First Take SA

The ANC is calling for the 2026 National Budget to drive growth, jobs and social protection. With economic momentum building and inflation under control, the party wants reforms in electricity, logistics, and water to boost employment. The ANC also wants to protect social services and extend the Social Relief of Distress grant. Elvis Presslin spoke to Dr. Joe Maswanganyi, ANC MP and Chairperson of...

Voter turnout in local government elections has hit an all-time low of 46% in South Africa. Analysts say residents are rejecting a system failing to deliver basic services like water and electricity. Researcher Lesego Mahlangu says weak community structures and reliance on social media stunts by politicians are to be blamed for the decline. She warns trust in local democracy will erode without str...

COSATU and affiliates will stage protests ahead of Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana's Budget Speech in Cape Town today. The unions are opposing austerity measures and a 9.8% GEMS contribution hike. Elvis Presslin spoke to COSATU Parliamentary Coordinator, Matthew Parks

South African Local Government Association is hosting its 9th National Communicators Forum in Cape Town today. Under the theme "Elevate, Reclaiming Trust, Credibility and Citizen Connection", the event aims to equip municipal spokespeople with practical tools ahead of next year's local government elections. SALGA says the gathering comes at a critical moment, marking 30 years of organised local go...

ActionSA Gauteng Chairperson, Funzi Ngobeni has criticised Premier Panyaza Lesufi's State of the Province Address, saying the ANC is failing the province. Ngobeni called on Lesufi to account for promises made in previous SOPAs and to provide evidence of delivery. To elaborate on his concerns Ngobeni spoke to Elvis Presslin

The brother of one of the 17 South Africans recruited to fight in Ukraine says he's coming home this week. Sandile Ndhlovu confirms his brother is among 13 enroute to South Africa from Russia, with four already back in South Africa. The men were allegedly lured under false pretences to fight in the war. Ndhlovu spoke to our senior producer Ronald Phiri

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

Twenty Home Affairs officials have been dismissed and 16 suspended following a probe into document fraud and visa manipulation. The Special Investigating Unit, SIU launched the investigation in April 2024, uncovering recurring schemes and facilitation networks. For reaction, Elvis Presslin spoke to Lemias Mashile, former Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Labour and Home Affairs

The uMkhonto weSizwe Party has lodged an urgent application in the Gauteng High Court to halt former NDPP Shamila Batohi's pension and post‑term gratuities pending a review. The party also wants to reverse funding for her legal costs in the Nkabinde Inquiry, arguing payments must be lawful and rational amid alleged misconduct. The MK says concerns raised during Batohi's testimony at the inquiry re...

Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe, son of former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and a co‑accused are due in the Alexandra Magistrates Court this morning. They were arrested after a 23‑year‑old gardener was shot twice at Mugabe's Hyde Park residence last week and remains in critical condition. The pair face attempted‑murder charges and have been held at Bramley police station. Activists and Citizens F...

Major COSATU-affiliated public service unions, including NEHAWU, SADTU, DENOSA and POPCRU, will hold a media briefing today to express their anger over GEMS' 9.8% member contribution increase. The Unions will also raise concerns about governance lapses, threats to collective bargaining and announce details of their intended action against the medical scheme. The briefing will take place at COSATU...

Gauteng's Community Safety Committee says it is deeply shocked and angry after official figures showed at least 97 South African Police Service members have been accused of sexual violence or rape across the country. The number was revealed in the Independent Police Investigative Directorate's latest annual report and came up during a stakeholder meeting last Friday. Elvis Presslin spoke to Commit...

More than 20 people are set to appear in the Nelspruit Magistrate's Court today, facing charges of fraud, theft and money‑laundering linked to a R113 million "emergency school repairs" scheme in Mpumalanga. The Hawks, with support from Gauteng, Limpopo and the Western Cape, arrested the suspects in a coordinated operation targeting 40 individuals and companies accused of siphoning funds meant for...

The South African National Roads Agency, SANRAL says toll tariffs on national roads will increase by 3-point-12 percent from the first of march. SANRAL ties the annual adjustment to the consumer price index from Stats SA. The figure, confirmed in the government gazette earlier this month, comes in below last year's 4.85 percent rise. For reaction we're joined by Gavin Kelly, Road Freight Associati...

Two men will appear before the Alexandra Magistrate's Court on charges of attempted murder. One of the suspects is the son of the late former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe. They face attempted murder charges for allegedly shooting a gardener in Hyde Park, north of Johannesburg. Meanwhile, Zimbabwe's ruling party, ZANU‑PF, says they "abhors violence in any form" and that late party President M...

 The Public Servants Association will embark on a major protest this Saturday against steep contribution increases to the Government Employees Medical Scheme, GEMS. More than 5,000 PSA members are set to gather at the GEMS head office in Pretoria, with simultaneous demonstrations planned across all nine provinces. For the latest we're joined by Claude Naiker, Acting Deputy General Manager for...

The Casual Workers Advice Office has published its 2025 Strike Barometer and the numbers show a clear uptick in labour unrest last year. 117 strikes took place across South Africa in 2025. That's a sharp rise from the 87 recorded in 2024 and edges above the pre-pandemic figures of 116 in 2018 and 102 in 2019. For more on this we are joined on the line by Sydney Moshoaliba, Casual Workers' Advice O...

The African Unite Borders Bus Trucks Association is calling for the immediate resignation of the head of law enforcement at the Cross-Border Road Transport Agency. AUBBTA chairperson Phumudzo Mukhwathi says the group is devastated after yet another crash yesterday at the same treacherous Tshambudzi mountain curve near Makhado on the N1 - the very spot where 43 people died in a bus plunge back in O...

The South African Policing Union, SAPU, together with philosopher Professor Motsamai Molefe, will today hold a national dialogue in Pretoria to declare gender-based violence and femicide a National Moral Disaster. The event builds on President Ramaphosa's previous call to treat GBV and femicide as a national disaster. Organisers are now going further, issuing a clear five-point demand: stop GBV, s...

Four of the 19 men who were trapped in Russia have arrived back in South Africa. In November last year, the government received distress calls from 17 of the men, who were believed to have been lured to Russia with promises of lucrative jobs before reportedly being placed in a military‑training programme. Jabulani Khumalo, who is assisting the families of the South African men still stranded in Uk...

Suspended Deputy National Commissioner Shadrack Sibiya told the Madlanga Commission that former Public Protector Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane had cleared him and the City of Joburg of wrongdoing over his appointment as head of Group Forensic Investigation Services. But Mkhwebane's 2022 report, posted on X, lists irregularities and calls for further action, directly challenging Sibiya's testimony. G...

DA Gauteng leader Solly Msimanga will today deliver the party's alternative True State of the Province Address. Msimanga, joined by DA MPLs and councillors province-wide, will highlight ongoing service delivery failures plaguing the province. Elvis Presslin spoke to Member of Provincial Legislature and Leader of the DA in Gauteng, Solly Msimanga

Trade union federation COSATU in KwaZulu-Natal has strongly condemned the collapse of the business rescue process at sugar producer Tongaat Hulett. The company's administrators last week applied to the High Court to end rescue proceedings and move to provisional liquidation, after key sale agreements lapsed earlier this month and no viable rescue remained possible. COSATU KZN says the failure thre...

The Democratic Alliance is calling for urgent answers after a break-in at the SAPS K9 Unit in Ulundi, KwaZulu-Natal. Reports say unknown suspects forced their way in and stole four pistols, one R5 assault rifle, one shotgun, plus around 300 rounds of ammunition, handcuffs and empty magazines. The theft was spotted during a shift change. DA NCOP member on security and justice, Mzamo Billy MP, says...