First Take SA

CATA and CODETA, the two taxi associations in Cape Town that are at the centre of a deadly feud that has cost many lives, yesterday held talks facilitated by the Western Cape Transport Department. Seven people were gunned down on Wednesday, in the ongoing taxi war between the two taxi associations. Taxi ranks have been deserted in several parts of the Cape Flats - including Khayelitsha - as operat...

Judgment in former President Jacob Zuma's application to stay his 15-month jail sentence before the Pietermaritzburg High Court is expected to be delivered TODAY (Friday). Zuma, who started serving the jail term YESTERDAY, approached the court after the Constitutional Court found him guilty of being in contempt of a ruling that said he must appear and participate at the state capture commission. H...

Suspended ANC member and Umkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans' Association (MKMVA) spokesperson Carl Niehaus was arrested for gathering a crowd and breaking Covid-19 regulations outside the Estcourt Correctional Services yesterday, The arrest was effected during a live interview. Political analyst from the Nelson Mandela University in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape, Dr Ntsikelelo Breakfast....

The police and commissioner, Kehla Sitole, had until midnight to enforce a Constitutional Court order to arrest former president Jacob Zuma. However, shortly before midnight, Jacob Zuma handed himself over to law enforcement. Last week, the Concourt found Zuma guilty of contempt - sentencing him to 15 months in jail for flouting an order to obey summonses and testify at the State Capture Inquiry....

Today - Thursday the 8th of July - is the deadline set by the department of basic education to vaccinate over half a million teachers and other school support staff against the coronavirus. When the vaccination rollout was started 15 days ago, the Department of Basic Education set a target to vaccinate 582 564 teachers and support staff from public and private schools across the country. To help u...

The Constitutional Court judgement sentencing former President Jacob Zuma to 15 months imprinsonment has been met with mixed reaction. The court found Zuma of being in contempt of the constitutional court and disrespecting the rule of law for refusing to obey its directive that he appear before the State Capture Commission. Zuma has 5 days to hand himself over to a correctional facility.

The government of Eswatini has expressed concern about the on-going pro-democracy protests. The kingdom has also dismissed as false reports that King Mswati III has fled the country. It re-assured the nation that the king was in the country and working with government to advance the kingdom's goals. Protesters are demanding electoral reforms. And, schools and government institutions have been clos...

Former ANC Youth League leader and former member of the Nelson Mandela Bay Council in Gqeberha, Andile Lungisa says he will write to President Cyril Ramaphosa asking him to grant his predecessor and former president Jacob Zuma a presidential pardon. Lungisa was reacting to the constitutional court judgement which found president Zuma in contempt of court and sentenced him tofifteen months imprison...

The Commission of Inquiry into State Capture has heard that Zizi Kodwa, Deputy Minister of State Security and former ANC spokesperson, is a friend of former EOH Executive, Jehan Mackay, from 2013. Kodwa made an appearance before Commission chairperson, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo YESTERDAY. He says he received loans from Mackay at a time when he had financial difficulties.

The Moseneke Inquiry on Free and Fair Election Local Government Elections during Covid 19 will kick off its public hearings TODAY (28/06). The Inquiry will hear oral submissions from the Electoral Commission as well as representatives from the Health Department and health NGO's. It has so far recieved about three-thousand written submissions and voice notes from the general public. The Inquiry, he...

South Africa will be on an Adjusted Alert Level Four of the national lockdown for the next fourteen days. All social gatherings including political, religious and cultural events are prohibited with the exception of funerals which will only be limited to 50 people. President Cyril Ramaphosa made this announcement in his address to the nation last night. This as the country grapples with new Delta...

The Beer Association of South Africa says businesses cannot be expected to pay for the failures in the vaccine rollout program. The beer industry maintains that it will only support regulations focused on restricting large gatherings as this is the main driver of new covid 19 infections. Previous alcohol bans have resulted in the loss of thousands of jobs, billions in taxes and excise duties and f...

Gauteng Premier, David Makhura, says that law enforcement will be stepped up in the coming days to enforce lockdown regulations, especially in Covid-19 hotspots. He's also announced the re-opening of parts of the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg hospital which were not affected by the fire in April. Makhura and the Gauteng Covid Command Council addressed the media in Johannesburg. Gauteng accounts fo...

Turkish owned company, Karpowerships SA, says it will appeal the decision by the Forestry, Fisheries and Environmental Affairs department to reject it's bid of providing floating gas-fired power ships at three of the country's ports. This after the department rejected the potential deal with the company, citing insufficient public participation and the potential impact on the environment of the pr...

The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) says it has NOW received documentation for the Sinopharm vaccine developed by the China National Pharmaceutical Group in China and will now commence evaluating the data in order to assess the efficacy of the vaccine. The organisation says it is also in the process of reviewing the Russian Sputnik V vaccine. This as the Economic Freedo...

The constitutionality of the ANC's step aside rule will be tested in the Johannesburg High Court later THIS MORNING. Suspended ANC Secretary General Ace Magashule is taking his party to court to challenge his suspension in May for failing to step aside over the corruption allegations against him. The matter will sit virtually for two days until Friday.

Chaos errupted at a vaccination site in Bloemfontein YESTERDAY (wednesday 23 June) as hundreds of teachers and non-teaching staff turned up at the Gonyane primary school to be vaccinated. The departments of education and health aimed to vaccinate 500 teachers on the first day.

The SABC will TODAY (Thursday) launch it's new sports channel. This follows an agreement earlier this year with eMedia Holdings allowing its Openview service to broadcast three new SABC channels in addition to the public broadcaster's radio stations. The companies say that this agreement is intended to make the SABC's content accessible to a wider audience.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that the National Port Authority will become an independent subsidiary of Transnet with its own board. He says this reform will enable re-investment in port infrastructure and also ensure that terminal operators are treated fairly and equally. Ramaphosa says the move will also enable greater private sector participation in terminal operations. He was visitin...

President Cyril Ramaphosa has indicated that there's a likelihood of further stricter measures, especially in Gauteng, where Covid-19 infections are rising. However, he says there's a need to strike a balance between saving lives and maintaining the economy. Some citizens and businesses in Gauteng are still not adhering to safety measures.

The vaccination drive targeting over half a million teachers and support staff is expected to rollout from TODAY. The Department of Basic Education is aiming to innoculate 582-thousand teachers including administrative staff, volunteer food handlers and cleaners in both the public and private education sector. Its goal is to complete the exercise by 8th July as more vaccines are expected to be ava...

The National Prosecuting Authority's Investigating Directorate currently has 16 cases involving billions of rands lost due to corruption, in several courts across the country. It also has restraint orders for over two billion rands on assets belonging to some of the accused. In the case against former Transnet Board member and Gupta family associate, Iqbal Sharma, the restraint order for assets is...

Military medics have been deployed to Gauteng as the province's hospitals buckle under pressure due to rising Corona virus cases. The number of new Covid-19 infections has already breached the cases recorded during the second wave by over 2000 . An interim 60-member SANDF team of medics has been brought in to help with staff shortages in hospitals.

The World Health Organization (WHO) YESTERDAY announced that South Africa will be the first location to establish a mRNA technology transfer hub for COVID 19 vaccines. The WHO says South Africa could be producing vaccines in nine to 12 months. Two local companies will work together, Biovac as a developer and Afrigen as the manufacturer. Technology transfer hubs are training facilities where the te...

Parents have ambivalent views on the announcement that schools are to remain open. The Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga made announcement at the weekend. Pressure was mounting for schools to close as the country experiences a third wave of Covid-19 infections