First Take SA

The South African Cabin Crew Association says it is cautiously optimistic ahead of the South African Airways' return to the skies this morning. SAA was grounded in March 2020 due to travel bans to contain the Covid-19 pandemic. The cash-strapped airline was placed under administration after it failed to make a profit for almost a decade, surviving on state bailouts and government debt guarantees....

President Cyril Ramaphosa has given a strong signal that the 350 rand Social Relief of Distress Grant will be extended beyond March next year. Addressing COSATU's three-day Central Committee gathering, President Ramaphosa said the level of unemployment in the country is beyond a crisis. He said there's a need to extend more support to the unemployed and the poor. The three-day Central Committee ga...

The Democratic Alliance has reiterated its call for policing powers to be placed under provincial governments. The party says this will better assist in fighting violent crimes including gender-based violence in the country. DA shadow minister of policing, Andrew Whitfield, has also suggested a cut to the VIP protection budget by half and channel the savings to visible policing in communities. We...

President Cyril Ramaphosa has invited members of the public to send their nominations for the position of the next Chief Justice of South Africa. This comes as the term of the current Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng comes to an end on 11 October. Ramaphosa has given the public until 1 October to send their nominations, following which a panel will shortlist between three and five candidates for his...

Cosas reacts to adjustment of matric exam timetable

The ANC has urged its members to exhaust their internal party structures instead of resorting to protests. Hundreds of ANC members YESTERDAY marched on the party's headquarters Luthuli House in Johannesburg to protest against their councillor candidate selection process. They say the process is fraught with corruption and are accusing their Provincial List Committees of dismally failing to help th...

A professor in the Department of Safety and Security Management at the Tshwane University of Technology says the issue of members of the police who turn the gun on their families is often cultivated by the culture of secrecy within the police service. Professor Kholofelo Mothibi says much needs to be done to address some of the factors that contribute to officers reacting violently towards those c...

Fiduciary Technology Services Company, Cliqtech, estimates there is an estimated 43-billion Rands of unclaimed inheritance benefits in financial institutions in South Africa.  The company says there are many reasons for this - such as the lack of a valid Will, an outdated Will or a poorly drafted Will.  Most of the money is in unclaimed policies and investments. Now, SmartWill has partne...

The country is expected to be dominated by politics in the next coming weeks. This as the local government elections, set for November 1, are fast approaching. Many political parties are launching their elections manifesto this weekend, while others are yet to convince the electorate why they should be voted into power. The big guns, including the ANC, are yet to announce the date for the launch o...

South Africans have taken to various social media platforms to voice their disapproval of the  announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa that government is looking at introducing a vaccine passport system. Speaking during an address to the Nation on Sunday night, Ramaphosa said the proposed passport would be used as evidence of vaccination for travel and other purposes. This was a contradicti...

The Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (CONTRALESA) has urged government to reconsider the reopening of initiation schools under the adjusted level 2 of the national lockdown. This follows the easing of regulations announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday. In December last year, Contralesa halted the issuing of permits to initiation schools as a second wave of the COVID-19 inf...

Political Economist Israel Mkhize reacts to Ramaphosa's latest "family meeting"

Residents of Ward 54 in Inanda in the eThekwini Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal, say they are afraid to vote in the upcoming municipal elections following the killing of three people who were attending a community meeting to nominate Councillors.  On saturday three people were killed in a drive-by shooting. Five others were also injured. The attack happened at a meeting where community members...

Political analyst and deputy dean of research at the University of the Western Cape, Professor Bheki Mngomezulu believes the release of former president Jacob Zuma on medical parole is a blessing for the ANC. Mngomezulu says the move will reap benefits for the governing party in the upcoming local government elections set for November the 1st.  He adds that the release of Zuma should not be i...

For months the hospitality sector had warned of the dire state of their industry and the threats of closures and job losses if the lockdown regulations were not relaxed. We spoke to Wendy Alberts, the CEO of the Restaurant Association of South Africa 

ACTION SA  says they are ready for local government elections 

Western Cape Premier, Alan Winde has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to withdraw members of the South African Defence Force by ending the national state of disaster. The state of disaster was initially declared back in March 2020 and extended in August of this year by a month as a response to the corona virus pandemic. Winde however says a differentiated approach needs to be adopted when imple...

Figures released by Statistics South Africa show that the country's gross domestic product (GDP) increased by one point two percent in the second quarter of 2021. The data shows that contributions to the increase came from transport, communication and the agriculture industry, as well as personal services and the accommodation industry. The figures also indicate that exports contributed positively...

The Forum 4 Service Delivery is today expected to unveil its mayoral candidates in municipalities across the North West province for the upcoming Local Government Elections. This follows the election of ANC veteran, Bushy Maape as the new Premier of the province. The Forum 4 Service Delivery Party is a breakaway party from the ANC which contested the 2016 elections, winning four council seats in t...

The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse - OUTA -  has dismissed as outrageous and unacceptable, a proposal by the Department of Transport which seeks to charge motorists a R250 fee when booking for license renewals online. This comes after Minister Fikile Mbalula published the proposed draft Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) Regulations 2021, which seek to amend the 2007 regulations. The...

ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa has urged government to refrain from outsourcing services that it can render itself in order to create more jobs. Ramaphosa was speaking at the conclusion of the three-day ANC Lekgotla which kicked off at the weekend. Ramaphosa emphasised during his address that the creation of jobs, especially for young people and women, remains one of the key priorities of the ANC-l...

There has been mixed reactions to the decision by the Independent Electoral Commission to re-open registrations for party candidates ahead of the upcoming Local Government Elections. The IEC says the voter registration weekend is scheduled for the 18th and 19th September 2021. The date of the election will be announced on the 20th of September with the IEC having communicated its preference of Nov...

Political parties have reacted differently to former President Jacob Zuma's release on medical parole due to ill-health. The Department Commissioner says Zuma remains in hospital although freed on medical parole. Zuma was serving a 15 month jail term for contempt of court for ignoring an order to appear before the Judicial Inquiry into State Capture. He was admitted to hospital soon after his inca...

South Africa is among nine African countries that have already reached the global target set in May this year to vaccinate at least 10% of every country's population against COVID-19 by the end of September Data from the World Health Organisatio (WHO) shows that forty-two of Africa's 54 nations, that is nearly 80% of the continent will miss the target if the current pace of vaccine deliveries and...

Political parties have reacted with shock to allegations that a Chinese-born South African businesswoman and politician, ANC Member of Parliament Xiaomei Havard, could be sharing classified information about South Africa with the Chinese Communist Party.