The Daily Discourse

How do men spend child support grant money? We now speak to Zoheb Khan, a Researcher, at the University of Johannesburg, UJ about research that found South African men spend childcare grants wisely. The survey analysis debunks the myth that men are more likely to spend the money on alcohol, tobacco and gambling. GUEST: Zoheb Khan, a Researcher, at the University of Johannesburg

Over the past three decades, millions of jobs have been lost globally and locally due to restructuring of economies, neo-liberal economic policies, economic crises and open trade agreements between countries. This period has seen a huge growth in informal employment, especially amongst women who have to combine family and work responsibilities. A significant number of these workers do homebased pi...

The VBS story continues to implicate the country’s political leaders in corrupt dealings and looting of savings by some of the poorest people. Journalists are exposing the dirt behind the missing funds which have crippled municipalities in the poor districts. What is the picture currently and why are we not seeing arrests at the top of the food chain despite all the revelations? GUEST: Pauli van W...

South African Airways reported last week that the first day of normal operations went smoothly as workers returned to work Saturday. This follows an eight-day wage strike which ended with a deal between management and the unions. But do we really understand what the deal entails? GUEST: Phakamile Hlubi-Majola – Spokesperson for NUMSA

The Public Investment Corporation (PIC) and Impact Investing South Africa (IISA) have released the first Africa Impact Report 2019, which was presented at the Global Steering Group Impact Summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The Africa Impact Report 2019 aims to advocate a sound investment case for African economies, to become catalysts for collaboration between governments and private investors and...

Today we take a look at Africa’s last remaining British colony, the Chagos Islands. The latest is that it is still under the control of the United Kingdom despite orders from the United Nations for them to recognize its sovereignty. The deadline came and went for the U.K. to end its colonization of the Chagos Islands, but the British ignored the deadline. Let’s get a history lesson on this as we w...

As it is the last Tuesday of the month, we deal with questions that Bryan has received off air of a similar nature. GUEST: Bryan Hirsch, Chairperson of Bryan Hirsch, Colley & Associates (Pty) Limited

The ANC in the Amathole region of the Eastern Cape has called on the Presidency and the Correctional Services Department to grant jailed King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo permission on compassionate grounds to attend the funeral of AmaXhosa King Zwelonke Sigcawu on Friday. King Dalindyebo is serving a 12-year-term at the East London correctional centre for kidnapping, assault and arson. This is what Ama...

Time now for our Legally Speaking feature where we speak about all issues pertaining to South African laws. This morning we are going to discuss the newly signed Property Practitioners Act, which will replace the 43-year old Estate Agency Affairs Act. So how will this new law impact on the buying, selling, leasing or renting of property in the country and what does it entail for transformation… GU...

Human settlements, water & sanitation minister Lindiwe Sisulu’s suggestion that her department was exploring legal measures that would enable top-slicing is being opposed by the SA Local Government Association. This entails diverting 3% to 5% of municipal grants to municipalities with arrears to the department to reduce their debt for water supplied. GUEST: Jean de la Harp - executive director for...

Safety at our hospitals and other issues pertaining to health facilities are triggering calls for the health department to be nationalized. There seems to be an unexplained miscommunication between the national and departments on the implementation of policy. Just last week, a patient who was being treated for gunshot wounds was shot and killed at Witbank hospital. This has made staff at hospitals...

Last week Eastern Cape’s MEC for Finance, Mlungisi Mvoko delivered his Medium Term Budget Policy Statement. This advances the premier’s Revised Provincial Development Plan, their Vision 2030 blue print. He agrees with this plan and says it’s realistic. What are the highlights and how is he advancing it? guest: Dalumhlanga Majeke – Head of the Eastern Cape Treasury Department

Tshwane Mayor Stevens Mokgalapa has laid charges of extortion and blackmail. This after the leaking of an audio tape purported to be of him and his Roads and Transport MMC, Sheila Senkubuge allegedly in a compromising position. Mokgalapa claims the tape was being used by suspended city officials for extortion and to blackmail him… GUEST: DA's Gauteng leader, John Moody

As we continue to mark 400 years since the first Africans were enslaved, there has been a series of events to mark this occasion. In September we touched on the Door of Our Return event at the Pan African Parliament where the process was outlined. So the journey continues as a group of African American and Barbados leaders started their journey back to the continent. To put all of this in context,...

Sports, Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa is today (Friday) paying a special visit to Credo Mutwa in Mothibistad, Kuruman in the Northern Cape Province. This visit is part of the departments Living Human Treasure Project, a programme that seeks to profile and honor South Africans who possess rare indigenous knowledge, skills and techniques. To tell us more on this and who exactly Credo Mutw...

This morning we start the show by reflecting on the lives of spokespeople and the drama they go through. Pity those who work in departments that are in the news for the wrong reasons. Some spokespeople switch off their phones when flooded by calls from journalists as they don’t really know what to say. Some are just plain bad in what they are doing and then there are those who are just darlings to...

This morning The Talking Point is coming to you live from the Velmore Hotel Conference Centre in Erasmia, Pretoria, where the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is hosting a high-level gathering on climate change. The Climate Change Indaba will be held under the strategic theme "Mobilizing climate action to create a sustainable climate resilient Gauteng City Region". The Indab...

Scientists have discovered a new strain of HIV but experts say this is not a cause for concern. The discovery was a subtype of a known existing strain which is part of the Group M version of HIV-1, the same family of virus subtypes blamed for the global HIV pandemic… GUEST: Dr Sandile Buthelezi, CEO of the South African National Aids Council (Sanac)

This morning The Talking Point is coming to you live from the Velmore Hotel Conference Centre in Erasmia, Pretoria, where the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is hosting a high-level gathering on climate change. The Climate Change Indaba will be held under the strategic theme "Mobilizing climate action to create a sustainable climate resilient Gauteng City Region". The Indab...

We speak to eThekwini Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda about the municipality's Fraud Awareness campaign. The eThekwini Municipality says it has measures for the prevention, detection and management of fraud and corruption or any other dishonest activities of a similar nature. For more on this we are now joined on the line by eThekwini Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda to speak to us about creating an environment and cult...

We speak now to the Department of Water and Sanitation about how they are dealing with fraud in the department. They have been in the news for quite some time for all the wrong reasons especially on financial irregularities. How did they manage to turn things around? GUEST: Emilize Nezar - Chief Director: Internal Audit: Department of Water and Sanitation

We now speak to South African author Khethiwe Zulu about her book 'South African History Retold: A Beginners Guide to the History Behind the Names', which aims to education citizens about street name changes and their significance. GUEST: South African author, Khethiwe Zulu

This morning The Talking Point is coming to you live from the Velmore Hotel Conference Centre in Erasmia, Pretoria, where the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is hosting a high-level gathering on climate change. The Climate Change Indaba will be held under the strategic theme "Mobilizing climate action to create a sustainable climate resilient Gauteng City Region". The Indab...

Auditor-General Kimi Makwetu has described as disappointing the audit outcomes of about 432 national and provincial government departments as well as state-owned enterprises. He says this figure might be higher as they could not audit contracts worth two-point-three-three-billion-rand due to missing or incomplete information. Makwetu says irregular expenditure in government departments and state-o...

The Eastern Cape government is pushing for Liquefied Natural Gas in creating socio-economic growth in terms of jobs and SMME development. They go on to say that the province can create a thriving, inclusive, and a job-rich oil and gas sector. We speak now to the people who are handling the process. They talk about the crucial value of the integration between the Port of Ngqura and the CDC in reali...