First Take SA

Nigeria's consul general, Adama Godwin, has confirmed that his government will soon start the process of repatriating more than six hundred of it's citizens back to Nigeria. This follows the announcement by the African Diaspora Forum's that it too had received over 400 requests from foreign nationals who hail from Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi who wish to be assisted with returning to their home...

Today) is International Gynaecological Awareness Day and health NGO, Right to Care, has called on communities to continue sharing knowledge and raising awareness about cervical cancer screening and HPV vaccinations. The organisation says only half of South African women are screened for cervical cancer at the recommended intervals, with Pap Smear screening lower amongst the poor and those living w...

Some foreign nationals in Katlehong, east of Johannesburg, say they are ready to abandon their pursuit of a better life in South Africa and go back to their countries of origin. About 800 foreign nationals have been displaced by last week's xenophobic attacks in Katlehong, and are being sheltered at community halls in the township. They were uprooted from their homes at the Mandela informal settle...

Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) says it hopes to meet with Minister of Police Bheki Cele to discuss a coordinated response to the wave of attacks on businesses in Gauteng. Busa has condemned the violent protests across the province where foreign-owned businesses were vandalised and looted.

South Africa has avoided a recession. The country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 3.1 percent in the second quarter of 2019. The first quarter GDP numbers recorded a decline of 3.2 percent. GDP data released by Stats SA showed that mining, manufacturing, finance and real estate showed positive growth, while agriculture, forestry and fishing continued to shrink

Police continue to monitor hot spots across Johannesburg and Pretoria. This follows the widespread looting of foreign-owned shops in Tembisa, Pretoria, Germiston, Malvern, Turfontein and the Johannesburg CBD. Police fired teargas, rubber bullets and stun grenades and arrested more than 90 people. Meanwhile, the ANC has condemned the violence and classified it as mere 'acts of criminality'. ANC Sec...

The 42 year old man arrested following the disappearance of a University of Cape Town student has been charged with murder rape and defeating the ends of justice. 19 year old Uyinene Mrwetyana disappeared more than a week ago. Meanwhile, boxing champion Leighandre "Baby Lee" Jegels was gunned down by her ex-boyfriend in the Eastern Cape. This as a six-year-old Amy-Lee de Jager is still missing aft...

Members belonging to the National Truck Drivers' Foundation have called for a nationwide strike today in response to trucking companies taking them to court for allegedly burning trucks. The foundation is also lobbying against the alleged employment of foreign nationals.

Business owners whose shops were looted in Malvern east of Johannesburg this morning are counting their loses. An estimated 50 shops have been looted and over 50 vehicles burnt after a group of people went on the rampage. Some of the shops were also burned. Over 30 people have now been arrested. The motive for the looting is not yet known. The looting incidents started in nearby Jeppestown yesterd...

Fear and anxiety are mounting in the student community as investigations into the disappearance of a 19-year-old University of Cape Town student continue. Police say Uyinene Mrwetyana was last seen last Saturday afternoon when she left her Roscommon House residence in Claremont. Mrwetyana family has enlisted the services of private investigator Noel Pratten to help with the search. Two more privat...

A report released by corruption watchdog Corruption Watch has revealed that South African police are the most corrupt public servants. The report also shows that for the first time, corruption in the police has overtaken other sectors such as schools, health and local government. It identifies abuse of power and bribery as the leading forms of corruption in the police.

The KhoiSan6 protest at the UNION BUILDING which was initiated by the KhoeSan Walkers from Port Elizabeth, has lost all moral direction and is now effectively leaderless and should be closed down immidiately. This is according to a leading KhoiSan Activist who says that the protest has sadly now become a cause for negative divisions, that it is no longer educating South Africa about the plight of...

African Global Operations, formerly known as Bosasa, has urged the public and the media to give Gavin Watson's family space and time to grieve after the politically-connected businessman's death. In a brief statement to the media, AGO confirmed the death of their Chief Executive, Gavin Watson. He died yesterday morning when his car hit a concrete barrier on the R21 at the entrance to OR Tambo Airp...

Four people have been killed in a cooking oil tank explosion in Roodekop, Germiston, on Gauteng's East Rand. Ekurhuleni Emergency Services spokesperson, William Ntladi says they responded to the incident, which happened afternoon, after reports of a blaze at the factory.

The leaked CR17 bank statements will once again come under the spotlight when President Cyril Ramaphosa appears before the National Assembly later today. This is the first time Ramaphosa will have to face oral questions in parliament since the details of the campaign funding became public. EFF leader Julius Malema is set to ask the president about details of people in the Office of the President a...

Johannesburg Mayor, Herman Mashaba has hit back at ANC chairperson in the region, Geoff Makhubo, labelling him as one of the most corrupt public servants in the region. Mashaba will today face a motion of no confidence brought by the ANC but he maintains that this is a smoke-screen to prevent him from revealing evidence of alleged corruption that amounts to almost 34 Billion rands within the City...

GOOD party leader Patricia de Lille has welcomed Pretoria High Court judgement which set aside the findings of the Seriti Commission into the arms deal. Judge President Dunstan Mlambo found that the commission failed to probe certain pieces of crucial evidence. De Lille who blew the whistle on the controversial arms deal 20 years ago, says the ruling is important as it demonstrates that no one is...

SABC Board Chairperson, Bongumusa Makhathini, says the public broadcaster is preparing court papers, and will not comment further on the SIU Report until the papers have been lodged in court. The board says it will support the application by the Special Investigating Unit to have the contract between the public broadcaster and Mafoko Security Patrols reviewed and set aside. In a report released ye...

DA leader Mmusi Maimane is threatening to go to court to halt the processing of the National Health Insurance Bill in Parliament. The Bill was tabled in Parliament last week and it has now been referred to the Health Portfolio Committee.

New mayors for eThekwini and uMsunduzi municipalities as well as other ANC political office bearers will be announced within seven days. This follows a decision by the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal to overhaul its entire political leadership in the two municipalities. Among those axed are embattled eThekwini mayor, Zandile Gumede, and Themba Njilo - mayor of KwaZulu-Natal's capital city, uMsunduzi. The ANC...

Police Minister, Bheki Cele, together with International Relations and Cooperation Minister, Dr. Naledi Pandor, have urged people to stop confusing the fight against crime with xenophobia. This after more than 600 foreign nationals were arrested during police raids in the Johannesburg CBD - some, allegedly, for selling counterfeit goods.

COSATU says government has also contributed to unemployment with its back door retrenchments. The labour federation says government and business must not use Fourth Industrial Revolution as an excuse for rising unemployment.

The ANC NEC also resolved that Gauteng road users should pay for E-Tolls. This despite Premier David Makhura's insistence that the call to scrap E-Tolls was not an electioneering gimmick.

Representatives of the South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) and the City of Tshwane are still locked in a meeting over a wage dispute. Hundreds of protesting municipal workers gathered outside Tshwane House in Centurion demanding an 18 percent salary increase, which the union claims was granted to group heads but excluded lower-level employees. The protest brought some areas in the capita...

KhoiSan Revolution Party's Stanley Peterson says they are preparing to approach the courts to get Khoisan land back that was taken before 1913. Peterson says they want part of the Eastern Cape, part of KZN and the whole of the Western Cape