The Daily Discourse

The private sector is seeking ways to enter South Africa’s rail infrastructure as they believe it would see significant investments in the sector which will unlock massive economic benefits and upstream job creation across a range of industries. Finance Minister Tito Mboweni is in favour of this move as this is one of the proposals contained in a National Treasury discussion document. Let’s get an...

Guest: Lwando Notshe, Koketso Kgakoa and Katlego Setlhare

The eThekwini Municipality is owed over R11-billion for services rendered. Some of the debt is reportedly from government departments and other agencies. GUEST: Nicole Graham, DA eThekwini caucus leader

The University of Johannesburg in collaboration with the SACP and the Moses Kotane Foundation last night hosted a memorial lecture in memory of the fallen struggle hero. The lecture was presented by Prof Ibbo Mandaza where he focuses on challenges faced by Southern Africa and the African continent. As far as he is concerned, where are we going wrong and what direction should the continent be takin...

Former president Jacob Zuma expected to know today (Friday) if his application for a permanent stay of prosecution has been successful. It was in May when Zuma tried to convince a full bench that the court should grant him a permanent stay of prosecution. What will this ruling mean for him and seeing how long he has been in and out of court, should everything just be dropped? GUEST: Prince Mashele...

Today marks World Mental Health Day. And today will also mark the start of our new Health feature, Health Talk. It's easy to mistake or think that doctors have their life in order due to their high profile and in most cases, high paying jobs but behind the closed doors many of them are hiding ongoing battles with severe depression. This morning we are going to have a discussion around mental healt...

Often when we as a team sit and discuss topics to put on our shows, we sometimes chat about things that are off the mainstream media. Things of significant historical importance. Issues like apartheid and the impact it had and still has on our nation. Then there are also people who were actively involved in liberating our country. People who were forced into exile and the things they went through....

Time now for our Business feature. This morning we profile Isaac Mbatha, a young entrepreneur, who is the Chief Executive and founder of Sky Tents SA, which supplies tents to the general public, government departments and other entities. The company has expanded outside of the South African borders and reportedly amassed clients in neighbouring countries… GUEST: Isaac Mbatha, who is the Chief Exec...

Reports coming from Zimbabwe say that doctors are still on strike and have turned down and turned down a 60% increase offered by government. The situation in the hospitals is said to be dire as doctors continue their strike. GUEST: Dr Wanda Zvakada – Acting secretary General of the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association

Carbon emissions and global warming have become the major concerns of the world in the 21st century. For several decades South Africa is said to be one of the world’s biggest polluters, both as an emitter of toxic industrial gases and environmental destruction, especially due to mining. In today’s show we assess this pollution and its impact on poor communities and what needs to be done about it....

Power utility, Eskom is concerned over the financial implications of Tuesday's KwaZulu-Natal High Court decision which ordered Eskom not to cut off electricity supply to the town of Newcastle - following the municipality's failure to service its R200 million debt. Eskom wanted the municipality to make monthly payments of at least R60 million but the municipality says it can only manage to pay R30...

This morning we are going to look at the plight of black lawyers in South Africa and try to understand why politicians and CEOS, or senior officials of parastatals tend opt for White firms as opposed to Black ones. If you recall a month ago there was uproar over the EFF's decision to use an all-white firm, Ian Levitt over a black law firm. And just recently there was mixed reaction to former presi...

The latest statistics from the unit trust industry show that there has been a big move from equity investments to safer and more cautious unit trusts. Is this a sensible investment strategy? GUEST: Bryan Hirsch, Chairperson of Bryan Hirsch, Colley & Associates (Pty) Limited

An open letter by actress Vatiswa Ndara to Sports, Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa about exploitation in the industry has been greeted with mixed reaction. She has raised issues of exploitation in the industry which varies from long hours to low wages. But let’s try and get an understanding of what the big issues are in the industry. What is the big question we are not asking? What is at...

What is the preferred language of instruction for teaching in South Africa? Can you guess...? If you said one's mother tongue, you're wrong. According to a study by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), most South Africans prefer children to be taught in English, at all levels of education. The study is based on the most recent South African Social Attitudes Survey. For more on this we are n...

The case brought by Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse against former SAA Chair, Dudu Myeni is expected to sit at the high court in Pretoria today. OUTA wants the court to declare Myeni a delinquent director. According to OUTA Myeni failed to appear in court yesterday as she didn't have her own lawyer in court. Judge Ronel Tolmay rolled the case over to today, to give Myeni a last chance to appear. We...

We are wrapping up Nigerian President Buhari’s visit to the country getting to understand what fruits it bore. Last week he and his South African counterpart President Cyril Ramaphosa signed a couple of bilateral agreement and spoke about strengthening their relations. Now we go back to the history of the two countries to understand how we got here and where we are going… GUEST: Nixon Kathembo, wh...

Former DA leader Helen Zille has raised concerns over a decrease in the level of unity in the party. She says she will work to unite the DA should she be elected to lead the party's Federal Council. Zille announced her candidacy for the position last week - and will face off with former Nelson Mandela Metro Mayor, Athol Trollip, and Members of the National Assembly, Mike Waters and Thomas Walters....

Time now for our Friday Wind Down, in the spotlight this morning is the legendary traffic reporter, Rob Byrne popularly known as Rob Beezy. Every morning you can hear Rob reporting live traffic news to a diverse audience on different SABC radio stations, keeping South Africa’s commuters up to date with the latest traffic. For more on Rob’s life behind traffic, GUEST: Legendary traffic reporter, Ro...

Kaizer Chiefs coach Ernst Middendorp this week tried very hard to explain his fielding of goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune even though he was still injured. He spoke about the fear of upsetting fans and be chased out of the stadium. This then made one ponder over the power of soccer fans. What is it about them that even coaches consider them first when making decisions? Even in oversee soccer the fans h...

We are now in conversation with two remarkable women from Absa's Retail and Business Banking division. Joining me in studio is Bongiwe Gangeni, Deputy CEO for the Absa Retail and Business Bank division and Punki Modise, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for the Absa Retail and Business Bank division GUEST : Bongiwe Gangeni, Deputy CEO for the Absa Retail and Business Bank division (RBB SA) GUEST: Punk...

Yesterday (Thursday) Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng was tabling his annual report on the state of the judiciary at the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg. He said a lot of things regarding the judiciary and as expected, he also rebuked the state of governance in the country. One of the things he pointed to was that of ethical leadership. GUEST: Rev Dr Tshawane – Founder of the Centre for Non-Viol...

We are now in conversation with the Department of Health about the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill and the Health Sector Anti-Corruption Forum, which was set up to prevent, detect and prosecute fraud and corruption in the sector. GUEST: Dr Aquina Thulare, Adviser to the Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize and also a technical advisor on the National Health Insurance (NHI)

Government says its relations with Nigeria will have to benefit ordinary people from both countries. President Cyril Ramaphosa will co-chair the 9th SA-Nigeria Bi-national Commission with Nigerian counterpart Muhammadu Buhari today (Thursday) who will be in the country on a State Visit. How should we interpret this visit and what will it do in uniting the two countries after the recent attacks? GU...

New research has predicted that childhood obesity around the world will soar over the next decade, particularly in South Africa and China, overwhelming health services. More from the BBC's Jessica McAllen… GUEST: Lisabet Delport, Who is a registered Dietician from the GI Foundation of South Africa