First Take SA

The highly-anticipated Nelson Mandela Bay Council meeting is currently underway in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape. Among the items in the agenda is the motion of no confidence against Mayor Athol Trollip and Speaker Jonathan Lawack. The motion has been tabled by Patriotic Alliance's Marlon Daniels and seconded by UDM's Mongameli Bobani. The PA also want the vacant position of Deputy Mayor fill...

Council meetings are under way in both the Johannesburg and Mandela Bay Metros, at which motions of no confidence will be debated in the DA's Mayor Herman Mashaba and Mayor Athol Trollip respectively. The ANC is bringing the motion in Johannesburg and the Patriotic Alliance and UDM, in Port Elizabeth. Tsepiso Makwetla spoke to our reporter Tshepo Phagane.

The ANC's Free State provincial conference cannot go ahead this weekend as scheduled. This after the High Court in Bloemfontein ruled that the party's general branch meetings held over the past few months were irregular and unconstitutional. The conference cannot go ahead until branch general meetings, which were declared unlawful, are rerun. Tsepiso Makwetla spoke to Free state ANC spokesperson T...

Some of Africa's leading academics seek to answer questions concerning constitutions and democracy in Africa , in a book launched during the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa 's 12th annual symposium looking at State Capture as an obstacle to Democracy in Africa. The book entitled 'Checks and balances: African constitutions and democracy in the 21st century', focuses on Afric...

ANC Chief Whip in Parliament Jackson Mthembu has laid a complaint with the party's Secretary General asking him to investigate five MPs regarding last night's state capture debate on ANN7 . ANC Caucus Spokesperson Nonceba Mhlauli dismissed the five ANC MPs claims that Mthembu colluded with the DA to allow the debate to be held at the Da's request. Tsepiso Makwetla spoke to ANC Caucus Spokesperson...

Lawyers for Solidarity and DA earlier today told the high court in Pretoria that former Eskom CEO Brian Molefe did not qualify for retirement pension benefits. They've argued in their submission before the full bench of judges that Molefe was not a full time employee when he resigned from Eskom, and therefore not a member of the pension fund. The parties wants Molefe's 30 million-rand pension payo...

Rating agency Moody's has downgraded Eskom earlier today citing the power utility's financial and liquidity woes and poor governance. Moody's downgraded Eskom's long term corporate family rating and placed the power utility on review for a further downgrade. This means that Eskom will find increasingly difficult to get funding and if it does, it will have to borrow at a higher interest rate. S&P G...

The Independent Electoral Commission in the Free State says they haven't received any complaint or objection from political parties over the Metsimaholo Municipal election re-run. The SACP and the EFF claim there have been irregularities at some voting stations today. The municipality is holding elections to appoint a new council after a coalition including the DA and EFF collapsed earlier this ye...

The ANC's Free State provincial conference cannot go ahead this weekend as scheduled. This after the High Court in Bloemfontein ruled that the party's general branch meetings held over the past few months were irregular and unconstitutional. The conference cannot go ahead until branch general meetings, which were declared unlawful, are rerun. Tsepiso Makwetla spoke to Dr Somadoda Fikeni, a Politic...

Derek Matyszak of the Institute for Security Studies spoke to Tsepiso Makwetla about the recent unfolding events in Zimbabwe. Mr Matyszak was speaking during the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa EISA's 12th annual symposium, looking at 'State Capture as an obstacle to Democracy in Africa'.

Sibusiso Nkomo from the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation and Afrobarometer spoke to Tsepiso Makwetla about the perceptions of systematic corruption and the corrosion of democratic culture and institutions. Mr Nkomo was speaking to Ms Makwetla at the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa, EISA's 12th annual symposium, looking at 'State Capture as an obstacle to Democracy i...

The Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA) is currently holding its 12th annual symposium, looking at 'State Capture as an obstacle to Democracy in Africa'. The two-day symposium will examine the phenomenon of 'State capture' and its impact on democratic consolidation in Africa. Tsepiso Makwetla spoke to Prof John Stremlau of the University of Witwatersrand and EISA board m...

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta was on Tuesday sworn in for a second and final term vowing to unite all Kenyans at a ceremony attended by thousands of jubilant supporters but boycotted by the opposition. His inauguration marked the end of a long drawn out electoral process that has left the country divided. His message was however largely ignored by the opposition who held a parallel rally in the...

The Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA) is currently holding its 12th annual symposium, looking at State Capture as an obstacle to Democracy in Africa'. The two-day symposium will examine the phenomenon of 'State capture' and its impact on democratic consolidation in Africa. The discussion has been motivated in large by recent developments in the South African political...

President Jacob Zuma has directed Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba to identify concrete measures to urgently address the South Africa's economic challenges. The directive comes after Standard and Poor's Global Ratings downgraded the country's long-term local currency rating to junk status. Zuma wants Gigaba, the presidential fiscal committee and the National Treasury to look for ways to cut expendit...

The ANC Chief Whip, Jackson Mthembu has called on law enforcement authorities to investigate the allegations of a bribe offered to the evidence leader of parliament's inquiry into Eskom, Advocate Nthuthuzelo Vanara. This follows, reports by weekend papers, that State Security Minister Bongani Bongo allegedly wanted to bribe advocate Vanara in an attempt to derail an inquiry into state capture by t...

The country's top CEOs have vowed to create one hundred thousand jobs in 2018. The CEOs are currently meeting at a Job Summit at Sandton's Maslow Hotel to address the issue of youth unemployment. Tsepiso Makwetla spoke to Sunil Geness, the President and Director of the Information Technology Association (ITA)

Thirty defaulting municipalities, including Emfuleni in Gauteng and Mangaung in the Free State will have their bulk water supply restricted unless they settle outstanding debts to the Department of Water and Sanitation. The department will also be writing to treasury to ask that money due to these municipalities be withheld until they make some sort of payment arrangement. The department is curren...

The country's top CEOs across different sectors will be hosting the Jobs summit in Sandton's Maslow Hotel on monday , to address possible job creation for young people. It's been reported that 700 000 matriculates will graduate, and more than half of them will be unemployed. Benjamin Moshatama spoke to Dennis George, secretary general, the Federation of Unions of South Africa (fedusa)

Time for our Open Mic feature. Today we profile the beautiful voice behind the theme songs on Mzansi Magic's Lockdown, Nelisiwe Phaith Sibiya, self proclaimed Queen of Maskandi. Ronald Phiri spoke to Nelisiwe about how she became the voice of that gripping drama series

Time now for our weekly edition of TRENDSWATCH where we take a look at news that dominated social media this week. Our producer Molebogeng Sebidi

New Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa has emphasized that his first task will be to revive the ailing economy of his country. Mnangagwa was officially sworn in as the 3rd President Of Zimbabwe. This follows the resignation of former President Robert Mugabe earlier this week, after being at the helm for 37 years. Benjamin Moshatama spoke to Isaac Khomo, a journalist at Channel Africa.

This week Parliament passed the bill that paves the way for the health promotions levy (formerly called the sugar tax) to become law and will come into effect on 1 April 2018. A task team will monitor the implementation of the health promotion levy to assess its effectiveness. Benjamin Moshatama spoke to Treasury's Deputy Director-General on Tax and Financial Sector Policy, Ismail Momoniat

The National Credit Regulator (NCR) has advised consumers to avoid getting caught by sales gimmicks and approach Black Friday offers with a level head. The common American tradition of extremely low prices in stores has become popular in South Africa as customers prepare for the festive. The Credit Regulator says consumers should not give in to "impulse buying and avoid being tempted by the flood...

The South African Reserve Bank has decided to keep the interest rate unchanged at 6.75% per annum. Announcing the decision on the repo rate this afternoon in Pretoria, Governor Lesetja Kganyago added that the prime lending rate will also remain at 10.25%. Benjamin Moshatama spoke to Jana van Deventer, the Head of Financial Markets at ETM Analytics