The National Briefing

Guests: Desmond Latham, Aviation Expert  Following a 54-year run, Boeing has ended production of the 747.        

Guest: Siphokazi Lusithi, Eastern Cape MEC for Human Settlements Nearly a thousand people have been taken to shelters at community halls in Komani due to continued flooding and heavy rains in the Eastern Cape.  

Guest: Mondli Gungubele, Minister in the Presidency will the national state of disaster for loadshedding make a difference?      

Guest: Khaya Sithole, Political Analyst During the national state of disaster over Covid we saw money being stolen and we saw corruption. how can we stop that from happening again?      

Guest: IB Dlamini, Head of the United Eswatini Diaspora The United eSwatini Diaspora will today deliver a memorandum to the department of International Relations offices under the theme "SA Government: stop and prosecute South African Mercenaries killing unarmed SA pro-democracy Swazis in eSwatini.  

Guest: Professor Mark Swilling – Head: University of Stellenbosch's Centre for Sustainable Transitions. Will a national state of disaster help us get out of the loadshedding crisis?  

Guest: Herman Mashaba, Leader of ActionSA Guest: Mkhuleko Hlengwa, IFP Spokesperson Guest: Vuyo Zungula, ATM Leader Guest: John Steenhuisen – DA Leader During yesterday’s SONA 2013, President Ramaphosa announced a new Minister for Electricity and a national state of disaster for loadshedding    

Guest: Qari Ziyaad Patel, Trustee at Al-imdaad Foundation In Syria and Turkiye there is grimmer news after the earthquakes - at least twenty thousand people are now known to have died - and there are now some warnings that in fact around forty-five thousand people may now die in the end.    

Guest: Prof. Ramneek Ahluwalia, Chief Executive Officer of Higher Health. Gender-Based Violence comes back into sharp focus with the tragic death of Ntokozo Xaba a third-year student at the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT).    

Guest: Corene Conradie, Gift of the Givers Eastern Cape Coordinator Gift of the Givers teams preparing to assist Komani flood victims. Close to thousands people are displaced and are being house at community halls.          

Guest: Billy Monama, guitarist, author, composer Guest: Oskido, Kalawa Jazmee record label boss and founder of Khwale Guest: Karabo Senna, GM: Sales and Licensing at SAMRO.  

Guest: Tebogo Khaas – Founder: Institute for Chartered Entrepreneurs  Ahead of tonight’s SONA 2023, does President Ramaphosa have a plan for struggling small businesses or it’s just promises?    

Guest: Nonkululeko Mntambo, Communications Officer for Defend our Democracy Ahead of tonight’s SONA 2023, many people are just losing hope, you see it in the service delivery protests, the violence and the despair. Does the President have a plan?    

Guest: Christo Van der Rheede, Chief Executive Officer: Agri SA Ahead of tonight’s SONA 2023, Agri SA says that food security hangs in the balance without immediate action on Eskom.    

Guest: Zirk Botha – Independent Sustainable Development Advisor The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment has approved the City of Cape Town’s application for a permit to continue pumping raw sewage into the ocean for another five (5) years            

Guest: Mervyn Abrahams, Programme Co-ordinator of the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group many people are battling to find money to buy enough food for their families, can President Ramaphosa find solutions to the problem ahead of the #SONA2023?        

Guest: Dr Lumkile Mondi - Senior Lecturer at the School of Economics and Business Science Wits University   Ahead of tonight’s SONA 2023, many of our problems are the economy, load shedding and food - what will President Ramaphosa focus on?  

Guest: Brooks Spector, Associate Editor at Daily Maverick US President Joe Biden delivered a SONA that appeared to go on the offensive against the republicans, w while some of the republicans appeared to boo him in the main chamber - and called him a liar.  

Guest: Henk Langenhoven, Minerals Council Chief Economist Yesterday during the Mining Indaba, President Ramaphosa said we need to sort out electricity supplies, accelerate economic reforms, deal with illegal mining and improve the regulatory environment.    

Guest: Abednico Mabaso, Mister Tourism World Popularity 2022 Mpumalanga's very own Abednico Mabaso wins the 2023 Mr Tourism World Popularity title    

Guest: Cobus van Vuuren, United National Transport Union General Secretary Guest: Mesela Nhlapo, African Rail Industry Association CEO Guest: Prof. Jan Havenga, Rail logistics expert from the industrial engineering department of Stellenbosch University Guest: Bonginkosi Mabaso, Transnet Freight Rail Chief Commercial Office Mediated Conversation: Transnet to move towards privatization to improve th...

Guest: Ebrahim Deen, Researcher at the Afro-Middle East Centre It now appears that the number of people known to have died from the massive earth quakes in turkey and Syria is now over 7900.        

Guest: Prof. Keith Engel, Chief Executive of SA Institute of Tax Professionals The SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter has now said that the time is not right to increase the burden on taxpayers.  

Guest: Sipho Nhlapo, JRA Acting HOD Mobility & Freight Guest: Xolani Fihla, JMPD Spokesperson The Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) is concerned about the alarming increase in the theft and vandalism of traffic signals city-wide, including signal pole cutting and the compound effect of this on the economy.        

Guest: Tandi Mahambehlala, Parliament’s Tourism Portfolio Committee Chairperson Parliament’s Tourism Portfoliio Committee Chair Tandi Mahambehlala has told Tourism South Africa that it cannot go ahead with its plans to sponsor the English football team Tottenham Hotspur to the tune of just one billion rand.