The Daily Discourse

It is festive season, and many people will be going on holiday. After a hectic year, this for many will serve as a time of recuperating, and ensuring that one stays healthy, strong, young and Stress. But more than 1,7 million South Africans might be prone to a modern-day phenomenon known as ‘Leisure Sickness’ affecting mainly workaholics, overachievers and perfectionists. It’s a medical condition...

Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe unveiled the 2018 Mining Charter. At a press briefing, Minister Mantashe says the new Mining Charter will create regulatory certainty, boost economic growth and pave the way for the transformation of the mining sector. Again earlier in the year Mine safety came under the spotlight following a spate of deaths at Sibanye-Stillwater’s gold operations, includi...

South Africa's electoral body has its work cut out to ensure a legitimate 2019 poll, this according to Kealeboga J Maphunye, Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Sciences at University of South Africa (UNISA). The Electoral Commission of South Africa, the body responsible for municipal, provincial and national elections, is struggling to ensure the integrity of the voters' roll for t...

How should we remember our history-makers? Yesterday anti-Apartheid activist Stephen Bantu Biko would have been 72 years old. Biko, one of the founders of the Black Consciousness Movement of Azania and political activist in South Africa in the 1960s and 1970s, died in police custody 41 years ago in 1977. This morning we are in conversation with the co-founder of ReimagineSA, Dr Mamphela Ramphele,...

Gabon is a country located on the west coast of Africa. It’s one of the region's more stable countries. Since independence from France in 1960, Gabon has had just three presidents. Late President Omar Bongo ruled for more than four decades until his death in 2009. Guest: Dr Ur Koumba – The chairperson of the Gabonese

The South African Student Organisation (SASO) was formed in 1968 after some members of the University of Natal’s Black Campus SRC (Student Representative Council) decided to break away from the National Union of South African Students (NUSAS). SASO recently commemorated its 50th Anniversary since it’s founding. What reflections where made at this gathering? Is there a place for Black Consciousness...

Last week Friday on our regular Friday feature the Friday Wind Down, we profiled RubyGold, who is a multi-talented vocalist and songwriter. During the Interview she shared her harrowing experience of how her mother lost her life due to domestic violence and how this affected her life and relationships in future.

The Afrikanerbond has expressed concern over the way cases of hate speech and racism are handled in South Africa. In an open letter written to President Cyril Ramaphosa, the organisation has called for a review of the activities of the Human Rights Commission, saying the way it currently addresses the issues is ineffective. Afrikanerbond’s chief secretary, Jan Bosman joins me now to share what the...

The ANC Youth League conference to elect new leaders has once again been postponed. The conference which was initially meant to take place in September was moved to December. Over the weekend it was again re-scheduled to a date yet to be announced. GUEST: Outgoing ANCYL secretary-general, Njabulo Nzuza

The SAYAs awards seek to provide a platform to showcase the exceptional work and contribution that young people are making, telling inspiring stories of young people who register extraordinary achievements against all odds. The year 2018 is celebrated as the centenary year of Tata Nelson Mandela and Mama Albertina Sisulu. It is in this context that #SAYA2018 convenes under the theme “Be the Legacy...

The Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA), enacted to combat, among others, organised crime, money laundering and criminal gang activities, has been inadequate to deal with criminal gangs because of several textual, institutional and constitutional shortcomings. This is according to Dr Delano van der Linde from the Faculty of Law at North-West University. Van der Linde says the ineffectiveness...

We celebrate reconciliation this year, a week after the South African Human Rights Commission’s release of its 2016/17 trends analysis report on human rights violations. In the report, the SAHRC says it received more than 400 race-based complaints and over 700 complaints that dealt with issues of inequality. In his recent column for news 24, Stanley Henkeman, the executive director of the Institut...

The newly-elected Pan Africanist Congress leader, Mzwanele Nyhontso, says he will focus on uniting the party during his tenure. He was speaking after he was elected as the new party president yesterday during a three-day conference held in Kimberley in the Northern Cape. Nyhontso beat Luthando Mbinda and Zamikhaya Gxabe. Nyhotso is now extending an olive branch to Narius Moloto, who still regards...

Time now for our regular Friday feature the Friday Wind Down, today we profile Ruby Gold, a multi-talented vocalist and songwriter. Ruby Gold has crafted a sound unique to her multi-faceted repertoire, known as trance-jazz. GUEST: Multi-talented vocalist and songwriter, Ruby Gold

Many men say they have absolutely no idea how to approach women in a post #metoo world. Some question whether they should approach women at all. In the olden days there was an art to approaching a woman, where men put a special effort in it. But today the lines have gotten blurred, where the dating world makes it easy for someone to date a few people at the same time. The rise of ‘Situationships’...

Saied Solomons, President of the South African Road Federation (SARF) explains that South Africa needs a completely new approach to road funding based on paying per the mass of the vehicle and distance travelled. He says that this should involve a tariff setting mechanism that influences behaviour and that helps manage road capacity. Has government missed opportunity to build public understanding...

The Minister of Labour, Mildred Oliphant, will today (Friday, 14 December 2018), officially launch a R2 billion Fund aimed at generating thousands of jobs through creating and funding of small businesses and entrepreneurs. The Project Development Partnership Fund (PDP) has been established through a joint venture between the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) and Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF)...

The global economy is on the precipice of a Fourth Industrial Revolution – defined by evolving technological trends that have the potential to fundamentally change life for millions of people around the world. In recent years, labor-saving technology, together with globalization, has reduced jobs in manufacturing, particularly in advanced countries. Many studies predict major job losses due to aut...

Several political parties have been formed months before the elections next year. This morning we will examine some of the political formations of such new parties in South Africa. What are their intentions? Where they formed to split the votes ahead of next year's general elections? Or are they a genuine cause and alternative party for the people? GUEST: Political analyst, Andre Duvenhage

The City of Cape Town has expressed scepticism about a study which suggests that the fear associated with Day Zero was the single most successful intervention in its campaign to get residents to slash water consumption. Stellenbosch University and University of Cape Town study, published in the journal Water Research, found that the fear of Day Zero – the day when the City said Cape Town's taps co...

The high court based in Pretoria has ruled that former President Jacob Zuma must pay the costs of his legal fees, related to his fraud and corruption case. GUEST: ANC Acting spokesperson, Dakota Legoete

Prime Minister Theresa May has won a vote of confidence in her leadership of the Conservative Party by 200 to 117. After securing 63% of the total vote, she is now immune from a leadership challenge for a year. Speaking in Downing Street last night, she vowed to deliver the Brexit "people voted for" but said she had listened to the concerns of MPs who voted against her. GUEST: Professor Jannie Ros...

Why does South Africa not develop its own brand of vehicles? Why don't we develop our own brand and build them locally, giving the Germans, Indians and Chinese leaders in vehicle design and manufacturing some competition. Last year there was a taxi industry strike where members of the South African National Taxi Association (Santaco) expressed their grievances about the exorbitant prices of the po...

We are now in conversation with former Eskom interim, Group CEO, Matshela Koko, who has dismissed the narrative that he and the Guptas are to blame for the challenges at the power utility. Earlier this year Koko faced a disciplinary hearing for allegedly not declaring a conflict of interest while his stepdaughter Koketso Choma, a director at Impulse International; allegedly benefited from about R1...

DA leader, Mmusi Maimane has conceded that his party didn't perform well this year and had a lot of challenges including the removal of Athol Trollip booted as Nelson Mandela Bay Metro Mayor. Maimane was addressing party members in Johannesburg, where he was giving his assessment of the party for the year 2018. He says he, however, doesn't regret his action against former Cape Town Mayor, Patricia...