First Take SA

The Constitutional court has ruled that the City of Tshwane may replace Apartheid-era street names in the Pretoria CBD. The court's seminal judgment will no doubt influence future developments over controversial street name changes. Civil rights group, Afriforum says their fight is far from over, despite being dealt a blow by the highest court in the land.

Xikombiso Mashava from Johannesburg says she applied for a contract phone from mobile phone network provider MTN but the application was rejected. But months later she received a call and was told that she owes R8 000 and should start paying.

Municipal elections in South Africa are just over two weeks away, and levels of violent protest are increasing. Leading civil society organisations; the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation and the Institute for Security Studies, held a seminar in Pretoria today, on Understanding and responding to protest and election violence in South Africa. The seminar aims to help government, bu...

Angolan Refugees in South Africa are alleging that the Home Affairs Department is forcing them to go back to Angola even though some still face persecution and others are married to South Africans. They say in 2013 an agreement was reached between authorities from South Africa, Angola and the United Nations Commission for Refugess. Many Angolans were voluntarily expatriated while some were given t...

With 15 days to go to the polls for the fourth democratic local government elections on 03 August 2016, and only 13 days before the casting of special votes for home visitation and at voting stations, government plans are in place to deliver free and fair elections. This is the sentiment shared by the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on Elections that met today in Pretoria

The "fastest brother in Africa' is no more. Gugu Zulu died while trying to summit Africa's highest peak Mount Kilimanjaro, as part of the Trek4Mandela team. He had many roles including; motorsport driver and radio journalist, commercial manager, ambassador and TV presenter. To our SAfm listeners, he was the much loved Formula-One correspondent. Our Producer Aphiwe Honono pays tribute to the man in...

Occupier rights under the Extension of Security of Tenure Act or ESTA have been extended to the spouses of farmworkers, in a critical Constitutional Court decision. Seasonal farmworker, Elsie Klaase together with her family, are entitled to remain on Noordhoek farm in Citrusdal in the Western Cape. And although the court upheld the eviction of Elsie's husband, Jan, he may enjoy protection against...

Legal experts say it’s important for people who look after children whose parents have died to formalise their status as guardians in order to avoid legal complications. Tokollo Machea (not his real name) is from Phuthadithaba in the Free State. He says his 58-year old unemployed mother has been looking after his late brother’s daughter after both her parents died. The girl’s father Polelo Machea...

Violent protest action broke out in Meyerton this morning when municipal employees at the Midvaal Municipality barricaded roads with rocks and burning tyres. Public order police were dispatched to the area to deal with the violence that broke out at around 8am this morning.

The ANC has distanced itself from what they call policy changes at the SABC. Addressing the media at Luthuli House in Johannesburg, chairperson of ANC sub-committee on communication Jackson Mthembu says the party was not consulted on the policy changes at the broadcaster. The SABC has come under fire following editorial decisions not to show violent public protests and other decisions which have r...

Fifteen thousand jobs were lost in the first quarter of 2016. This is according to the StatsSA's quarterly employment survey, which shows that the job losses were across all sectors of the economy. This is a decline of 0.2 per cent in the formal employment of South Africa's economy. Gross earnings also declined by 4 per cent during the quarter from over 545 million rand to just over 523 million ra...

Tsepiso Makwetla speaks to Nontando Ngamlana, the Executive Director of Afesis-corplan about the Trend.

The high court of Pretoria has adjourned until tomorrow, wrapping up day one in the sentencing procedure of Oscar Pistorius. State prosecutor, Gerrie Nel, earlier questioned psychologist Jonathan Scholtz's objectivity after he refrained from including a prison report in his testimony that stated Pistorius had been verbally violent towards prison officials. Nel questioned why Scholtz only selected...

The SACP in KwaZulu-Natal has agreed to allow its provincial Secretary Themba Mthembu to take up the position of MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development. In a joint media briefing held in Durban, the ANC and the SACP have said Mthembu will take up the position following urgent bilateral talks between the parties. Questions arose earlier today when Mthembu did not attend the swearing in of the ot...

Northam Platinum has suspended operations at its Zondereinde mine following the deaths of two rival union members. Northam Mine says violence erupted after another worker had been shot dead in a nearby town on Sunday. Another has been stabbed to death in the on-going clashes. The platinum belt has been the battle ground for a membership turf war between the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and...

Both stillbirth and miscarriage are types of pregnancy loss, but they differ by when the loss occurs. A miscarriage (sometimes called a spontaneous abortion) is when a baby dies before the 20th week of pregnancy. Stillbirth is the death of a baby after the 20th week of pregnancy but before delivery. Researchers estimate that, among women who already know they are pregnant, nearly 15 percent will h...

ANC Branch Chairperson at Edendale outside Pietermaritzburg has been shot dead. Nathi Hlongwa was gunned down at IMbali Township in Pietermaritzburg after meeting with some party members. His killing comes just a day after Mpofana Municipality Chief Financial Officer Simo Mncwabe was shot dead. Both Mncwabe and Hlongwa are originally from Edendale. Last month two other ANC councilors were also sho...

A general household survey released by Statistics South Africa today reveals that almost a third of the population is now relying on social grants. There's been a steady increase over more than a decade from 12.7% of the population in 2003 to 30.1% percent in 2015. PM Live anchor Tšepiso Makwetla speaks to the Statistician General Pali Lehohla

The South Africa National Editors Forum has called on the SABC to review its decision not to broadcast footage of public property being destroyed during protests. The SABC argues that showing such material on its news bulletins and using sound on its radio stations, might encourage other communities to do the same. However, SANEF national chairperson Mpumelelo Mkhabela says the SABC could find cre...

Gauteng MEC for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) Paul Mashatile is this hour expected to visit Sekampaneng outside Hammanskraal where the community went on rampage yesterday. Two people were killed and three buses set alight as the community which protested against being evicted on a land owned by the City of Tshwane municipality. According to the police the situation remain...

After seven years on suspension more than 500 members of the South African National Defence Force can report back for duty. The follows the announcement by the chief of the National Defence Force, Solly Shoke to reinstate the soldiers who were suspended after they stormed the lawns of the Union Buildings, in a violent protest in 2009. The members have been on special leave, on full salaries, since...

N our Tech Talk feature this week...... In 2015, Nosipho Gamede founded GigNet Mobile App, South Africa's first and only fully integrated entertainment networking platform that allows for the interaction of multiple user groups in a single entertainment ecosystem. The Mobile App allows for entertainment consumers to view and track their favourite entertainers and more.

Mantshali Motijoane took her daughter’s relatively new tablet in for repairs at the Edgars Active store based at Clearwater Mall, west of Johannesburg, at the beginning of this year. This after it stopped functioning in December 2015. She says she could not take it to Edgars Active then, because of her December holiday programme. But now the gadget has seemingly disappeared.

Reserve Bank Governor, Lesetja Kganyago, has announced that the repo rate will remain unchanged at seven percent. This means that the prime lending rate remains steady at 10 point five percent. The move had been widely expected following Stats SA's announcement of better than expected inflation data. CPI slowed year on year to six point two percent in April. However Kganyago has voiced concern abo...

Former mine workers say today's ruling by the Johannesburg High Court that they can now bring a class action suit against mining companies to claim for compensation for contracting silicosis and TB is a first step towards justice. At least 200-thousand current and former gold miners and their families may join the class action.