First Take SA

Firefighters have remained at the parliamentary building in Cape Town overnight as a fire ravaged the building in the early hours of yesterday morning. Cape Town Mayoral Member for Safety and Security, JP Smith

A man has been arrested following a fire that gutted parts of the parliament precinct on Sunday. President Cyril Ramaphosa called the incident a  "terrible and devastating event". But vowed parliament's work would continue. For an update here is our Parliamentary Correspondent Mercedes Besent

President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to formally receive the first part of the interim report into allegations of State Capture on Tuesday. This after Deputy Chief Justice, Raymond Zondo applied for yet another extension last month and sought to release the findings of the report in three parts. Zondo hopes to deliver the second part of the report at the end of January and part three at the end o...

The KwaZulu-Natal government yesterday commemorated the 1838 Battle of Blood river or the Ncome River battle in Nquthu north of the province.  The battle between the AmaZulu nation and the Voortrekkers on 16 December 1838, saw the Ncome River turn red with the blood of thousands of AmaZulu warriors. However, Premier Sihle Zikalala, expressed disappointment after it emerge that another group o...

Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (Contralesa) general secretary Zolani Mkhiva says those behind bogus initiation schools should be treated as human traffickers. This as the number of initiates that have died during the summer initiation season now stands at 23. The Eastern Cape government however says that the 23 young men occurred at both legal and unlawful schools. Dehydration see...

The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal has written to the party's highest decision-making body, the National Executive Committee, asking for permission to become friends of the court in former president Jacob Zuma's appeal over his re-incarceration. This follows the North Gauteng High Court ruling which ordered that Zuma should be sent back to prison to serve out his 15-month jail sentence for contempt of court...

It's now time to take a look at the current top African economic stories.....Victor Kgomoesoana, author of  "Africa Is Open For Business" and "Africa Bounces Back".

British Health Secretary Sajid Javid yesterday announced that London will remove all 11 Southern African countries from its COVID-19 travel red list from today because there is now community transmission of the Omicron variant. The British government added the southern African countries - including South Africa, to its red list in late November. Javid says Britain will maintain its temporary testi...

Eskom spokesperson, Sikonathi Mantshantsha says the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) is fully aware and is in support of the work to be done at Koeberg. Mantshantsha says the other unit of the plant will also undergo the same maintenance work, effectively meaning the Koeberg plan may run at half capacity for almost the entire year in 2022. Energy expert and advisor at the Organiza...

Power Utility, Eskom has confirmed that extensive maintenance work will be undertaken at the Koeberg Power Station from early January in order to extend the operating life of the plant by another 20 years. This has prompted the Koeberg Alert Alliance to embark on a planned protest march on Thursday at Bloubergstrand Beach, Cape Town. The Alert Alliance says the protest is in order to raise safety...

Women are still underrepresented in the judiciary. This is according to the Annual Judiciary Performance Report which covered the period from April 2020 to March 2021. Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo released the report virtually yesterday (14 December 2021) It states that 44 percent of judges and 49 percent of magistrates are women, despite the fact that women make up 53 percent of the country...

Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula is expected to launch and outline the support of the Covid-19 Taxi Relief Fund to support the taxi industry. This comes after the National Taxi Alliance took Mbalula to court saying that the requirements set by Mbalula and his department for taxi operators were not conducive. The Department of Transport is expected to announce the R1.135 billion Covid-19 taxi reli...

Thousands of beach-goers are expected to flock to the country's coastline this coming weekend as most beaches will officially be kicking off the start of the festive season. Health experts have warned that inter-provincial travel may further push the already soaring number of new COVID-19 infections as people travel more this time of the year. One of the country's favorite holiday destinations is...

Victor Kgomoesoana, author of  "Africa Is Open For Business" and "Africa Bounces Back" brings us our Tuesday edition of Africa Brief where we look at the top African economic stories

The Nelson Mandela Bay Mayor, Eugene Johnson has called on event organizers to either postpone or cancel hosting mass gatherings this festive season as COVID-19 infections continue to soar. Johnson says thousands of people tend to flock to cities such as Port Elizabeth over the season and this may further help the spread of new infections. The newly elected mayor announced last week that the metro...

The Competition Commission has announced that the cost of PCR Covid-19 tests at private laboratories has been reduced to R500. This follows a complaint lodged in October about the prices with the Council for Medical Schemes against private pathology laboratories alleging that the price for supplying PCR tests for COVID-19 was unfairly inflated. Chief Legal Counsel at the Competition Commission, Ba...

Advocate Jonas Sibanyoni, commissioner at the Human Rights Commission reflects on the 25 year anniversary of the country's constitution. What has been lauded as one of the most progressive constitutions in the world, human rights injustices and inequalities continue to persist in South Africa.

25 years ago today, former president Nelson Mandela signed into law the final amendment to the country's constitution. To reflect on the 25th anniversary of the country's constitution, here is anti apartheid activist and former constitutional court judge, Albie Sachs.

VICTOR KGOMOESOANA, DIRECTOR & AUTHOR OF " AFRICA IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS" TO LOOK AT THIS WEEK'S TOP AFRICAN ECONOMIC STORIES

Social Justice Chairperson at Stellenboch University, Professor Thuli Madonsela says while South Africa has made great strides in achieving a just system since signing a democratic constitution into law, much still needs to be done for the country to achieve the goals set out on the 10th of December, 1996. Madonsela says constitutional literacy among lawmakers remains vital to the interpretation a...

The South African Weather Services has issued a warning of further disruptive rains over Gauteng and the Southern parts of Limpopo. This as the search for at least four people whose vehicles were swept away by flash floods in Limpopo continues.  One person, a woman has been confirmed dead following the recovery of her body by Search and Rescue teams. A 20-year-old taxi driver who is alleged t...

Only 204 MPs voted in favor of the Constitution 18th Amendment Bill.  The DA, EFF, GOOD, COPE, FF-PLUS, ACDP and IFP all voted against it.  The Bill seeks to amend Section 25 of the Constitution to make provision for land expropriation where compensation may be nil. Nkanyiso Gumede, a researcher at the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies at the University of the Western...

The National Assembly has failed to pass the Constitution 18th Amendment as it could not achieve the two-thirds majority of 267 votes. Only 204 MPs voted in favor of the Bill. Head of Land and Legal at AgriSA, Annelize Crosby gives us her opinion of the outcome

The community of Ermelo in Mpumalanga says it is in shock after police arrested a 50-year-old woman for allegedly kidnapping a newborn baby girl, and raising her as her own for two decades. Police say the girl, who is now in her third year of tertiary studies, was born to a 16-year-old mother and stolen by the now 50-year-old, on the day that the mother and child were discharged from the Ermelo Pr...

In his address to the nation last Sunday, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the government is looking into making vaccines mandatory for certain activities. This comes as several universities and companies have announced mandatory vaccination for staff and students. Africa's largest wireless carrier, the MTN Group went a step further YESTERDAY when it announced that it is prepared to fire e...