The Daily Discourse

The SAB Foundation Tholoana Enterprise Programme has provided an unusual chance for a handful of South African entrepreneurs with disabilities to reimagine their entrepreneurial careers. Since the programme’s inception in 2015, a number of entrepreneurs with various forms of impairment have participated, alongside their non-disabled colleagues. We find out exactly how they do this… Guest: Brigit E...

How do you spend your youth dodging bullets and imprisonment, fighting an unjust, cruel and inhumane system? How does one endure torture, rape, and witness brutal killings? How is it possible to experience such atrocities and yet remain unscathed?” That’s how Nomfundo Mogapi starts her article in the Daily Maverick. How does one go through such trauma, then go on to lead a nation, how does it affe...

guest : Loyiso Mkwana - deputy director general in the department

Since Google announced its Digital Skills for Africa programme in April 2016, it has trained over 2 million young Africans in 900 communities across 29 countries. Their initial target of training 1 million young Africans on digital skills was met in March 2017, and extended to 10m in five years in July 2017. Now, Google is deepening its focus to ensure it achieves its target through launching Digi...

Sihle Tshabalala was a child genius at 16 – and a convicted criminal by age 19. During his time in prison, he became a key member of the Group of Hope programme (a prisoner initiated project that changed prison rehabilitation in SA) , where he decided to spend his life helping others avoid the mistakes he had made. Since leaving prison, he co-founded Brothers for All, taught himself how to code an...

For over a decade, Eskom has been beset by crises ranging from load-shedding, mismanagement, allegations of state capture and corruption and a highly dissatisfied workforce. If recent reports are anything to go by, then the crisis management situation is far from over, with Eskom apparently in huge debt and seeking solutions such as privatization. Moreover, on the labour front, trade unions are ag...

The University of the Western Cape has been ranked one of the top 150 universities in 42 emerging economies. This is according to the elite 2018 Times Higher Education (THE) Emerging Economies University Rankings. UWC ranked in 117th position out of 380 universities. The Emerging Economies University rankings, examines each university's strengths against all of its core missions which are teaching...

On our Africa feature today, we profile the western African nation of Senegal, a country that has long been considered as one of Africa's model democracies. Senegal obtained its independence from France in 1960. The West African country, bordered by Mali, Mauritania, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and surrounding the Gambia, is one of West Africa's most stable nations. For more on the country, we are now j...

The Vumelana Advisory Fund is a non-profit organization that helps beneficiaries of the land reform programme to develop their land in an effective and sustainable way. To date Vumelana has facilitated 15 partnerships that have the potential to mobilize an investment of R580 million, putting approximately 70 000 hectares of land to productive use, and benefitting more than 13 500 beneficiary house...

Last week the Trump administration rolled out the newest edition of a report, required by law, on the state of religious freedom around the world. In his article in the daily Maverick, Brooks Spector writes “Some beyond the conference’s organizers may also argue that freedom of speech and expression is at least as important as the right to worship in one’s choice of ways. Alternatively, there is a...

The debate on whether black people can be racist or not has emerged once again. This after an enraged Pretoria woman hurled Insults at white police officers, who attended a scene that appeared to have been an altercation between her and a white woman. In the video, that has since gone viral on social media, the enraged woman calls the other woman an "uneducated c**t" and a "piece of white sh*t and...

Recently different views have emerged on social media among the black working class, some who believe that the late former president, Nelson Mandela, compromised and sold out the South African revolution by forsaking his black contemporaries in the fight for freedom. Others who defended the legacy of the struggle icon say it is important to maintain the integrity of national heroes. Meanwhile, in...

Retired Anglican Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane has challenged his church to fully accept gay, lesbians and to bless same sex marriages. Ndungane was delivering the main sermon at the funeral of the 74 year old former Dean of St George's Cathedral Rowan Smith, - a self-confessed gay priest. On the other hand, Archbishop Desmond Tutu told congregants that sexual orientation was not a choice but a...

We look at the (Yes) initiative – a business-led partnership with government, labour and society, which aims to empower one-million young South Africans between the ages of 18 and 34 through paid work experiences over the next three years. We also look at other issues facing the youth, ahead of June 16. Our guest is Thembinkosi Josopu, president of the South African Youth Council

The messianic church leaders were all present at the High Court in Durban in April when Zuma made his first appearance on corruption charges. The churches recently held two mass meetings in Durban, one for women and the other for traditional leaders, to continue consultations for the new party. Zuma attended both. Guest: Ranjeni Moonsamy – Tiso Blackstar

We speak to Legendary musician Dr Sello Galane about the legacy of late Veteran jazz musician, Philip Tabane

We spoke to Conny Nxumalo, Deputy Director General for Welfare Services at the Department of Social Development about whether South Africa has made any significant strides in the protection of our children

According to Carol-Ann Foulis from DG Murray Trust,civil society in SA can’t wait for government to see it in this way. NGOs, more than ever, need to be beacons of hope in their communities; they have to reflect and reinforce the dream of an innovative and inclusive society, even as they are dealing with everyday challenges. This is why NGOs should assert their role as innovators, which would allo...

Last week the Auditor General released his Audit Outcomes Report for municipalities. It painted a rather gloomy picture of many municipalities across the country. Mpumalanga was not spared. In fact some of the municipalities need urgent intervention. The majority of the offending municipalities are reportedly in Gauteng where R830-million's worth of procurement could not be audited. The second and...

When the first modern citizenship-by-investment programs were developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the investment migration industry was largely unformed, unknown, and unregulated. Today, by contrast, citizenship-by-investment is part of every savvy wealth manager’s vocabulary. The number of citizenship programs is also increasing steadily, as governments seek to tap into their potential t...

Mpumelelo said in his article in Sowetan “Willemse seemed to imply that there was a difference between a "quota" player on the one hand, and a player who has worked hard to earn respect on the other. He wanted his television audience, from whom he hoped to elicit sympathy, to understand that he belonged to the latter category, not the former. The truth, however, is that without affirmative action,...

Zimbabwe's president Emmerson Mnangagwa has announced that the country's national elections will be held on the 30 July, this year. The July election will be the country’s first since independence in 1980 and also since the army forced 94-year-old former president Robert Mugabe to resign last November. On The Talking Point, we look at the current situation in Zimbabwe, following the new political...

The report, Overcoming Poverty and Inequality in South Africa: An Assessment of Drivers, Constraints and Opportunities, documents the progress South Africa has made in reducing poverty and inequality since the end of apartheid in 1994, with a focus on the period between 2006 and 2015, and the challenges that lie ahead. Accelerating poverty and inequality reduction will require a combination of pol...

Time now for our SME feature. As many of you know, every Thursday we take a look at Issues and challenges within Small and Medium Enterprises. Today our focus is on Google's recently launched "Google Impact Challenge South Africa". The Challenge will see the tech giant commit approximately 25 million rands worth of grant funding to local organizations that are innovating, using technology to reach...

A mechanical engineer turned auctioneer, is calling for transformation in the South African auction industry. Kwanele Boltina, from Riley Auctions has expressed concern that banks are failing to support black-owned auctioneering enterprises and that some companies are still predominantly owned and controlled by white people. Some corners of the auctioneering industry have called for an "auctioneer...