First Take SA

July is South Africa's National Savings month. Over the next few weeks, we will be running educational features on how you can make your rand stretch and also save enough for rainy days. Today we are looking at debt consolidation. According to an article by MoneyWeb, over 16-thousand South Africans are signing up each month for debt review. The article further says since National Credit Act (NCA)...

The tripartite alliance is working towards a reconfigured alliance. A two-day political council meeting of the ANC and its tripartite alliance - of Cosatu, SACP and Sanco - ended in Johannesburg on Monday night, with a resolution to hold an alliance summit later this year. The alliance had been on shaky ground under the leadership of former ANC president, Jacob Zuma, with partners complaining of a...

Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs minister, Zweli Mkhize says the fifteen Limpopo municipalities that invested more than one billion rand with VBS Mutual Bank, have provided him with updated reports on forensic audits that led to the investments. The minister met with local and district municipal representatives in Polokwane as part of his oversight visit. He will also focus on issue...

Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago has announced that VBS retail customers will now be able to use Nedbank branches to withdraw their savings. 90 per cent of VBS retail customers will receive their savings through Nedbank branches from this Friday. These include individuals, stokvels and burial societies. The Reserve Bank says business depositors are not a priority at this point. Tsepiso Makwe...

The Democratic Alliance and the United Democratic Movement want Duduzane Zuma, the son of former President Jacob Zuma, to be summoned to parliament to answer on his role in allegations of state capture. Zuma was granted bail and his case postponed to next January. Tsepiso Makwetla spoke to political analyst at UNISA, Prof. Lesiba Tefo who says Duduzane Zuma is not a flight risk and seems to have b...

The Democratic Alliance and the United Democratic Movement want Duduzane Zuma, the son of former President Jacob Zuma, to be summoned to parliament to answer on his role in allegations of state capture. They say now that Duduzane is back in the country, he should appear before parliament to give testimony. However, Zukiswa Rantho - the Chairperson of the Public Enterprises Committee that is probin...

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa will be visiting Nigeria on Wednesday for the first time since taking over power from Jacob Zuma in February this year. Our correspondent Phil Ihaza, has more on this from the nation's capital Abuja.

SASSA workers are expected to report for work on Thursday after reaching an agreement with their employer to give negotiations another chance. Social Development Minister Suzan Shabangu had approached the Labour Court in Johannesburg to seek an interdict against the striking workers. However, the court struck the matter of the roll after parties agreed to re-open negotiations. Tsepiso Makwetla spo...

Afriforum has told the Parliament's Constitutional Review that it's not true that most of the land in the country is in the hands of white people. Afriforum raised this during the last day of public hearings on the possible amendment of Section 25 of the Constitution to allow for the expropriation of land without compensation, at Mhluzi Township in Middelburg in Mpumalanga. Eric Lubisi reports ...

Learner organisation COSAS has threatened to retaliate against teachers who continue to give corporal punishment. It says through its "Fight Fire with Fire" campaign, they will act against teachers who break the law. Corporal punishment was abolished in South African schools in 1997. The learner organisation also want Maths and Science to be taught in learners' mother-tongue. Angela Bolowana has m...

Uncertainty around social grant payments by the Post Office is sowing panic among beneficiaries, especially in rural areas. Recipients who have the new SASSA cards are being turned away from traditional pay points and are being told to collect their money from banks. Panicked beneficiaries have been queuing outside the Mthatha Post office, in the Eastern Cape, since the early hours of Wednesday, h...

The South African National Editors Forum, Media Monitoring Africa and the Support Public Broadcasting Coalition have raised concerns over the latest draft Critical Infrastructure Protection Bill. The organisations say as a national key point, the SABC is likely to be designated as critical infrastructure once the bill becomes law. This will allow for the security vetting of SABC's editorial staff....

July is National Savings month and over the next few weeks, FirstTakeSA will be running educational feautures on how you can make your rand stretch while also saving for rainy days. Today, we are looking at investments. According to an article published on Huffington Post, while South African millennials are better savers than their parents, they fail to invest enough for the long term. To find ou...

The Department of International Relations and Cooperation will embark on a nationwide awareness campaign, to educate citizens about consular services provided by South Africa's missions abroad. The initiative follows an increase in the number of incidents in which South Africans have been left distressed or arrested for criminal activities in foreign countries. South Africa has about 162 foreign m...

Although the first snow of the winter is melting, it has created several problems in the Eastern Cape. A number of mountain passes were closed on Monday . Motorists are however asked to remain cautious on the roads. The freezing weather has also created problems for stock farmers, especially emerging farmers. . Yanga Funani reports.

Striking drivers of the e-hailing taxi services Uber and Taxify have threatened to remain on strike until their demands are met. However, they did not proceed to Taxify's offices in Bryanston after handing over a memorandum of demands to Uber management in Krammerville near Sandton. They have given Uber until Thursday to respond to their demands. They want the 25-percent commission received by the...

Very cold conditions with snowfalls as well as wet and windy conditions are expected in areas over southern Free State and north-western KwaZulu-Natalon Tuesday. Snowfalls are also expected over the high-ground areas of the Eastern Cape‚ including the mountains between Willowmore and Joubertina‚ the Sneeuberg‚ Winterberg and Southern Drakensberg. Tsepiso Makwetla spoke to Sihle Kunene, SABC meteor...

UDM leader Bantu Holomisa is standing by the claims he made in an open letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa about alleged dodgy deals between the Public Investment Corporation and two investment companies, Lebashe and Harith General Partners. The companies' lawyers have demanded that he retract the allegations - saying they are baseless. Holomisa wants an investigation into why several individuals...

The start of the Premier Soccer League season has been thrown into disarray, following a court ruling in favour of Ajax Cape Town. The Johannesburg High Court has set aside the ruling of the arbitrator, William Makhari, on the Tendai Ndoro eligibility matter. According to Judge Denise Fischer's ruling, the recently-concluded National First Division play-off matches are declared invalid. Sifiso Ram...

Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister, Zweli Mkhize, says he expects to see consequences for those found to have deposited municipal funds into the controversial VBS Mutual Bank. He told the SABC News that his department has also initiated its own investigation. The Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) forbids municipalities from investing in a mutual bank. Tshepo Mongoai rep...

Very cold conditions with snowfalls as well as wet and windy conditions are expected in areas over southern Free State and north-western KwaZulu-Natalon Tuesday. Snowfalls are also expected over the high-ground areas of the Eastern Cape‚ including the mountains between Willowmore and Joubertina‚ the Sneeuberg‚ Winterberg and Southern Drakensberg. Tsepiso Makwetla spoke to Sihle Kunene, SABC meteor...

The ANC has vowed to make the drafting of its 2019 election manifesto an inclusive process. It held its manifesto consultative meeting over the weekend with its deployees in government comprising of ministers, their deputies, premiers and mayors among others. Last week, the party president Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the ANC's election workshop during which he urged South Africans to work with gover...

The price of Petrol and diesel will go up by 26 cents a litre on Wednesday. The energy department says the weak rand and international oil prices are the major contributing factors to the petrol price hike. Petrol will cost a record 16-Rand a litre. We are now joined on the line by Visvin Reddy, national convener of People Against Petrol and Paraffin Increases, an organisation that has urged motor...

The tax filing season has started in ernest. It has been cut by three weeks, which means that those who are eligible to submit their returns have until the end of October to do so. SARS is also urging taxpayers to submit their tax returns online, through the e-filing system. Tsepiso Makwetla spoke to SARS Spokesperson, Janine Mqulwana

Parliament's Constitutional Review Committee will on Monday begin its public hearings in Mbombela, Mpumalanga. These are part of nationwide public hearings on the possible amendment of Section 25 of the Constitution to make it possible for the state to expropriate land without compensation. Motsebi wa Monareng reports...