The Daily Discourse

TimesLive Investigations released the first part of their report into the operations of illegal mining. In interviews with Zama Zamas, some of the miners have shared that they are making up to R40 000 per month and buy protection to run their operations. The Police estimate that up to R3 million is in circulation underground in the North West as a result of illegal mining activity. It is alleged t...

Focus: Raised in the Mamelodi Township, Vusi became a singer-songwriter and poet-activist at an early age teaching himself how to play guitar and later joining the Congress of South African Writers. After his popular debut on BMG Africa, “When You Come Back,” Vusi was asked to perform at Nelson Mandela’s inauguration in 1994. Simply known as ‘The Voice’, Vusi Mahlasela is celebrated for his distin...

implicated in NLC Graft  Earlier this week, the National Lotteries Commission appeared before Parliament where the new board has vowed to combat corruption and be more transparent than their predecessors. Meanwhile, the SIU appeared before Parliament's committee for Trade, Industry and cited that the first round of investigations had found corruption amounting to R279 million. During a media brief...

 Earlier this month, we had a conversation surrounding Leukemia and what listeners should know about the rare blood condition. Globally, there is a huge underrepresentation on the registry of donors for Black, Coloured, Indian and Asian blood cancer patients – this means patients from these ethnic groups only have a 19% chance of finding a donor and a mere 25% chance of finding a related match. Ea...

Focus: The heart is one of the most important organs in the body, pumping over 90 000 beats in a day. In South Africa, one in five people die from heart disease. That is only second to HIV/AIDS. According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, 80% of these deaths are preventable and the high death rate can be attributed to our lifestyle habits. Guest: Prof. Pamela Naidoo - Chief Executive Officer of...

The SA Innovation Summit is the largest start-up event in Africa, providing various platforms for developing and showcasing African innovation. The summit raises awareness about the Innovation Fund and highlights its preliminary successes. Since its establishment in 2021, less than 18 months ago, the fund has disbursed a total of R469,5 million to businesses, including SMMEs. It has leveraged thre...

Earlier this month, we had a conversation surrounding Leukemia and what listeners should know about the rare blood condition. Globally, there is a huge underrepresentation on the registry of donors for Black, Coloured, Indian and Asian blood cancer patients – this means patients from these ethnic groups only have a 19% chance of finding a donor and a mere 25% chance of finding a related match. Ear...

Today being the last Tuesday of the month, Bryan deals with all the questions he has received from you of a similar nature. But remember that’s it’s not limited to the submitted questions as he is joining us for an hour to deal with other questions you may have that are about your personal finance. H Guest(CTN Studio): Bryan Hirsch, Chairperson of Bryan Hirsch, Colley & Associates (Pty) Limite...

Focus: The IFP leadership has dispatched a delegation to KwaZulu-Natal’s Msinga Municipality amid claims that an IFP councillor there was behind the recent assassination of a fellow councillor, Siyanda Magubane. The party has also called for calm after another councillor claimed that the mayor was behind the killing. Now the killing of councillors in KZN is nothing new while on the other hand poli...

The South African Human Rights Commission will launch a new initiative set to address the social ills of that face the country and that led to human rights violations. This initiative called the Social Harmony National Effort (SHiNE) and it is set to ensure that every South African to create harmonious communities by developing a culture of dialoguing based on mutual respect. In addition to addres...

As we continue our series of conversations on chapter nine institutions, our focus shifts to the Independent Electoral Commission. While South Africa has held numerous successful elections since 1994, we want to talk about the challenges IEC faces when fulfilling their mandate: budget cuts, civic education, the changes coming into effect with digitalization, and the impact that electoral reform wi...

This morning we are joined via Zoom by the Free State MEC for Finance. She is talking to us about her plans to turn the province’s finances around. She will this week be hosting a colloquium with economists, professors and other stakeholders to come up with ideas that will improve the economic state of the province. Auditor General Tsakani Maluleke had painted a very bleak picture of the financial...

 Over the weekend, another urination scandal happened at Stellenbosch University. This time, the incident took place at Helshoogte residence. Its second incident in less than six months and we also wanted to discuss what is the psychological impact this has on young people in public institutions who are inheriting a deeply divided society. As we wrap Heritage Month, we wanted to discuss what this...

Guest: Jeremiah Machavi – Socio Ecologist at SANPARKS Apart from the animal life and the biodiversity of the National Park, what cultural wonders can be found in the park? What socio-economic projects are being facilitated within the communities surrounding the Kruger National Park? How do our national parks give back and uplift communities?  

Guest: Welcome Ubisi - Musician and Founder of Bala- Our next guest is a multi-award winning Tsonga artist who has used his musical gifts to preserve traditional music. He has toured Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone and Namibia. In the late 1980s, he shot to stardom as a member of the group, Supreme Musical and has shared the stage alongside Lazurus Kgagudi, Dr. General Muzka and Peta...

Guest: Navashni Govender - Senior Manager: Conservation at SANPARKS The Skukuza Nursery boasts over 200 species that are indigenous to Lowveld conditions. How does the park support traditional leaders along the border? What role does the nursery play in the conservation of medicinal plants within the National Park? To tell us more about the nursery and the work that they do within communities, we...

Guest: Tinyiko Golele - Regional Ranger at SANPARKS South Africa is blessed with a rich biodiversity throughout the country. We want to understand how the park conserves the plant and wildlife in the park. We are joined by one of their regional rangers at the Kruger National Park…  

Guest: Dr Lufuno Netshitavhadulu - Veterinarian at SANPARKS Poaching is still a major challenge that national parks face in the fight to protect our animal wildlife. Veterinaries play a critical role not only in animal health but conservation overall. How do our national parks address poaching? To help us unpack this issue and Veterinary Wildlife Services in our parks, we are joined by…  

On Women's Day, we had a conversation on the state of the Women's Living Monument in Pretoria and how the monument was not operational ahead of the public holiday. In many ways, the state of a monument is a reflection of how the government prioritizes the conservation of certain types of heritage and those being remembered and the events being memorialized. Heritage sites provide a public good tha...

Focus: Our next guest chooses to go by one name in solidarity with the widowed Afghan women who are often denied their identity. She is the woman behind #IAmStaying in Afghanistan. Her speaking tour will give perspective on the current situation of the Afghan people, a non-political view, from her personal experience having settled in Kabul since the Taliban took back power from the US in 2021. He...

This morning some Wits students, unions and civil society will be protesting against the renaming of the Wits Amic Deck bridge to Wits Sibanye–Stillwater Infinity. They are calling on the university to rather change it to Marikana Memorial in memory of the 34 miners who died in 2012. To talk to us more on why the student body decided to get involved in this issue, we are joined on the line by… Gue...

In the latest Reserved Judgment Report for the Chief Justice, over 150 judgements have been reserved for over six months. The lower courts have the highest number of reserved judgments with the Johannesburg Labour Court leading the pack followed by Pietermaritzburg High Court and the Cape Town Labour Court. We want to unpack why it is that judges are not compelled to report reserved judgment. We a...

 People often say that beauty is skin deep. But many take for granted that our skin is our largest organ and the first guard of protection against any disease. The appearance of your skin can also lead to social stigma. In some instances, social media has brought forward a new culture of skin lightening and not much attention is given to the dangers of this practice. Guest: Dr. Dagmar Whitaker - C...

The Democratic Alliance and student organization, Studenteplein have lost their court application against the University of Stellenbosch on the provision of learning materials during the COVID-19 pandemic. The two organizations claimed that the university’s implementation plan for the four semesters were unlawful. The groups are set to appeal the case in an attempt to preserve the mother-tongue ed...

On our Municipal Watch feature this morning we focus on the state of municipalities in the North west Province. Just last week Premier Bushy Maape disbanded the Ditsobotla Local Municipality which has been at war with itself for more than a year. Auditor General that not a single municipality in that province is financially stable. To look at what is at the centre of the problem and how government...