First Take SA

The Pietermaritzburg High Court has postponed the fraud, corruption and racketeering case against former President Jacob Zuma and French arms company Thales, to July 19th. They have been charged in connection with the 1999 multi-billion rand arms deal. Zuma and Thales pleaded not guilty to all charges. Several ANC leaders including the party's suspended Secretary General, Ace Magashule, former Min...

The Free State Education department has confirmed that one matriculant has died after succumbing to COVID-19 related complications. The provincial department also notes that at least 12 learners from the Lephola Secondary School in Welkom have tested positive for the virus. The province has seen a surge in new infections over the last month with education officials expressing concern at the number...

Former SARS Commissioner Tom Moyane has alleged his removal from SARS was a well-orchestrated process. Moyane appeared before the Commission of Inquiry Into State Capture for the first time today. He has also denied allegations that he was at the centre of State Capture while at the helm of the Revenue service.

The ANC is looking at pressing more charges against its embattled and suspended Secretary General Ace Magashule. This came out at the media following the governing party's National Working Committee on Monday. Disciplinary action will also extend to NEC member Tony Yengeni and Magashule's aide and MKMVA spokesperson Carl Niehaus.

The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in Bloemfontein will hear an appeal over lockdown alert level 3 and 4 regulations this morning (wednesday 26 May). The Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs is appealing against the Gauteng High Court judgment that declared regulations under lockdown levels 4 and 3 invalid and unconstitutional. The case was brought by Reyno De Beer and the Li...

The situation remains volatile in Makhanda in the Eastern Cape as residents continue with the total shutdown in the of the university-town. Protesters are demanding the delivery of services which include the provision of water and sanitation including better road infrastructure. The Makana Municipality has been dysfunctional for years and residents successfully went to court in January last year,...

Motorists have been warned against the new trend of spiking car tyres and to avoid hotspots at all costs. The following routes have been identified as hotspots :The N4 Mpumalanga to Pretoria betweent Solomon Mahlangu and Water mayor off- ramp. The N4 Pretoria to Mpumalanga betweem Bronkhorspruit and Balmoral off-ramp. The N1 Polokwane. N4 Mpumalanga interchange in Pretoria. The N4 to Rustenburg be...

There are growing calls for South Africa to tighten restriction amid rising Covid-19 infections. This past weekend the country recorded the highest number of new Covid-19 cases since February - surpassing the four-thousand mark. Gauteng is already in the midst of a third wave with the province's economic hub - Johannesburg - leading in terms of new infections.

Public comment is now open on the Draft Firearms Control Amendment Bill. Among its aims is the removal of self-defence as a reason for applying for a firearm. This has caused an outcry from interest groups. They say should this go through, it would remove the right of a citizen to protect themselves. The draft was made public last week and comments can be made until the end of July.

Former Miss Heritage South African and member of the United Nations Generation Equity Working Group, Zipho Ntlanganiso says a lot more education needs to go into understanding mental health issues. This as the World marks World Schizophrenia Day TODAY*. The 31 year old Ntlanganiso's mother was diagnosed with schizophenia back in 1993 and she says the stigma of being labelled a child of 'igeza' or...

A study conducted by the Health Sciences Faculty at the University of Fort Hare has found that the province doesn't have sufficient capacity to successfully handle phase two of the vaccination rollout programme. According to the study, remote rural areas will be difficult to reach because the number of vaccine sites are inadequate. The study also indicates that the third wave will be difficult to...

The Free State health department says one of the hospitals in Bloemfontein is already full with Coronavirus patients. The department says it is concerned about the increasing confirmed numbers of Coronavirus cases. It says this will result in unnecessary pressure on the healthcare system. On Saturday, the province recorded 523 new cases, a significant increase from previous reported daily cases.

The Democratic Alliance has accepted the resignation of Phumzile Van Damme as a Member of Parliament and from the Party. Van Damme announced her resignation LAST NIGHT (Thursday). She was placed on special leave by the party last November without consultation and has had several run ins with the party's leadership under John Steenhuisen. She was also removed as the Party's shadow Minister of commu...

It was another day of accusations and counter-accusations by officials from the State Security Agency, at the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture on Thursday. Two unidentified operatives from the SSA have rebutted the evidence from their former boss David Mahlobo. One operative alleged that Mahlobo interfered in the unit's operations, paid judges to influence a case against his department and...

Nurses union DENOSA has cast doubt on the department of health's undertaking to vaccinate all healthcare workers across the country by end of this week. South Africa entered the second phase of the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out programme on Monday, targeting citizens over the age of 60. This despite the fact that the innoculation of healthcare workers had not been completed. Denosa has also raised con...

Former State Security Minister David Mahlobo has denied any involvement in the removal of former President Jacob Zuma's estranged wife from his Nkandla residence in northern Kwa Zulu-Natal. He was testifying at the Commission on State Capture in Johannesburg last night. It's alleged that Nompumelelo Ntuli-Zuma was a suspect in the poisoning of the former president and was subsequently removed from...

Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has come under fire from some opposition parties in the National Assembly for what they say is the chaotic state of the Home Affairs department. Of particular concern is the problem of long queues where often people are turned away because the system is offline. During the department's budget vote debate, parties also questioned why the department has still not introduced...

The Independent Electoral Commission says it is considering electronic registration as one of the modalities for elections. It says an announcement will be made soon in this regard. The commission also says it does not know what impact COVID-19 will have on the voter turnout in the upcoming local government elections in October. IEC commissioners and officials appeared before the committee to brie...

Former Speaker of Parliament Baleka Mbete says it is not true that the fifth Parliament did nothing to investigate serious allegations of widespread corruption between 2014 and 2017. Mbete was testifying at the State Capture Commission on the Parliamentary oversight during the former president Jacob Zuma's administration. She said they used Portfolio Committees to find out what was happening at th...

Moodys says South Africa's rating outlook may remain negative due to the expected downside risk to fiscal sustainability, continuing debt, high interest payments and the continued challenges facing Eskom. Moody's experts panel says while the country's challenges were exacerbated by the pandemic, it entered the crisis from a position of weakness. Moody's analysts say the 3% drop in government reven...

Former president Jacob Zuma will be back in the Pietermaritzburg High court next week Wednesday. Zuma's trial was YESTEDAY postponed to give the defence time to bring an application for the recusal of lead state prosecutor - advocate Billy Downer. Zuma and co-accused French arms manufacturer Thales face charges of corruption, fraud, money laundering and racketeering. The charges are linked to the...

The situation is still tense in most parts of Bloemfontein as residents continue to block streets with burning tyres, stones and rubble. Yesterday residents heeded the call for a shut down. There was no schooling and not a single taxi or bus in the streets of Mangaung. And very few people were able to report for work

The US seems no closer to supporting moves on the UN Security Council that will secure an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East. Washington has instead continued to pursue the bilateral route, tempering its criticism of Israel while condemning the continued indiscriminate rocket-fire from Gaza. Secretary of State Antony Blinken - speaking during an unrelated trip to Denmark- said the US administr...

Two political party leaders in South Africa's Parliament who are over the age of 60 say they will not register to be vaccinated against COVID-19. They will also NOT take the vaccine. The Leaders of the Freedom Front Plus Pieter Groenewald and Kenneth Meshoe from the ACDP have different reasons why they will not be vaccinated. This comes as National Assembly Deputy Speaker Lechesa Tsenoli called on...

A 50-year-old educator at Mbilwi Secondary School, will TODAY appear before the Thohoyandou Magistrates Court for allegedly raping a learner. The Limpopo teacher allegedly violated the 17-year-old school girl three times in 2018. He was arrested on Friday after the Human Rights Commission opened a case against him. The girl approached the commission and disclosed what happened.