First Take SA

MEC for Community Safety in Gauteng, Faith Mazibuko has given law enforcement agencies in Elsburg, on Gauteng's East Rand, seven days to compile a report on the issue of drugs in the area. This as community members say they're fed up with the use of drugs in their area and are demanding action. Residents say they have had continuous meetings dating up to three months ago with police but nothing ha...

It still remains unclear whether the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa, PRASA, has made arrangements to pay off its debt of approximately 114 Million rands to the City of Cape Town. This after Rail Agency was given a deadline of this past weekend to pay up or face disconnection of services by today. Last month thousands of commuters were left stranded in Cape Town after Eskom cut electricity s...

The ANC in Tshwane has welcomed the decision by the Gauteng Provincial Government to dissolve the Tshwane metro. The metro has been placed under administration until a new council is elected in 90 days. Premier David Makhura told reporters in Johannesburg that the DA-led metro failed in its constitutional mandate to provide services to the citizens of Tshwane.

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has told the National Assembly that the country's first Coronavirus case was confirmed in Kwazulu Natal yesterday. He says the patient has been put in voluntary home quarantine. Mkhize revealed this as he was closing the debate of National Importance on South Africa's state of readiness to deal with the virus.

President Cyril Ramaphosa says government has informed the World Health Organisation of South Africa's first case of the deadly coronavirus. The National Institute for Communicable Diseases confirmed that a suspected case of COVID-19 has tested positive in KwaZulu-Natal. The patient is a 38-year-old man who had travelled to Italy with his wife. There has been over three-thousand 200 deaths related...

Criminal charges have been laid against educators at Parktown Boys High in Johannesburg. This follows the release of the report looking at the circumstances surrounding the death of Grade 8 learner, Enock Mpianzi in January at the school yesterday* (Wednesday). The report was finally made public despite media being kicked out of the meeting held at the school with parents. Mpianzi died after a mak...

South Africans living in China say they are afraid of returning home after reading threatening messages on social media from South African citizens in the country. This after, it was announced at the weekend that more than 150 South Africans living in the Chinese city of Wuhan would be repatriated within ten days. The expatriates will be quarantined for 21 days as a precautionary measure. While ma...

The District Six working committee is crying foul as the Western Cape high court is today set to hear minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane's application for leave to appeal a personal costs order that was granted against her in relation to the restitution for the people of District six. The High Court found that Nkoana-Mashabane was in contempt of the Land Claims Court for not complying with an order t...

Deputy President David Mabuza has cast serious doubt on the importance and need for Independent Power Producers saying they have not made any significant contribution to the power supply mix in the country. Mabuza was answering questions in the National Council of Provinces YESTERDAY. This is in sharp contrast to President Cyril Ramaphosa who, in his state of the nation address last month, committ...

Cosatu is adamant that it will not engage government's plans to cut the public wage bill at any forum outside the collective bargaining council. Speaking after attending a meeting of the ANC's National Working Committee at Luthuli House and a meeting between business, government and labour at NEDLAC yesterday, Cosatu General Secretary Bheki Ntshalintshali made it clear that plans to cut the wage b...

Analysts say while a technical recession was expected -- the contraction is far bigger than previously anticipated. This comes as figures released by Statistics South Africa show that the country's economy shrank by one-point-four percent in the fourth quarter of 2019 -- following a contraction of zero-point-eight percent in the third quarter of 2019. A recession is defined as two consecutive quar...

Excluded from evacuation plans, South Africans in other parts of China are making their own arrangements to return to the country. This after the inter-ministerial committee on SUNDAY announced that only citizens in Wuhan City, the epicentre of the CoronaVirus, are being brought home. 151 citizens are expected to be repatriated in the next few days, and will be quarantined for 21 days as a precaut...

Refugees have gathered near the Cape Town Central Police Station to hand themselves over for arrest. This, after the sheriff of the court gave them options either to get into buses that will take them to their homes, or face arrest for trespassing. They chose to be arrested.

Close to 300 foreign nationals have been removed from the street outside the Central Methodist Church in the Cape Town CBD. They have been living on the pavement along Burg and Longmarket Streets since October last year. A large group of law enforcement officers loaded the personal possessions of the foreign nationals onto trucks.

At least 151 South Africans, out of 201 - living in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the corona virus are expected to be repatriated by government in about ten days after the completion of the logistics. The inter-ministerial committee which includes the ministers of Health, Home Affairs, briefed the media on how the repatriation process will happen.

Passenger Rail Association of South Africa (Prasa) LAST NIGHT confirmed that train operations had returned to near normal. This after thousands of commuters were left stranded yesterday when Eskom cut off power to all metro-rail operations in Cape Town. PRASA says Eskom disconnected power to metrorail as a result of an overdue payment.

Finance minister, Tito Mboweni, in his budget speech on Wednesday, warned Religious Organisations to operate within the strict boundaries of the law to continue enjoying its tax exempt status. Mboweni highlighted that they will be keeping a close eye on non-compliance by some religious and public benefit organisations.

Insurance companies say they have picked up an increase in claims over the last few months. While the South African Insurance Association says they cannot pin this increase on loadshedding, the rise in claims has coincided with the re-introduction of loadshedding a few months ago. City Power also says only 10 claims they have had so far, were due to loadshedding.

Cosatu has accused Finance Minister Tito Mboweni of being irresponsible and reckless on his proposed cuts to the public sector wage bill. This came at a media briefing in Johannesburg following the conclusion of its Central Executive Committee meeting. The labour federation was responding to the minister's budget votes presented in Parliament on Wednesday and other issues affecting workers.

Debt servicing costs are among government's top four expenditure items in the 2020/21 budget allocations. This receives about 25 percent of the total expenditure, pushing it into fourth position on the list of allocations.

Government says tax revenue is expected to be significantly lower than the previous estimates. It says low growth and a weakened SARS have led to the 63-point-3 billion Rand projected revenue shortfall for 2019/2020- this is significantly higher than the revised shortfall of 52 billion Rands published in the 2019 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement. Government also says debt is unlikely to stabili...

The EFF has called for an inquiry into the removal of its MPL's during the Eastern Cape State of the Province Address in Bisho yesterday. The party says it finds it appalling that the speaker of the house, Helen Sauls August, called upon the house's security to forcibly remove EFF MPL's over their attire or dress code. Clad in their symbolic red-overalls, black boots and mine safety hats, the EFF...

Gauteng Premier David Makhura has told members of the Provincial Legislature that the Cannabis Sector will receive more attention from his government in the next five years as part of growing the economy. This follows an announcement by Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane last year that this sector will be prioritised by government in order to enhance job opportunities for the youth. Makhura says...

The second day in the trial of the televangelist Timothy Omotoso, saw the first witness, Andisiwe Dike continuing her testimony in the Port Elizabeth High Court. Dike gave details of how young women were allegedly sexually abused and intimidated by the accused. The thirty year old woman spent thirteen months in the church house of the Jesus Dominion International Church in Mhlanga north of Durban,...

The Commission for Gender Equality says forced and coerced sterilisation is a gross violation of women's human rights. The Commission released a report on forced sterilisation of women living with HIV in KwaZulu Natal and Gauteng. The Commission has revealed that women would be forced to sign consent forms under the guise that they were approving a ceasarian section and the nurses and doctors woul...