First Take SA

Support for President Cyril Ramaphosa's handling of the covid-19 pandemic response has dwindled from a positive high of 85 percent to 61 percent. This is according to the latest covid-19 democracy survey by researchers from the University of Johannesburg working together with the Human Sciences Research Council. The findings of the survey, to be made public later TODAY, also show that about 73 per...

Coffin assault victim, Victor Mlotshwa has expressed shock and dismay at the release on parole of both Willem Oosthuizen and Theo Jackson. The duo was set free at the weekend as part of the thousands of qualifying low risk offenders released on parole to curb the spread of the corona virus in correctional facilities. Jackson and Osthuizen were initially sentenced to 11 and 14 years respectively fo...

The organisation, Lawyers For Black People, has approached the High Court in Johannesburg to stop police from evicting tenants in Jeppe in the Johannesburg CBD. Landlords are allegedly insructing the police to remove defaulting tenants. The group's Zuko Madikane, says the Jeppe Station Commander and the Minister of Police have been cited as respondents. Angela Bolowana reports that the case agains...

The Gauteng government, together with the City of Johannesburg, have launched a new strategy to stop land invasions and the mushrooming of informal settlements. They'll be deploying one-thousand-500 community patrollers across the province to identify and stop illegal occupations

President Cyril Ramaphosa's announcement that the country will today be moving to alert level two of the lockdown has been met with scepticism - with some saying it's too soon to open the economy. The EFF has accused him and the Health Department of manipulating COVID-19 statistics.

A number of sectors will open for business on Tuesday as the country moves to level 2 of the COVID-19 lockdown. These include the hospitality and tourism industry, gyms and fitness centres, and entertainment facilities such as cinemas and theatres. Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma briefed the media on the new regulations following the announcem...

Psychologists have warned parents to exercise caution in interactions with their children during the nationwide lockdown. They say children have been abruptly forced to adapt to a new normal and this could affect them in ways that they are unable to articulate. In a webinar hosted by HWH Global - an organisation on focusing on the transformation of individuals - on how to parent during a pandemic,...

Residents of Marikana in the North West want the place where 34 mine workers where shot and killed on the 16th of August in 2012 - to be marked as a heritage site. The mine workers where shot by police, during an unprotected wage strike. They were demanding that their salaries be increased to 12 500 rand a month.

Eight years after the Marikana shooting, President Cyril Ramaphosa is yet to visit the area in the North West, despite promises. He made an undertaking at Winnie Madikizela-Mandela's funeral in 2018 to visit the widows of those who died on the 16th of August in 2012. But two years on it is still not clear what it will take for him to visit the area

Gauteng is ready to relax lockdown regulations, but this must be done gradually. That's according to a member of the Premier's Advisory Committee, Professor Bruce Mellado. He had been speaking at the weekly briefing on the province's response to the corona virus pandemic. This comes amid reports that President Cyril Ramaphosa has been advised to open up the economy and relax lockdown regulations f...

The ANC will have to overcome the waning public trust if it is to seek a new mandate from voters. Recently the governing party has been struggling to overcome allegations of corruption, unethical leadership and failure to provide basic services to township dwellers and the rural poor. This has prompted voter apathy among some of the party's traditional support base. Our Political Correspondent Nte...

Family, friends, fans and South Africans paid tribute to the radio and television legend, Bob Mabena, during his memorial service in Houghton in Johannesburg. Mabena died on Monday of a cardiac arrest. His career spanned more than three decades where he broke the mould several times. The celebrated rap singer, radio host and producer started his career at Radio Bop when he was 19. He worked at Met...

Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs has resolved to take measures to hold municipalities to account for poor performance. This after yet another damning report from the Auditor General on the state of local government. The committee is calling all involved, ranging from municipalities, councillors, national and provincial departments as well as all ot...

The legal team of the Public Protector has argued the unconstitutionality of Parliament's rules to remove the head of a Chapter Nine institution. The matter of the Public Protector challenging Parliament's rules on how to remove the head of a Chapter Nine institution, is currently under way on a virtual platform in the Cape Town High Court. Mkhwebane wants to interdict any further steps to be impl...

President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to update the nation soon on whether the country may move to a lower alert level of lockdown. This as the National state of Disaster legislation under which the country's lockdown has been premised,expires on Saturday. On Tuesday, the National Corona Virus Command Council which is headed by Ramaphosa met. Expectations are high that with the national rate of in...

The Fair Trade Independent Tobacco Association (FITA) says the Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, hasadopted an untenable and far-reaching position on the banning of the sale of cigarette and tobacco products. This is contained in papers FITA filed before the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein in its application for leave to appeal a high c...

South Africa's unemployment challenge continues to worsen amid the economic disruption brought by covid-19. Some South Africans who have lost their jobs are finding hard to survive outside the labour market. Economists expect the unemployment rate to have risen to 37.9% in the second quarter from 30.1% in first quarter.

Former Finance Minister Des Van Rooyen has confirmed that he appointed his then special advisor Mohamed Bobat without verifying his qualifications. Van Rooyen was testifying at the State Capture Commission of Inquiry on Tuesday. Bobat was one of the advisors Van Rooyen came with after his brief appointment as Finance Minister in 2015. During his testimony last year, former Treasury DG Lungile Fuzi...

Government has sought to clarify the role of the Ministerial Committee appointed to deal with corruption in the procurement of Personal Protective Equipment. It says the committee chaired by Justice and Correctional Services Minister - Ronald Lamola - will not upstage or under-mine the powers of the law enforcement agencies. President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed a committee comprising six ministries...

Tributes are pouring in for veteran broadcaster, Bob Mabena who died of suspected cardiac arrest yesterday after a short stay in a Johannebsurg Hospital at the weekend. Mabena had been discharged earlier yesterday before his condition deteriorated after which he was rushed back to hospital before his passing. He was 51. Mabena celebrated over 30 years in the industry this year after hosting his fi...

Justice Minister Ronald Lamola says cabinet is concerned about allegations of corruption related to the procurement of personal protective equipment. Lamula is to lead a Ministerial committee appointed yesterday by President Cyril Ramaphosa to investigate the alleged corruption pertaining to the Covid 19 PPE tender processes. Other Cabinet Ministers in the committee include the Finance Minister, M...

Some political parties in Parliament have shot down a proposal by UDM's leader - Bantu Holomisa -for the national executive to be dissolved and replaced by unelected members of civil society and the judiciary to run the country until the 2024 national and provincial elections. They say such a proposal would not pass Constitutional muster.

The ANC Secretary General Ace Magashule says a legislation prohibiting family members of politicians from doing business with government must be formulated. Magashule was speaking during an interview with the SABC following the party's NEC meeting last weekend. Recent reports revealed that family members of several ANC leaders have been awarded covid-19 related tenders. These include President Cyr...

The Limpopo government has sought to provide further details on the 40 shacks it has handed to the Talana Hostel dwellers in Tzaneen, amid public outrage. The shacks are worth four-million-rand. Premier Stan Mathabata and National Department of Human Settlement Acting Director General, Joseph Leshabe reiterated that the shacks were a temporary measure aimed at relieving over-crowding at the hostel...

Finance Minister Tito Mboweni says there's a prima facie case to be made for probing the awarding of some tenders for Covid-19 personal protective equipment and law enforcement agencies must take action. Mboweni was addressing the joint meeting of committees of Finance of Parliament on the procurement of the equipment.