First Take SA

After being booed in KwaZulu-Natal in 2006 following political tensions with his then fired deputy, Jacob Zuma, the province is warming up to former president, Thabo Mbeki. In less than six months, he has been invited twice by the ANC in the province. Last year, he was invited to address the memorial lecture of the late Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. This past weekend, he addressed the ANC Po...

The Cape Town High Court has granted the City of Cape Town an interim interdict to remove a group of foreign nationals living on the street outside the Central Methodist church in Green Market Square. Acting judge Daniel Thulare has ruled that the City has the right to uphold its by-laws. The City applied for an interdict last year after more than 600 foreign nationals moved into the church. Many...

The FW de Klerk Foundation has withdrawn its statement that apartheid was not a crime against humanity. Various political parties, NGOs and members of the public called on the foundation and the last apartheid president, FW de Klerk to withdraw the statement. Some have suggested that De Klerk be stripped of the Nobel Peace prize.

Gauteng Community Safety MEC Faith Mazibuko says the time to talk is over and decisive action is needed to combat crime in the province. Mazibuko was speaking at a Safety Summit in Bramfisherville, Soweto, south of Johannesburg. This is the first of the 33 summits that the MEC will hold across the province aimed at promoting community participation in crime prevention and to promote safety. MEC Ma...

Police Minister Bheki Cele says the continuous killing of members of the South African Police is an attack on the state. Cele was speaking at a funeral of the late Galeshewe Lloyd Poonyane in Viljoenskroon, in the Free State. Poonyane died in the line of duty near Orkney, in North West. He was shot dead by suspects and declared dead on the scene. Cele says it's concerning that many SAPS members wh...

As expected, President Cyril Ramaphosa's State of the Nation Address put emphasis on measures to stimulate economic growth. He addressed the challenges of electricity supply shortages, government spending which he described as misdirected towards consumption and debt-servicing rather than infrastructure and productive activity, and the state owned companies which continue to drain the national fis...

President Cyril Ramaphosa's State of the Nation Address was delayed by more than and hour and a half last night. This is as the EFF objected to the presence of former President FW De Klerk in the house and demanded that Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan be fired. After about an hour of points of order, the Presiding officers temporarily adjourned the house. When the house resumed the EFF...

Adam Catzavelos says he is deeply ashamed of his racist rant and has asked South Africans for forgiveness. He was testifying YESTERDAY (13 February) during sentencing proceedings in his crimen injuria case in the Randburg Magistrate's Court. The case follows a self-recorded video of Catzavelos in which he utters the K-word multiple times, while on holiday in Greece in August 2018. In the video, he...

Figures released by Statistics South Africa indicate that the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 29-point-1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2019 compared to the third of last year. The results further indicate that the number of employed persons increased by 43-thousand to 16-point-4-million, while the number of unemployed persons decreased by 8-thousand to 6-point-7-million in the fourth qu...

On Thursday (13 February) President Cyril Ramaphosa will deliver his second State of the Nation Address since last year's general elections. Ramaphosa came into office promising to reverse the damage caused by over nine years of Jacob Zuma's presidency. He has, however, faced serious challenges in this regard, not least being his government's seeming inability to arrest the spiralling economic dec...

President Cyril Ramaphosa is TODAY expected to deliver the keynote address during the 30th anniversary of the release date of former statesman Nelson Mandela from prison. Mandela was released from the then Victor Verster Prison 30 years ago after serving 27 years behind bars. He was sentenced to life imprisonment by the apartheid government. The day also marks the 13th anniversary of the unbanning...

No identity documents, no proof of residence, no viewing of property. This is just one of the measures estate agents have had to adopt to try and protect themselves from criminals posing as buyers. However, unsuspecting people have also been defrauded of their monies by people posing as estate agents.

Former Head of procurement at SAA technical Nontsasa Memela has denied all allegations labelled against her including bribery and wrong doing in which she had been implicated by two witnesses last week. She told Justice Zondo she did not see a conflict of interest when a bidding company paid 2.5 million Rands towards the purchase of her property in Bedfordview. She has also denied she supplied bid...

The EFF has vowed to disrupt the State of the Nation Address in Parliament on Thursday by President Cyril Ramaphosa. The party says it wants to see the back of Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan before the day of the SONA. Malema addressed the media in Centurion, Pretoria yesterday following the party's Stategic Meeting, the Plenum that seek to pave a way forward for the EFF in the year 20...

The Endangered Wildlife Trust has welcomed the announcement by the Chinese to enforce the ban on illegal wildlife trade and increase regulation of wildlife markets. It is believed that the Coronavirus originated in a food market in China, which was illegally selling wildlife. More than 500 people have died of the virus in mainland China, and thousands infected.

Germany has vowed to work with South Africa and help it overcome its energy crisis. The Germans will also provide vocational training to young people in the country. This came out during Chancellor Angela Merkel's working visit to the country yesterday. In his response, President Cyril Ramaphosa emphasised the need to increase investment by over 600 German companies operating in the country.

South African Airways has announced that it will be cancelling more domestic, regional and international flights by the end of the month. The only route the ailing airline will retain locally are reduced flights between Johannesburg and Cape Town, ceasing operations to Durban, Port Elizabeth and East London. Regional flights to Luanda, Entebbe, Abidjan via Accra and Ndola will also be canned. Inte...

The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal says it is dismayed by the warrant of arrest issued by the Pietermaritzburg High Court for former President Jacob Zuma. Zuma did not attend the court proceedings of his corruption trial and the judge was not satisfied with the content and authenticity of a sick note produced by his lawyer. However, the warrant will be executed only if he does not appear in court on the 6th...

The screening of travellers for the Coronavirus has been intensified at the Groblersbrug border post between Botswana and South Africa. One person who works at the border was taken to hospital and isolated after displaying symptoms associated with flu. The national Department of Health has reiterated that there are no cases of the Corona Virus in South Africa.

Former President Jacob Zuma's legal team and his family are dismayed by the Pietermaritzburg high court's decision to issue a warrant for his arrest. This is after Zuma failed to appear in court. However the warrant will only be effected if he does not show up for the next appearance in May. The judge was not satisfied with the content and the authenticity of the medical note handed in by Zuma's a...

The Limpopo Health Department says there is no confirmation that a patient who has been put in isolation at the Ellisras Hospital in Lephalale, with a high fever and flu-like symptoms, has contracted the corona virus. However, the department has opened a facility at the Polowkane Hospital for any possible coronavirus cases in the province.

Every day a South African is arrested in Brazil for drug trafficking while one-hundred men have been arrested for the same offence since 2017 in Mauritius. They were travelling via O.R. Tambo International Airport. Anti-drug activists revealed the statistics in Braamfontein during a panel discussion on drug trafficking in Johannesburg. They warn that the number could be higher as drug mules use co...

The fraud and corruption case against former president Jacob Zuma and his co-accused the French arms manufacturer, Thales, is back in the Pietermaritzburg high court today (Tuesday). But his office has confirmed to the SABC that Zuma will not attend the court as he is not well. The two lost their bid to appeal to a judgement for a permanent stay of prosecution last year. Their application for leav...

Today marks the 20th anniversary of World Cancer Day - a global initiative led by the Union for International Cancer Control, aimed at supporting the cancer community and ensuring that cancer continues to be a priority in the world health and development agenda. This as 8.2 million people die from cancer world wide each year, out of which 4 million are considered premature deaths with ages 30 to 6...

Some air travellers arriving at the O. R Tambo International airport say the screening for the Corona virus is not an inconvenience but a necessary health precaution. Officials from the national health department and the SANDF health personnel have started screening international air passengers arriving at the airport for the deadly virus. Over 300 people are now known to have died from the virus...