad faith. The comments come after Godongwana's decision to withdraw Eskom's exemption from disclosing irregular, wasteful, and fruitless expenditures in its financial reports after it was gazetted. Hlengwa says Godongwana did not do proper consultation prior to the gazetti...

Opposition parties, the African Christian Democratic Party, and the United Democratic Movement have rejected the Democratic Alliance's proposed pre-2024 national election coalition pact. During his victory speech after his re-election DA leader John Steenhuisen, vowed to prevent what he termed the ANC and EFF "doomsday coalition" in next year's national elections. In a letter to Steenhuisen, UDM l...

Traffic officials across the country are gearing up for increased traffic volumes as holidaymakers take advantage of the long weekend. Thousands of St Engenas ZCC pilgrims are expected to converge in the holy city, Moria. This after a three-year absence due to the outbreak of Covid-19. On the other side, ZCC, with a star sign, there won't be any Easter pilgrimage as the worshippers are still not a...

Retail giant Massmart says the demands placed by the SA Commercial Catering and Allied Workers Union (Saccawu) are unrealistic as the Group has posted a net loss of 2 billion rands. This is as the union embarks on secondary strike action, and will be picketing outside the U.S. embassy in Pretoria today. Workers belonging to the union downed tools at Massmart-owned Makro stores across the country l...

Residents and community leaders in Giyani, Limpopo want the Water and Sanitation Department to account for yet another missed deadline to complete the Giyani Bulk Water Project. The project was supposed to be up and running by the end of last month. The multi-million rand project has been delayed several times due to alleged mismanagement of funds and corruption. This has left over 55 communities...

Former US president, Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 criminal charges. The charges focus on a hush payment to Daniels, and other alleged pay-offs to suppress potentially damaging stories, one involving a doorman and another to a former Playboy model. Trump addressed a crowd of supporters in Mar-a-Lago in a roughly 25-minute speech. Elvis Presslin spoke to our correspondent in New York, S...

The South African Revenue Services recorded close to R1.7 trillion in revenue for the financial year 2022/23, a 7.9 percent increase from the previous year. SARS says the preliminary revenue collection for this financial year results reflect a significant growth trajectory over the past few years. Elvis Presslin spoke to Portfolio Manager at Aluwani Capital Partners Patrick Mathidi

The finance ministry says Eskom is still required to disclose financial and non-financial information on irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditures but only in its annual report. The ministry says by allowing Eskom to report on irregular and fruitless and wasteful expenditure in its annual report and not in its financial statements, it ensures that reporting transparency and accountability is...

The Public Investment Company stands to lose around R3.4 Billion in Government Employee Pension Funds after reportedly striking a deal with AYO Technologies. The PIC in 2017 invested about R4 Billion of government employees pension in AYO Technology's initial public offering shares. The deal that will see AYO Technology repurchase some of its shares for R619 Million this comes after court litigati...

Former US President Donald Trump has arrived in New York for his court hearing today. He's facing charges related to alleged hush money payments during his 2016- election campaign. The exact charges he faces are not yet known but they will be read in full when he appears at the Manhattan Criminal Court Building. For more on this, Elvis Presslin spoke to our correspondent in New York, Sherwin Bryce...

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  

The EFF will lead a picket outside Ugandan high commission in Pretoria on Tuesday to put pressure on the country to withdraw its controversial Anti-Homosexuality Bill. The bill has been blasted by human rights activists and some world leaders as it would give the state power to arrest the LGBTQplus community in the country. Our Senior Producer Ronald Phiri spoke to EFF Member of Parliament Naledi...

Newly re-elected DA leader, John Steenhuisen has expressed gratitude for his re-election to the position. Steenhuisen beat former Johannesburg Mayor, Doctor Mpho Phalatse for the position. Steenhuisen has thanked the more than two thousand delegates attending the DA Federal Congress in Midrand and the greater membership of the party for trusting him to lead the party again. Elvis Presslin spoke to...

Economists are expecting the South African Reserve Bank to increase interest rates by only 25 basis points at its Monetary Policy Committee meeting today. They believe the move will mark the last of the interest rate hiking cycle which started in November 2021. For more on this, Elvis Presslin spoke to Frank Blackmore, Lead Economist at KPMG

The South African Municipal Workers' Union, SAMWU says it will approach the Constitutional Court to challenge a new legislation banning all municipal workers from holding political party positions. According to the union, the Municipal Systems Amendment Act which was signed into law last year contravenes clauses in the Bill of Rights that allow citizens the right to political choices. To further d...

The Hawks have carried out raids on properties linked to alleged tender irregular contracts at Tembisa Hospital that resulted in approximately R1-billion being siphoned from the Gauteng Department of Health. The Hawks conducted simultaneous search and seizure operations at a house in Bedfordview, offices in Germiston and Edenvale in Ekurhuleni respectively yesterday. Provincial Health Department w...

Lesotho is debating a motion to reclaim the Free State Province and other parts of South Africa as part of the Lesotho Kingdom. The motion put forward by an opposition party MP wants to see the Mountain Kingdom take the entire Free State and four more regions as its own. For more on the elections, Elvis Presslin spoke to our SABC Lesotho Correspondent Rapelang Radebe

DA councilor Cilliers Brink says getting the capital's finances in order, is a priority. Brink was speaking following his election as executive mayor of the City of Tshwane last night where he defeated COPE's Ofentse Moalusi. He replaces Dr. Murunwa Makwarela who resigned on March 10th after a fake insolvency rehabilitation certificate scandal. The newly elected mayor says they will look at Cape T...

The parole hearing of convicted murderer Donovan Moodley is expected to take place at the Johannesburg Correctional Centre today. Moodley was convicted and sentenced for the murder of Leigh Matthews, whom he kidnapped and held captive while demanding ransom money from her family, in 2004. After receiving R50 000 from Leigh's father, he murdered her. Last year, he was denied parole but managed to h...

The Competition Commission has raised concern over the price increases of essential food. The Commission says South African consumers have been subjected to unjustified price increases of sunflower oil, white and brown bread, and opportunistic price increases in maize meal over a two-year period. This was revealed in the latest 2021-2022 Essential Food Pricing Monitoring report released by the Com...