The National Briefing

Guest: Angelika Loots, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Pretoria COVID testing led to new techniques of disease diagnosis: progress mustn’t stop now.              

Guest: Rob Bryne, SABC Traffic Reporter Guest: Bafana Magagula, SANTACO national Strategic Manager Guest: Vhatuka Mbelengwa, E-hailing Operators Guest: Simon Zwane - RTMC Spokesperson Mediated Conversation: New data shows that Pretoria traffic is now worse than Cape Town and Joburg    

Guest: Professor Somadoda Fikeni, Public Service Commission chairperson The Public Service Commission will host the Citizens’ Forum at Nqwathi, Eastern Cape today in the spirit of improving service delivery to address the needs of citizens and improve the trust between citizens and Government.    

Guest: Elijah Mhlanga, Department of Education Spokesperson The Department of Basic Education responding to the Centre for Development and Enterprise report titled: The Silent Crisis: Time to Fix South Africa’s Schools          

Guest: Reggie Ngcobo spokesperson of the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development responding to a caller who is a farmer saying that he is struggling at his farm due to covid, floods and loadshedding      

Guest: Professor Stephan de Beer, the director of the Centre for Faith and Community at University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria report has now found that unemployment is the main cause of homelessness in Tshwane              

Guest: Adv. Sipho Mantula from Thabo Mbeki African School of Public and International: UNISA Africa Update Report: 30 March 2023; 1. Lesotho - Maseru, Lawmakers in Lesotho led by MP Tshepo Lipholo of BCM  are debating to reclaim parts of South Africa based on 1962 United Nations; 2. Senegal - Dakar, Confrontation and clashes broke out yesterday at the University of Dakar between students and polic...

Guest: Abel Esterhuyse, Associate Professor of strategy: Faculty of Military Science of Stellenbosch University In Ukraine, the head of the Russian private army the Wagner group - Yevgeny Prigozhin has said that the battle for the city of Bakhmut has practically destroyed Ukraine’s army        

Guest: Captain Lloyd Ramovha, Gauteng Hawks spokesperson Guest: Jeff Wicks, News24 Investigative journalist Guest: Lesiba Mpya, ANC Ekurhuleni spokesperson The Hawks have now raided the home and business premises of ANC in Ekurhuleni person who is linked to the Tembisa hospital scandal      

Guest: Etienne Hugo, Johannesburg Water's General Manager for Operations There are still major problems with water in many parts of the country - many of them caused by load shedding. Johannesburg is facing many water issues at the moment        

Guest: Zachie Achmat, Social activist and convener of #FixTheState convener Cape Town Activist Zachie Achmat launches #FixTheState campaign and will be an independent Parliament candidate in 2024    

Guest: Cilliers Brink – The DA’s newly appointed City of Tshwane Mayor The City of Tshwane of Tshwane has a new Mayor    

Guest: Ann Bernstein, Executive Director of the Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE) The Centre for Development and Enterprise yesterday launched The Silent Crisis: Time to Fix South Africa’s Schools report    

Guest: Bronwyn Williams, Researcher: Flux Trends Guest: Dr Ridwan Mia, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon Guest: Dr Gloria Tshukudu, First Black Female Plastic Surgeon Guest: Prof Carol-Ann Benn, Surgeon and breast disease specialist Mediated Conversation: The rise of plastic surgery    

Guest: Hlubi Shivanda - Director of Business Operations and Innovation and Corporate Affairs at Samsung South Africa SAMSUNG Solve for Tomorrow: established to nurture future leaders in the field of STEM    

Guest: Dr Gerard Labuschagne, Investigative Forensic Psychologist As the Police hunt continues for Thabo Bester - the murder and rapist who escaped from the G4S Mangaung prison it’s emerged that the expert on serial killers Dr Gerard Labuschagne in fact had an interview with Bester in 2011.      

Guest: Thembisa Fakude, Senior Research Fellow at Africa-Asia Dialogue In Israel, the prime minister Benjyamin Netenyahu has now publicly said that he will pause the legislative changes that would see his parliament being able to overrule judges - at a time when he faces criminal charges.        

Guest: Adv. Sipho Mantula from Thabo Mbeki African School of Public and International: UNISA Africa Update: 1. USA - Ghana-Tanzania-, US Vice President Kamala Harris pledges new era of US- Africa partnership touting women's empowerment , developing digital economy and supporting democracy; 2. Kenya - Nairobi, Opposition leader Raila Odinga blames President Ruto for violence during demonstrations a...

Guest: Prof. Jan Havenga, Rail logistics expert at Stellenbosch University Transnet is not able to transport enough coal and iron that we mine here to the ports - and so we cannot sell what we mine - that means our mining companies are losing literally billions of rand      

Guest: Jessie Willard, Chair: Gandaganda Residence Forum also a permanent resident of Port st John's and also Affected by the floods What's it like living in Port st John's after the floods?        

Guest: Gavin Kelly, CEO of the Road Freight Association The Road Freight Association calls for urgent resolution to delays at border posts      

Guest: Dr Tim Maake, Local Government Expert Guest: Thami Ntuli, Salga KZN Chairperson Guest: Andrew Akkers, Durban the ward 34 ratepayers' and residents' association Mediated Conversation: Can residents stop paying rates and taxes if there is no service delivery?    

Guest: Noxolo Nguqu, Imizamo Yethu Community Member There were huge fires at the Imizamo Yethu informal settlement in Cape Town which left hundreds of people displaced      

Guest: Dr. Ida Wilson, Lecturer at the Department of Agronomy at Stellenbosch University S cientists identify 100 important questions facing plant science.        

Guest: Tertuis Simmers, DA provincial leader The DA in the Western Cape has defended its decision to remove Malusi Booi from the City of Cape Town's mayoral committee after he was fired by Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis