The Daily Discourse

On Monday we received a call during the open line from Mamphego who painted a very heart-breaking picture of a hospital next to where he lives. He spoke about his encounter with security guards who told him that the hospital was closed in the evening. Let’s take a listen to what he said… Guest: Neil Shikwambana – Spokesperson for the Limpopo Health Department

  We touch base now with Jack Devnarain who is the  chairman of South African Guild Actors. He got in touch with us wanting to explain the economic impact of the Copyright Amendment Bill. The debate is still raging on as to whether it should be scrapped in its entirety of just some parts. Let’s get the perspective of the acting industry as they are the ones who may be severely affe...

  Yesterday when I opened the programme, I had a brief mention of the education situation in the Eastern Cape with reports of outstanding textbooks. On Tuesday the Grahamstown High Court ordered the province’s Department of Education to provide all outstanding textbooks and stationery to public schools by the 30th of March. Well let’s hear now from the department as to why it had...

  A report released by Human Rights Watch has revealed that Judicial authorities in Rwanda are prosecuting opposition members, journalists, and commentators on the basis of their speech and opinions. As the country prepares to host the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, scheduled to take place in June, the global rights group is urging the international community to take a stand and pr...

On our health feature this morning we look at the subject of abscesses and boils. If you’ve ever experienced a boil, you would know how uncomfortable and itchy it can get. What are the main causes and what is the best way to treat them? To educate us on this subject, we are joined on the line by….     Guest: Dr Bhadarashil Modi - Specialist family physician at the Joburg Med...

The Department of Social Development is today (Wed) and tomorrow (Thursday) holding a teenage pregnancy stakeholder engagement in KZN. This is one of the provinces with the high prevalence of teenage pregnancy in the country. We use this opportunity now to look at how we can better deal with this problem and what are the underlying factors that we could attribute this problem to? To help us naviga...

The Competition Commission says that it has referred Facebook owner Meta Platforms to a tribunal for allegedly abusing its dominance in the market. On Monday, the regulator accused Meta of "abusing its dominance by engaging in exclusionary conduct geared at preventing competitors or potential competitors from entering into, participating, and expanding in a market. Guest: Eldrid Jordaan - CEO of G...

This morning our Municipal Watch feature with speak to the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs about the state of municipalities and the role they play in helping them not to collapse. As far as they are concerned, where does the problem lie and how can municipalities self-sustain? Where does Cogta come in especially where the situation is dire like in some of the province...

With the cost of living rising enormously, Bryan is this morning again discussing the importance of drawing up a budget and how you go about doing this….   Guest: Bryan Hirsch, Chairperson of Bryan Hirsch, Colley & Associates (Pty) Limited

Yesterday towards the end of the show we received a call from a caller by the name Mpho from Soweto who spoke about how SCD is built around racial lines and not really uplifting entrepreneurs. Let’s take a listen to what he had to say…. Guest: Rakgadi Motseto – Chief Director: Stakeholders and Clients Management at National Treasury

Abahlali Basemjondolo say that they believe that their members are deliberately being targeted. This follows the death of one of their leaders Ayanda Ngila at the eKhenana commune in KwaZulu-Natal last week. They go on to say that they have lost six members in eKhenana to targeted assassinations. To tell us more and what they suspect is going on and who may be targeting them, we are joined on the...

  In week two of our series of interviews with Treasury that aims to simplify the concept of procurement. Today we look at the drop in compliance by service providers, especially on tax and banking accounts. Also the misalignment to what is registered for on the CSD and where government is heading towards building the economy and ensuring that we manufacture locally. To discuss this further,...

  Professor Saths Cooper penned an article over the weekend highlighting the racist element in the Russian/Ukrainian war that is currently playing out. He is bringing in the role of the UN, racism shown against the black students who were fleeing the war to safety and the attitude of the world towards human rights violations. He goes on to argue that the unjust colonial system in operation at...

  As the Covid-19 pandemic continues around the world, more than 130 former world leaders, Nobel laureates and other international voices are calling for urgent action to vaccinate low and middle-income countries.  In a letter coordinated by the People’s Vaccine Alliance, these leaders say that they would like to see an end to the pandemic. They are also calling for profits to...

Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe says three ministers, himself, the minister in the presidency and the public enterprise minister are having sleepless nights due to load shedding in the country. He says his ministry needs to work with independent power producers in order to try and address the power outage problem. Looking at how far back we come with the problem of load-shedding, what are the pract...

    Today we are joined on the Friday Wind Down by multi-talented Mbuso Khoza who is not only a brilliant award-winning vocalist but also a songwriter, and he has recently started a television career as an actor. Khoza may be known as a Jazz artist but he has been experimenting with other sounds. He joins us now on the line to tell us more about his life and musical journey.   Guest...

The Socio-Economic Rights Institute (SERI) has expressed concern about the progress in the Implementation of the Marikana Panel Report on Policing and Crowd Management.  The statement came on the 1st anniversary of Mthokozisi Ntumba who was shot dead by the police during a Wits University student protest while on his way to work. The South Africa Police Service has come under intense criticis...

  The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, in collaboration with the Northern Cape Provincial Government, is hosting a two-day Mining Investment Conference in Kimberley. The hybrid conference which started yesterday (Thursday), brings together various stakeholders in the mining industry, including government, captains of the mining industry, and potential investors to deliberate on the...

Let’s tell you now about this research that has revealed that heavy episodic drinkers consumed more alcohol than usual during both increased and decreased lockdown restrictions and reported drinking more alcohol. This, say, is because they felt stressed, felt a need to relax, and felt bored. The researchers conclude by saying that limiting alcohol sales or imposing alcohol sales restrictions...

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, in collaboration with the Northern Cape Provincial Government, is hosting a two-day Mining Investment Conference in Kimberley. The hybrid conference which started yesterday (Thursday), brings together various stakeholders in the mining industry, including government, captains of the mining industry, and potential investors to deliberate on the divers...

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, in collaboration with the Northern Cape Provincial Government, is hosting a two-day Mining Investment Conference in Kimberley. The hybrid conference which started yesterday (Thursday), brings together various stakeholders in the mining industry, including government, captains of the mining industry, and potential investors to deliberate on the divers...

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, in collaboration with the Northern Cape Provincial Government, is hosting a two-day Mining Investment Conference in Kimberley. The hybrid conference which started yesterday (Thursday), brings together various stakeholders in the mining industry, including government, captains of the mining industry, and potential investors to deliberate on the divers...

    Medical experts who rendered service to the Road Accident Fund say they have become collateral damage as the organisation tries to internalise its processes. The doctors have allegedly been told that they will not be paid for their services because the previous panel of attorneys was not authorised to do so. For clarity on this we are joined on the line by… Guest: Mariette Min...

  This morning we are talking about Ozone Therapy. What is it, how is it used and what about its efficacy? For more about this alternative medicine practice we are joined on the line by… Guest: Paul Honeyford – Managing Director at Windsor Health

As South Africa battles to fight the scourge of sexual violence, victims are getting little recourse as justice is delayed. There is a reported backlog of more than 15 600 cases, an increase from the same period last year. For more on this we are joined on the line by… Guest: Ngaa Murombezi – Advocacy Manager at Women and Men Against Child Abuse