First Take SA

The ANC seems to be speaking in different tongues when it comes to the issue of the Reserve Bank. Earlier the party's Secretary General Ace Magashule said they want to expand to mandate of the central bank to include employment and economic growth. But some senior members have voiced their opposition, warning that such a statement creates policy uncertainty and could negatively affect investor con...

Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi has called for the review of the South African School's Act as it currently allows for troubled teens to simply be shifted to a new school without being properly rehabilitated. Lesufi was responding to the stabbing which led to the death of a Grade 10 learner from Forest high in Turfontein, Johannesburg. Lesufi says moving a troubled learner from one school to...

The South African Transport and Allied Workers Union - SATAWU - is demanding an end to salary disparities between white and black workers in South Africa's ports. SATAWU alleges that the wage gap runs in margins of around 500-thousand rands a year between black and white mariners. Negotiations to resolve this between the union and the Transnet National Ports Authority have since collapsed, threate...

The number of ministers has been reduced from 36 to 28. President Cyril Ramaphosa said his cabinet is a mixture of experience, continuity and regional diversity. The biggest surprise is the appointment of GOOD party leader, Patricia De Lille as minister of Public Works and Infrastructure Development

ANC Deputy President David Mabuza has been sworn in as a Member of Parliament at the Sefako Makgatho Presidential Guesthuse in Pretoria. Last week, Mabuza requested that his swearing in be postponed to allow him to respond to the ANC's Integrity Commission report. The report outlined allegations of corruption levelled against him while he was still premier of Mpumalanga.

The African Transformation Movement has also weighed in on the matter between Former Public Eneterprise Minister Pravin Gordhan and Public Protector Adv Busisiwe Mkhwebane by calling on parliament to urgently probe Gordhan's fitness to be a member of Parliament.

The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation has come out in support of Public Enterprises Minister, Pravin Gordhan. Gordhan was also cited by the Public Protector, Adv Busisiwe Mkhwebane for violating the constitution and she instructed President Ramaphosa to take disciplinary action against him. The Kathrada Foundation, has questioned the timing of Mkhwebane's report, citing an alleged agenda on the part of th...

There continues to be wide spread speculation over who will form part of President Cyril Ramaphosa's new cabinet. This as the presidency has announced that the names of those individuals will only be made public later in the week and not today as earlier expected. President Ramaphosa says the new executive should possess the required skills, experience, representivity and a commitment to the publi...

The cash-strapped Makanda Municipality in the Eastern Cape is optimistic that it will find a lasting solution with the Gift of the Givers which has been assisting the drought-stricken Makhanda with water sourcing. The Gift of the Givers has announced that it was withdrawing its services after the Department of Water and Sanitation refused to pay service providers used by the organisation. The foun...

Residents of Makana Municipality in the Eastern Cape have taken to social media to express their dismay at reports that aid organisation - The Gift of the Givers - is pulling out of the water-scarce area. This follows reports that the Municipality, which hosts Makhanda - formerly known as Grahamstown - is seeking to employ a company in order to deal with the water challenges in the area. Gift of t...

The Automobile Association says the latest fuel price data from the Central Energy Fund shows an unstable fuel price picture and another possible fuel hike next month. The AA has also warned consumers that the forthcoming Carbon Tax due for introduction on June 5 will add an additional nine cents a litre to the petrol price, and ten cents to the diesel price.

Users are being urged to update their WhatsApp smartphone apps immediately because of a security bug that allows hackers to take over phones by simply calling, whether or not the call is answered. The vulnerability reportedly enabled attackers to install surveillance software on smartphones by ringing up targets using the app's phone call function. The messenger and Voice over application is used...

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) is today expected to officially hand over the lists of designated members of Parliament and members of Provincial Legislatures to Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng following the recent elections. The Chief Justice will in turn hand over the National Assembly list to the Acting Secretary to Parliament in preparation for the first sitting of the National Assemb...

Former employees of Lily Mine and community members in Barberton, Mpumalanga have threatened to go underground to retrieve remains of three miners that were trapped three years ago. Pretty Nkambule, Solomon Nyerenda and Yvonne Mnisi were inside a metal container when the mine surface caved in. The former employees have been camping at the mine for more than a week, calling on the mine management a...

Gauteng parents will only be able to register their Grade 1 and 8 learners online next week Monday. This after a number of organisations raised objections to the start of the process TODAY (monday 13/05). Gauteng MEC Panyaza Lesufi has postponed the online registration process saying that he will meet with these organisations in the week leading up to the new date.

Elvis Presslin spoke to the Executive Chair of the Instiute for Elections Management Services in Africa , Terry Tselane on his views of the 2019 general election

The ANC will still be the ruling party after the national elections tomorrow ( Wednesday) and the DA will be the official opposition in the country. That's according to the latest research findings published by market research company Ipsos. The survey also predicts that the EFF should be the official opposition in Limpopo and North West provinces.

National Education Health and Allied Workers Union NEHAWU and the IEC have resolved the impasse regarding organisational structure and other issues - including staff remuneration - just a day before the general election. This means the poll will go ahead on Wednesday across the country without hinderance. NEHAWU says it pushed the IEC to commit to the agreement that was reached at the Electoral Co...

As political parties were out in full force on the final weekend of campaigning before election day on Wednesday -- some political analysts and observers believe this year's campaigns were not as visible as in the previous elections. They attribute the decline in the ANC's campaign to the party's political infightings and factionalism. But, there is also belief that the EFF has improved in their c...

Over seven hundred thousand South Africans will cast their special vote today and tomorrow ahead of the May 8th election. The Independent Electoral Commission says the elderly, sick, disabled and pregnant voters who are unable to make their way to voting stations will be visited at their homes for the special vote if they applied for it.

People who deface election party posters could face a sentence of five to ten years imprisonment. This is according to IEC Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo. It comes in response to the vandalism of party posters ahead of the May 8th elections

Activists from the Cape Town based pressure group 'Reclaim the City' yesterday invaded the Green Point Bowling Green in the mother city demanding that the property to be used for affordable housing, The activists dug foundations and layed bricks for several new homes on the property which includes the bowling greens, vacant fenced-off land and two clubhouses

The International Association of Athletics Federation - IAAF - has welcomed the Court of Arbitration for Sport's dismissal of Caster Semenya's appeal against the introduction of regulations to restrict testosterone levels in female athletes. But the decision has been met with disappointment locally by South Africans who feel its unfair.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation is today heading to the Equality Court seeking an order restricting the public display of the old Apartheid flag. The Foundation contends that displays of the Apartheid flag that serve no genuine academic or artistic purpose

Almost 30-thousand South Africans living abroad have cast their votes for this year's national general elections. Most took to social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to express their joy and excitement at the opportunity to exercise their democratic right. London had the highest number of registered voters living abroad with just over nine-thousand while Dubai followed with just over...