First Take SA

ANC secretary general, Ace Magashule, says he is not aware of his imminent arrest. This relates to his alleged involvement in the controversial 250 million rand asbestos contract in the Free State, while he was premier. Earlier reports suggested that he would appear in the Bloemfontein Magistrate Court TODAY.

THE CRL Commission has heard harrowing allegations against the leader of the Rivers of Living Waters Church, Archbishop Stephen Zondo. A number of former members of his Evaton-based congregation in Gauteng have approached the CRL with numerous grievances. The CRL is currently holding hearings on the accusations that include rape and murder. The witnesses have painted Zondo as a Satanist who's para...

One person has been arrested for discharging an air gun, following yesterday's violent clashes between EFF supporters and parents outside Brackenfell High School in Cape Town. Clashes erupted at the school over a private celebration, organised by some parents at the school

President Cyril Ramaphosa is set to address the nation later this week on government's response to Covid-19 pandemic. In his weekly letter on Monday, Ramaphosa warned that a resurgence of the Coronavirus pandemic will dramatically reverse the country's health gains and hamper its economic recovery plan. His address will be preceded by the meetings of the National Coronavirus Command Council and Ca...

Arms manufacturer DENEL's former chief financial officer Pieter Knoetze has told the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture in Johannesburg that the company's money was used to bailout one of its suppliers LMT Holdings. He says this was despite warnings from auditors. According to evidence before the commission LMT Holdings was paid before it delivered on its contract to DENEL.

This week we focus on Diabetes. World Diabetes day, will be observed on Saturday the 14th of November. While an increased number of people are diagnosed with diabetes, or know someone close to them who is living with diabetes, many people are not sure what it is, what to do or how to act when they meet someone who is diabetic. To explain the diabetes and how a person living with diabetes feels, we...

Back to the United States politics... Neither United States President nor the senior members of the Republican Party have officially conceded the Presidential race as Democrats Joe Biden and Kamala Harris made history on Saturday by winning both the popular vote and the Electoral College. The 77-year old Biden becomes the oldest person to win the Presidency while Harris becomes the first woman, bl...

A meeting of the National Coronavirus Command Council is planned for next week as the Covid-19 infection rate continues to surge. Minister in the Presidency Jackson Mthembu says Cabinet has endorsed the NCCC meeting which will then be followed by a Cabinet meeting. Mthembu said this will then culminate into President Cyril Ramaphosa's address to the nation on the way forward in battling the Covid-...

The Minister on Public Enterprises, Pravin Gordhan has told Parliament that a restructured SAA will not be dependent on the national fiscus as it will take the Telkom model. Gordhan was taking part on the National Assembly's debate about the financial burden of sustaining non-profitable State Owned Entities.

There are fears of a resurgence of attacks on foreign nationals after shops were looted, some forced to close while others were stoned allegedly by a group led by members of uMkhontowesizwe Military Veterans Association in Berea, Durban. The group of MKMVA members has been waging a campaign of driving foreign nationals back to their countries of origin accusing them of taking jobs and economic opp...

Government says the country's multi-billion rand infrastructure investment plan will be under-pinned by an anti-corruption strategy. President Cyril Ramaphosa yesterday opened the Infrastructure South Africa Project Preparation Roundtable and Market Place under-way in Midrand north of Johannesburg. He said the Infrastructure Project Preparation will help government to complete its infrastructure p...

As Election Day dawns in the United States, both Presidential campaigns have embraced a frenzied last push in key battleground states that will tip this election in either camp's favour. In a frenzied dash to the finish line, President Donald Trump hosted five rallies in four swing states including Michigan and Wisconsin while his opponent Joe Biden held two rallies in the must-win state of Pennsy...

The Gauteng Provincial Government says it won't appeal a court ruling against its decision to place the City of Tshwane Metro Council under administration. The Supreme Court of Appeal ruling last week affirmed the High Court ruling that the decision to dissolve the city council was unlawful. Briefing the media in Johannesburg YESTERDAY , Gauteng Co-operative Governance MEC, Lebogang Maile, said th...

John Steenhuisen is the Democratic Alliance's new leader. He emerged victorious at the party's virtual elective congress attended by over 2000 of the party's members this weekend. Steenhuisen was competing for the party's top position against KwaZulu-Natal legislature member, Mbali Ntuli

With just one day to Election Day in the United States, critical swing states in the Midwest will be the focus for both campaigns as they try to drive their supporters to the polls. With just 24 hours to go in terms of campaign events, President Donald Trump spent Saturday criss-crossing the must-win State of Pennsylvania with Democratic Nominee Joe Biden close by in the State of Michigan. Their s...

As expected, former DA leader Helen Zille beat sole rival Mike Moriarty to be re-elected as the chair of the party's federal council. By retaining this role Zille will continue to have significant influence over the day-to-day running of South Africa's official opposition party. Zille clinched 69% of the votes cast, making this the tightest race of the congress.

The DA will hold its virtual elective conference this weekend facing a number of challenges. This year alone the official opposition party has lost three provincial leaders with one saying it's no longer the party he joined twenty years ago. This was preceded by the exiting of some senior party leaders including Mmusi Maimane, Herman Mashaba and Athol Trollip among others. The party has also lost...

President Cyril Ramaphosa says the government is ready and committed towards the formalisation, regulation and empowerment of the taxi industry. He was giving a keynote address virtually at the National Taxi Lekgotla underway in Boksburg on Gauteng's Eastrand. The three-day event has brought together various stakeholders within the taxi industry and government to discuss ways of supporting and tra...

Labour union BEMAWU has approached the Labour Court seeking an interdict to stop the SABC from going ahead with any retrenchments. The hearing relating to the application will be heard in the Labour Court in Johannesburg next Wednesday. The public broadcaster plans to retrench about 600 permanent staff and will not renew the freelance contracts of more than a thousand workers.

Thousands of public servants and 68 deceased people are among those who benefited from the Unemployed Insurance Fund's Temporary Employee Relief Scheme. That came out in ongoing investigations by the Special Investigations Unit. The SIU and the office of the Auditor General briefed Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts, on the latest information on issues around the UIF financial mana...

Finance Minister, Tito Mboweni, has revised this year's economic contraction from the seven-point-two per cent estimate in June, down to seven-point-eight per cent. According to the National Treasury, the budget deficit will narrow from 15 per cent in this financial year to ten-point-one per cent in 2021/22. Mboweni, who tabled the medium-term budget policy statement yesterday, called for a shift...

Some of the opposition parties in Parliament have criticised Finance Minister Tito Mboweni for allocating 10.5 billion rand to SAA while public workers and representatives are expected to take pay cuts. The governing ANC welcomed the speech.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has dismissed rumours that the country is headed for a higher Covid19 lockdown level. He says while he is worried that many South Africans are not adhering to the prevention measures, there are no plans to bring back tougher restrictions. He was answering a variety of questions in the National Council of Provinces, including on the vandalising of rail infrastructure as we...

The family of footballer Senzo Meyiwa says they want to know who orchestrated his murder. Five men arrested in connection with Meyiwa's murder appeared in the Boksburg Magistrates Court on Gauteng's Eastrand yesterday. They are facing charges of murder, attempted murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances and possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition. The case was been postponed to th...

The Tshwane Metro is finally set to have a new mayor - at the latest next week. This is after the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein ruled in the DA's favour, dismissing the appeal lodged by the Gauteng Co-operative Governance MEC, Lebogang Maile. Maile had asked the court to suspend the implementation of a Pretoria High Court judgment which overturned the decision to dissolve the Tshwane Met...