First Take SA

President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced a National State of Disaster over South Africa's energy crisis. Ramaphosa was delivering his state of the nation address last night. He says the national State of Disaster which comes into immediate effect has already been gazetted by COGTA Minister Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. President Ramaphosa says a Minister of Electricity in the Presidency will be appoi...

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

Parliament says it's all systems go for President Cyril Ramaphosa to deliver his State of the Nation Address this evening. Presiding officers say they expect all Members of Parliament to conduct themselves according to the rules of the house during the joint sitting of the two houses. They have sent a stern warning against those who may want to disrupt the president's speech, saying any disruption...

Eastern Cape Disaster management teams are assessing the extent of structural damage in Komani after severe floods in the area. Scores of people have been displaced, a local private hospital submerged in water and many properties damaged. For more on this, Elvis Presslin spoke to Noncedo September Caba, Deputy Mayor of Chris Hani District Municipality in the Eastern Cape

Using racial criteria in the allocation of the Covid-19 tourism relief fund has been ruled unlawful. Yesterday the Constitutional Court dismissed, with costs, the Department of Tourism's efforts to appeal a Supreme Court ruling on the disbursement of Covid funds that required businesses to meet B-BBEE requirements. AfriForum and Solidarity took the department to court citing that the allocation of...

Community Organization, Abahlali Baahi will be marching to the Nigerian embassy in Pretoria this morning to protest against drug activities by alleged foreign nationals. The marchers are expected to hand over a memorandum to the embassy. For more on this, Elvis Presslin spoke to Abahlali Baahi Media liaison officer, Nokuthula Nemaguvhuni

Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Tourism, Thandi Mahambehlala says the proposed deal between South African Tourism and UK Football Club Tottenham Hotspur is off. The Committee met with the Tourism Board following public outrage over the deal. Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu was called to appear before the Committee to answer questions on whether she knew about the proposal. Sisulu says sh...

African Transformation Movement, ATM leader Vuyolwethu Zungula has blamed the country's energy crisis on President Cyril Ramaphosa's tenure in office. In a scathing open letter about President Cyril Ramaphosa's tenure, Zungula says the words "Loadshedding" and "Energy" never featured in Ramaphosa's State of the nation address since he took office in 2018 as head of state - Because the country was...

Four ANC members were sworn in as Members of Parliament yesterday. The members are ANC Deputy President Paul Mashatile, Second Deputy Secretary General Maropene Ramokgopa, and NEC members Parks Tau and Sihle Zikala. The new MPs replace Tshilidzi Munyai, Mervyn Dirks, Masefako Dikgale, and Matshidiso Mfikoe who resigned as MPs recently. To discuss this further Elvis Presslin spoke to Governance Spe...

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

More than two-thousand-900 people have died and over 15-thousand others injured after two consecutive earthquakes struck Turkey and Syria. The 7.8 magnitude devastating earthquake struck on Monday reducing several buildings to debris in both countries. The death toll from the earthquakes is expected to rise. For more on this Elvis Presslin spoke to Turkish journalist Türkmen Terzi, whose home town...

Pressure is mounting on President Cyril Ramaphosa to announce a reshuffle of his cabinet this week following Deputy President David Mabuza's resignation. David  Mabuza confirmed his resignation during a family funeral in Mpumalanga citing that he wanted to make way for Paul Mashatile, who was elected ANC deputy president at the ANC's conference in December. Ramaphosa has asked Mabuza, to remain in...

London football club Tottenham Hotspur has remained mum on the controversial proposed sponsorship deal with South African Tourism. The deal worth about R900m is aimed at promoting South Africa as a travel destination. However, citizens feel the money should instead be used to address domestic matters such as crime, load shedding, and economic issues. Our Senior Producer Ronald Phiri spoke to our U...

The ANC has 5 days to hand over all its cadre deployment committee records to the DA. This follows a ruling by the Gauteng High Court stating the ANC's decision to refuse DA MP Leon Schreiber's request for access to information was unlawful and invalid. For more on this, Elvis Presslin spoke to DA Member of Parliament and Shadow Minister of Public Service and Administration, Dr. Leon Schreiber 

PetroSA has denied taking advantage of South Africa's energy crisis by charging Eskom exorbitant prices for diesel. The state-owned oil and gas company was responding to allegations made by energy analyst Chris Yelland, who says PetroSA is charging Eskom significantly higher prices for diesel than the basic fuel price. The struggling power utility is supplied diesel by PetroSA to power its two ope...

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 South African Communist Party (SACP) will picket outside the consulate of Eswatini in Johannesburg today. This follows the assassination of Eswatini human rights lawyer advocates Thulani Maseko. Maseko, the chairperson of the pro-democracy MultiStakeholder Forum, was shot dead outside his home in Luyengo last month. For more on this, Elvis Presslin spoke to SACP Spokesperson and Secretary for...

Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has distanced herself from the proposed deal by SA Tourism to sponsor the English club Tottenham Hotspur. The details of the deal will be revealed at the official announcement of the 1-billion rand three-year sponsorship in England on Thursday. Reports indicate that negotiations with SA Tourism to sponsor the English Premier League club started way back in 2017 when...

Kwazulu Natal police are searching for a group of armed men who shot and killed several people at a hostel in KwaMashu, Durban yesterday. For the latest, Elvis Presslin spoke to KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Robert Netshiunda

The Zimbabwean embassy in South Africa will hold a press briefing today to launch a mapping exercise for the return of Zimbabwean Exemption Permit (ZEP) holders from South Africa. About 180-thousand Zimbabweans face deportation if they cannot find alternative legal permission to live in South Africa. This is as several lobby groups met last week at the University of Cape Town to discuss the upcomi...

More than 30 thousand security guards are unable to access medical insurance and other benefits due to non-payment by private security companies. This was revealed in a statement by the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, NUMSA. The Union says companies are deducting money from workers but not paying the service provider. For more on this, Elvis Presslin spoke to NUMSA's National Spoke...

Video analysis of the footage on the alleged gun firing incident at the EFF's fifth birthday celebrations in 2018 took center stage in the East London regional court yesterday during the trial of EFF leader, Julius Malema, and his bodyguard, Adriaan Snyman. The duo faces charges of the illegal possession of a firearm, contravention of the Firearms Control Act, the illegal possession of ammunition,...

There is more bad news for businesses that are already weathering the impact of the electricity crisis - The price of fuel for both grades has gone up. This follows the announcement by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy that fuel prices were set to increase. Both grades of petrol have increased by 28 cents per liter; while diesel has increased by nine-point-one cents per liter as of mi...

Flavio Hlabangwane has been found guilty of premeditated murder, defeating the ends of justice, and violating a corpse by the Johannesburg high court. Hlabangwane confessed to killing his girlfriend and cousin Tshepang Pitse, saying he plotted to do so after discovering she had been unfaithful to him. For more on this, Elvis Presslin spoke to Zodwa Zwane, family spokesperson and former personal as...

ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa says the party's Lekgotla has reached a consensus to declare South Africa's energy crisis a National State of Disaster. President Ramaphosa made the announcement yesterday at the party's Lekgotla at Esselen Park in Ekurhuleni - As the country grapples with Stage 4 load shedding. The DA has repeatedly called for a ring-fenced declaration of a state of disaster around E...