The Daily Discourse

guest: Advocate Thabo Mokoena - Director General Department Of Mineral Resources

guest: onsulting Engineers SA, CESA President Sugen Pillay

Focus: Today’s wind down guest does not need an introduction. He is one of those whose music speaks for itself. He is a jazz legend and if you know music, you will identify him by his guitar. If I say it’s been 20 years since Painted Faces, who would you say it is? Guest: Selaelo Selota – Jazz musician

The International Monetary Fund says the weak performance of State Owned Enterprises coupled with ongoing government bailouts are hampering South Africa's economic growth. The IMF has called on the country's government to speed up reforms to revive the economy. GUEST: Chief economist of the Efficient Group, Dawie Roodt

On our Health Slot this Thursday we are discussing Gene Editing. It is the modification of DNA sequences in living cells. Would you consider it? Many feel that this is interfering with God's laboratory. Scientists feel that altering your DNA may minimize the risk of passing cancer. What are the medical benefits of gene editing? GUEST: Dr Pheiffer, a biohacker, currently practicing at anti-ageing a...

It's not a secret anymore that households are suffering. These days’ in-house brands are selling out in supermarkets. Along this line, the Momentum/Unisa Household Net Wealth Index has revealed that South African households' real net wealth declined by R237.0 billion in Q3 2019 compared to Q2 2019, while it was R133.7 billion less in Q3 2018. How should we interpret this? GUEST: Johann van Tonder...

With the negative news around the retail sector and job cuts, one may assume that things are not looking too good for business in general. Analysists are not helping either as they give negative projections. Stats SA on the other hand shows that retail trade sales increased by 3.1% in November 2019 compared with October 2019. How is the retail sector riding the wave and making it under the tough e...

DA federal council chairperson Helen Zille says they will never again put the UDM's Mongameli Bobani in power in the Nelson Mandela Bay metro. Do Zille’s pronouncements not undermine the consultation process in the Nelson Mandela Bay, which was initiated by the DA Interim Leader with the UDM? Earlier on I spoke to UDM Leader, General Bantu Holomisa about how far the two parties are with their cons...

President Cyril Ramaphosa has outlined the tasks that lie ahead for South Africa's African diplomats as the country takes over the reins of the African Union next month. Speaking at the Africa Heads of Mission Conference at the Department of International Relations in Pretoria yesterday, Ramaphosa said that chairing the continental body will be a collective task entailing negotiation and consultat...

The North-West University is still closed today. This as the South African Union of students is intensifying calls for a national shutdown at public universities. Yesterday North-West University students were told to vacate the premises following outbreaks of violence… GUEST: Bafedile Moerane, SABC reporter in the North West GUEST: Sandile Dlamini, NEC Member of the South African Union of Students...

We use this opportunity now understand a Constitutional Court ruling that forces a minority union to accept a decision pushed by a majority union. Is it fair though that when a union negotiates a retrenchment agreement with an employer, should this be binding on employees who are not members of the union? One may agree as that’s how democracy works, majority rules. How should we interpret a ruling...

Last year six long distance taxi associations in Rustenburg clubbed together to establish a transport company and a cooperative bank. The newly formed Rustenburg Long Distance Transport Holdings was also planning to have their own filling station. So how far are they with this process? GUEST: Dr Tshegofatso Gape, Managing Director of the Mobility Cooperative Bank

We continue where we left off last week with Channel Africa’s Izak Khomo on African nationalism in South Africa. He continues to give us the background and also giving us a sense of how we got to where we are. GUEST: Izak Khomo – Presenter/Producer for Spotlight Africa and Channel Africa

South Africa in particular is facing a challenge when it comes cities and how they run their economies. We’ve heard suggestions from so many role players. This time around let’s get a perspective from Charter Cities institute. They are an organisation that focuses on partnering with various governments around the world in developing new cities. They bring together various stakeholders; entrepreneu...

As it is the last Tuesday of the month, we deal with questions that Bryan has received off air of a similar nature. It's important to note that our program tonight is to provide information and should not be construed as advice. GUEST : Bryan Hirsch, Chairperson of Bryan Hirsch, Colley & Associates (Pty) Limited

In 2018, the South African Constitutional Court ruled that it is not a criminal offence for an adult citizen to use, possess or grow cannabis in private for personal consumption. This has sparked a significant amount of confusion with regard to drug testing as well as the use of cannabis in the workplace. Rhys Evans, Managing Director at ALCO-Safe, the leading supplier of electronic Breath Alcohol...

South Africa has appointed a new ambassador to Rwanda, a move interpreted by commentators as strengthening ties between Pretoria and Kigali. In December 2018, the South African ambassador to Kigali, George Nkosinati Twala, was summoned to Pretoria, and later permanently recalled in February 2019, following a bitter exchange between diplomats from both countries. Is this a sign of better things to...

Solly Moeng is brand reputation management adviser and CEO of strategic corporate communications consultancy DonValley Reputation Managers. He has pinned an article entitled: Give business owners a reason to stay in South Africa. In the article he raises a number of issues, from business people having lost faith in the Ramaphoria to the impact of the closing of businesses. Political influence in b...

We are now in conversation with the Higher Health, a national entity that works on behalf of the Department of Higher Education and Training and under the governance of Universities South Africa to speak about their programmes in promoting the health and wellbeing of nearly two million students in the post-school education system. HIGHER HEALTH seeks to reduce the incidence of health conditions -...

We're now in conversation with Kamogelo Sefanyatso, a Masters candidate in the Department of Psychology at Wits, who is calling for the collaboration and integration of traditional and western health care systems in South Africa to deal with mental health issues. She says the emergence of healer-therapist signifies the de-colonization of psychotherapy in the country by punctuating this scientific...

A university degree is a valuable commodity to have when entering the job market, particularly if the economy is sluggish and fewer companies are hiring new employees. This is according to Leana de Beer, Chief Operations Officer for the crowdfunding platform in South Africa, Feenix, who says it's unfortunate that a growing number of people in South Africa are getting caught for faking their creden...

Yesterday we spoke to the South African Social Security Agency's (SASSA) about some of the significant milestones the entity has achieved despite its administrative challenges. This morning we will be in conversation with another critical government entity the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), which has assisted many South Africans to further their studies. GUEST: NSFAS administrator,...

Time now for Health Talk. This morning we are going to discuss Peptic ulcer; a sore that develops on the lining of the oesophagus, stomach or small intestine and Acid reflux; also known as heartburn, acid indigestion, or pyrosis. GUEST: Dr Thabo Mothabeng, General, Trauma and Intensive Care Surgeon employed in public service in Pretoria and Lecturer in Surgery at the University of Pretoria and Ins...

There are a marriot of issues currently facing the South Africa's state-owned enterprises; from Irregular expenditure; overspending and underspending, corruption and frequent need for bailouts in certain government departments and SOEs. This morning we are going to look at two critical government entities that have been assisting South Africans for years. We are going to look at some of the milest...

We are now in conversation with political analyst Aubrey Matshiqi who for 30 years, ran away from his destiny or calling to become a sangoma until it caught up with him in 2013. Most of you know Aubrey as a political analyst. He has also been involved in the ANC, Umkhonto WeSizwe, the student movement and the South African Communist Party. But today he is what people call a traditional healer, a s...