The Daily Discourse

Former president Jacob Zuma’s legal team says it has drafted its charge sheet for the private prosecution of prosecutor Billy Downer. This comes after the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) on Tuesday declined to prosecute Downer on charges laid against him by Zuma for allegedly leaking his medical records, due to insufficient evidence. Guest: Mzwandile Manyi - Spokesperson of the JG Zuma...

As the African National Congress is holding its provincial conferences building up to the December national conference, we thought to look at how the journey is unfolding. It has not been a smooth one with some regions turning violent, some leaders elected despite facing corruption. Many commentators are also asking how much support the current president Cyril Ramaphosa is still enjoying? To help...

Our next guest was a victim of forced sterilization and she used her experience to do academic research to advocate for women’s right to bodily integrity. The study looks into the use of the contraceptive, depo-provera and the history of its use within South African health policy. It interrogates what women are subjected to without their consent and the rise of fertility control during the C...

Parents all over this country are really committed to insuring that the most important thing is that their children are educated. Bryan joins us this morning to address this issue… Guest(Studio): Bryan Hirsch, Chairperson of Bryan Hirsch, Colley & Associates (Pty)   

When our next guest started the Compost Kitchen in 2018, he was trying to solve a problem of organic waste that is caused by landfills and contaminating groundwater. By showing communities that waste has value to develop vermicompost, he has in the past two years, our next guest’s initiative has been recognized by the United Nations for their sustainability best practices. As the globe celeb...

 Police Minister Bheki Cele says the response he got from Provincial Commissioners as to what went wrong in the first three months of 2022 is unsatisfactory. This after contact crimes like murder, attempted murder and sexual offences spiked unabated. Cele was releasing the quarterly crime statistics in Pretoria on Friday. To find out exactly where things seem to go wrong when it comes to figh...

 Last month, we had a conversation on the cost of job-seeking for young people in South Africa. As we kick off Youth Month, we shift our focus to job-seeking platforms that help young people save money as they seek work. Some organizations have managed to zero-rate their websites to help young people save on data whilst others have opted for physical centres that are easy to reach. Our next g...

Today’s wind down is with Ntando Bangani, known popularly by his first name Ntando. He released his 9th album last year entitled ‘Camagu’. In one of the interviews he said that chose the title, as a way of thanking his ancestors for everything they have done for him. What has he been up to lately and what else is he working on? Well, he now joins us in the studio to give us a gli...

The EFF yesterday (Thursday) joined the Marikana mineworkers in a picket outside the Johannesburg High Court in a civil case for damages against President Cyril Ramaphosa in his personal capacity, and Sibanye. The party called on Ramaphosa, the government, and Sibanye Stillwater Mines to pay the workers compensation and also warned that they will take action ahead of the 10th Anniversary of the ma...

UNISA in the spotlight  The University of South Africa (UNISA) has been under the spotlight in recent weeks for all the wrong reasons. Recent headlines pertaining to the higher education institution point to the conduct of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Puleng Lenka-Bula. Last week, the VC was in hot water surrounding a staff laptop scheme worth R72,6 million that was not passed through Council....

The South African Police Service has confirmed that former State Security Agency Director General Arthur Fraser has opened criminal charges against President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Rosebank police station in Johannesburg. In a statement Fraser says the charges emanate from the theft of over four-million US dollars by robbers in February 2020, in collusion with a domestic worker, at the president's...

Where are we on the Dagga production and legalisation debate? Many countries on the African continent are debating the easing of laws around cannabis production. South Africa in particular is in the process of submissions on the Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill where the different groups have raised their concerns on the different aspects of the Bill. What governments seem to battle with is the...

This morning our focus on health is around the misconceptions around stem cells and stem cell transplant that health practitioners say are hindering South Africans from becoming donors. One of the innovations is that of 3D bioprinting human tissue and organs which is also a way of treating blood cancer.  Guest: Dr Theo Gerdener – Medical Director at DKMS Africa

While unemployment lowered overall, unemployment amongst black women surged at 4,2% for the quarter. This trend has worsened in the last two financial years as 2 million of the 3 million people who lost their jobs at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic were women. Fuel hikes are impacting the cost of food and leading to a possible increase in the cost of public transport. An average South African w...

Yesterday (Tuesday), one of our regular callers came up with a suggestion that perhaps if farmers are subsidised, then the food prices could go down. Well, this morning we thought to look deeper into this subject to see if this theory could be a possible solution that the government could apply in an effort to reduce the high cost of food. One of the items that are constantly raised is the high pr...

Earlier this year, the ANC in Mpumalanga suspended the Mayor, Council Speaker and Chief Whip at the Msukaligwa Municipality in Ermelo. Today the three are in court to challenge their suspension. It is alleged that the three were seconded to the council on a temporary basis after the party found discrepancies with the ANC list ahead of the November elections. To look at what is going on in that mun...

Today being the last Tuesday of the month, Bryan will be spending an hour with us where he will be dealing with all your personal finance questions. He will also be responding to questions that have already been sent to him earlier in the month. Guest(Studio): Bryan Hirsch, Chairperson of Bryan Hirsch, Colley & Associates (Pty) Limited (Radio line: 011 880 4888)

Our next guest has written to the Public Protector and laid a complaint against the Department of Correctional Services. In this complaint, she has called for an investigation into the parole board and the parole officers on the criteria for which offenses qualify to be placed on parole. What spurred her complaint was the rate at which parolees were re-offending in communities. The examples she ci...

The ANC has defended its latest draft Economic Policy Document. The policy document that is yet to be discussed, proposes changes in specific economic policy areas. It also proposes modernising the country's Post Office, making it more digital friendly and even transforming it in some places into an internet café. The party's communications sub-committee member Dakota Legoete briefed the me...

Guest: Elijah Mhlanga

Lasts week the University of Cape Town and The Other Foundation hosted the Kopano conference, a gathering of LGBTIQ activist from different parts of the continent. The Other Foundation is a southern African LGBTI community foundation that advances the equality, freedom and social inclusion of homosexual and bisexual women and men. So at the back of that, we thought to focus on being African and Qu...

Child Protection Week: Looking at solutions for teenage pregnancy in our country The Department of Social Development has launched Child Protection Week with a slight twist of focusing on the growing problem of teenage pregnancy in the country. Well, today we host Lumka Oliphant, spokesperson for the department who wants to do things differently this year. She will be taking your calls for you to...

Social media is flooded with videos of school children either shouting or beating their teachers. Yesterday (Sunday) an article in the Sunday Times reported that South African schools are being crippled by a spike in rude, delinquent pupils and this takes us back to a question many people keep asking about what went wrong with our schools? Why are these kids so violent? Every time we discuss this...

Mthwakazi is known for her "Xhopera" performances, which combine classical operatic vocals with ancestral sounds from indigenous stringed bows and percussion instruments. Her music carries a message which emphasises spirituality, humanity, humility, peace, optimism, unity, co-existence, and progress as a way of living. She has performed in SA and Europe as a Mezzo Soprano, Coloratura, Dramatic Sop...

It has been two decades since former president Thabo Mbeki declared the African Century. In that time, the African Union has built forward-thinking policy frameworks in the form of Agenda 2063 & ACFTA. It has also established development agencies to implement mandates (NEPAD). However, the continent has seen several military coups that have gone unanswered and humanitarian crises that require...