First Take SA

Retail giant Woolworths has been ordered by the Constitutional Court to re-instate 44 full time employees whom it had retrenched when they refused to work on a flexible-time working arrangement. The ConCourt found that this was substantively unfair and that Woolworths had failed to consider alternatives to retrenchment.

Home Affairs Minister, Malusi Gigaba, is this morning (Tuesday 6/11) expected to brief Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs, on the decision to grant the Oppenheimer family permission to operate a private terminal at the OR Tambo International Airport. The Committee wants the Minister to clarify contradictions between statements he made before them and statements he made more recently....

The Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, John Jeffreys, says if government is to improve it's efforts to fight human trafficking there must be an intergrated information system. He was speaking at a Trafficking in Persons summit in partnership with the South African Human Rights Commission and the Conference of Western Attorneys General. The latter has established a partnersh...

Worker Unions have pledged to fight to the bitter end in the ongoing rentrenchments saga at the SABC. Last week, the public broadcaster announced over two-thousand planned retrenchments. Unions have planned Black Wednesday and a national picket on Friday in protest of the looming retrenchments. Meanwhile, according to the World Economic Forum, South Africa has the worst labour-employee relations i...

The Socialist Revolutionary Workers Party registered by Numsa over the weekend says the working class should lead the economy and determine the country's destiny. The party is however yet to decide if it intends on contesting next year's general elections after being given the thumbs-up by the IEC to register as a political party. Meanwhile, former Cape Town mayor, Patricia De Lille may also start...

United States will reimpose oil sanctions on Iran removed under the 2015 nuclear deal with effect from today (Monday). Iranians chanted ''death to America'' and burned the American flag yesterday (Sunday), as the anniversary of the 1979 seizure of the U.S. embassy coincided with the eve of reimposed sanctions. South Africa has strong trade relations with both countries, with the US being South Afr...

TALKING POINTS *** Rwanda has launched the first Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP) in Africa, opening doors for small businesses in continent to take part in cross-border electronic *** Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) commissioners to hire independent forensic experts to look into the missing biometric voter registration kit *** In Zimbabwe the price of bread is set to marginally rise to $1...

President Cyril Ramaphosa says part of the reasons for the immediate termination of the appointment of SARS Commissioner, Tom Moyane is his refusal to meaningfully participate in the Nugent Commission in order to assist with identifying the root causes of the systemic failures at the SARS. Ramaphosa says he accepts the recommendation of the chair of the commission, retired judge Robert Nugent, to...

The ANC in Gauteng will today lead what they are calling a 'People's March' to the Union Buildings in Pretoria in protest against e-tolls, corruption, fuel hikes and VAT increases. The march will be joined by alliance partners COSATU, SACP and SANCO, civic society organisations as well as members of the public. The protest comes after finance minister Tito Mboweni‚ in his first medium-term budget...

Cape Town Mayor, Patricia de Lille, resigned as both mayor and a member of the DA, YESTERDAY (wednesday 31 October). De Lille is expected to announce her next career move in two weeks' time. Speculation was rife that she would defy an agreement reached with the party two months ago to step down as mayor. She signed her resignation letter on the steps of the Cape Town High Court and two more DA cou...

The Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has recommended that President Cyril Ramaphosa take disciplinary action against Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba. This after Mkhwebane found that Gigaba had violated the Constitution and the Executive Ethics code by lying under oath when he said he had not approved a private air terminal for the Oppenheimer family in early 2016. Gigaba was afforded an opp...

Over the last few weeks, the Angolan government has expelled over 300,000 Congolese citizens from the country. 50,000 people are currently stranded at Kamako Border Post in Kasai Region of the Democractic Republic of Congo without the means to return home. Many of them are now getting assistance from the Red Cross. Tsepiso Makwetla spoke to Tendayi Sengwe, Communication Manager for Southern Africa...

TALKING POINT *** Kenya Airways completes first Nairobi-New York direct flight *** Tanzanian farmers stormed a meeting intending to find a solution to the stalemate over raw cashew nut prices *** The Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), which is owned by the Indian state, plans to invest up to 800 million US dollars in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in northern Mozambique

The SABC says it will approach the Labour Court to have irregular appointments and promotions declared invalid as first identified in the 2014 Public Protector's report. The public broadcaster says it has a legal obligation, in terms of the Constitution, to correct all these irregular appointments of certain employees, some of them no longer employed by the public broadcaster. Tsepiso Makwetla spo...

The Competition Commission has referred beef processing companies I&J and Karan Beef to the Competition Tribunal for prosecution for collusive conduct. The two companies have been charged with dividing markets in the supply of processed beef products such as beef burger patties, steak sizzlers, crumbed beef steaklet, viennas and boerewors. Tsepiso Makwetla spoke to Makgale Mohlala, Head of Cartels...

Police have confirmed that two toddlers and a baby are among the seven people killed in the fire in Karatara area of Knysna in the Western Cape. Wild fires have been raging in the George and Karatara area since last week, leading to evacuations yesterday. The fires have been fanned by strong winds and heat. More than 300 firefighters are on the ground battling the blazes. Tsepiso Makwetla spoke to...

Home Affairs Department Minister Malusi Gigaba claims the leak of a sexual video, is at the centre of blackmail and extortion attempts against him. The video which was circulating on social media early yesterday morning has been removed. In a number of tweets Gigaba apologised saying the video dates back to 2016/2017 and was only meant to be viewed by his wife. The minister also claims the video w...

DA leader, Mmusi Maimane, has reportedly retracted a statement he made in which he claimed that the five DA councillors who resigned from the City of Cape Town on Thursday, were implicated in tender irregularities and maladministration in the Bowman Gilfellan report. The City commissioned the report to investigate corruption. Shaun August, Suzette Little, Thulani Stemele, Gregg Barnardo and Siya M...

The South African Police Service (SAPS) has commenced with the process of re-enlisting former police officers. The re-enlistment is aimed at improving capacity in different SAPS divisions that are currently facing operational problems. Tsepiso Makwetla spoke to SAPS' General, Lenny Govender

TALKING POINTS: **** The Nigerian president, Muhammadu Buhari says he will no longer sign any treaty without assessing the impact it will have on its citizens **** Liberian President George Weah has cancelled tuition fees for undergraduate students in the West African country **** Ambassador Sahlework Zewde to Become Ethiopia's President replacing replacing the outgoing president, Dr. Mulatu Tesho...

DA leader in the Western Cape, Bonginkosi Madikizela says racism in South Africa manifests itself in all political parties. Madikizela was responding, YESTERDAY evening, to reasons given by now former chief whip of the DA in the Cape Town City council, Shaun August, that he is leaving the DA because of racism in the party. August together with four other councillors dramatically resigned yesterday...

Alliance partners expect newly appointed Finance Minister, Tito Mboweni, to not only give substance to the economic stimulus package announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa -- but also to boost confidence in the economy. The country entered a technical recession, plunging an already stagnant economy into deeper trouble. The former governor of the Reserve Bank will have his work cut out, as he navig...

SAMWU in Limpopo has called on the ANC to recall its deployees in the Vhembe District Municipality over links to the VBS Mutual Bank scandal. Municipal workers yesterday downed tools and forcefully removed the municipal manager, Reuben Rambado from office. Rambado, together with Executive Mayor, Florence Radzilani are amongst the implicated people in the Reserve Bank report tittled 'The Great Bank...

The Judge in the rape trial of controversial Nigerian pastor -- Timothy Omotoso -- has refused to recuse himself from the case, following a request by the defence for him to do so. Judge Mandela Makaula has agreed to postpone the case till Thursday, to allow the defence time to prepare its argument for an appeal. Omotoso and two co-accused are on trial in the Port Elizabeth High Court, and are fac...

TALKING POINTS: *** Paul Biya who has ruled Cameroon since 1982, won a landslide victory in a controversial presidential election *** The Bank of Mauritius has been conferred the Capital Finance International Award for Best Central Bank Governance *** Dispute between Tullow Oil and the Uganda government over a law governing taxation of the sale of shares