The National Pulse

Yesterday, the Independent Electoral Commission released the political funding’s second quarter disclosure report for the 2024/25 financial year. Surprisingly only three political parties made declarations of their donations, namely; the ANC, DA and IFP, and they all declared donations amounting to just over R8 million. According to the IEC, this is the second lowest figure since 2021. The big que...

Voting continues in Namibia in 36 polling stations today after a chaotic election start on Wednesday that was largely caused by technical glitches. Challenges of shortage of ballot papers in some polling stations also contributed to delays and long queues in some voting stations. On the other hand, some opposition political parties are demanding that the country’s Electoral Commission should stop...

Seventeen illegal miners have resurfaced earlier today from two separate mine shafts in Stilfontein. North West Police spokesperson, Brigadier Sabata Mokgwabone, joins me on the line to tell us more about this… GUEST: Brigadier Sabata Mokgwabone, North West Police spokesperson  

At least 24 people were injured and 620 homes destroyed yesterday when a severe weather hit parts of Randfontein, west of Joburg. The injured were at the Umphakathi Mall when the tornado hit at about 1.15pm. Most of them had minor injuries and were shoppers at the Boxer supermarket. The tornado hit Randfontein, Mohlakeng and Toekomsrus. The Executive Mayor of Rand West City Local Municipality, Cll...

Johannesburg residents, already grappling with chronic water shortages and limited supply, may soon have to bear increased restrictions and intensified disconnections. This is if Joburg Water is unable to rein in consumption. Joburg Water hosted a media briefing earlier today to provide an update on the state of water supply in the city and within the troubled Commando system. GUEST: Dr. Ferrial A...

Following his appointment as the first ever Bapedi Nation Prime Minister. Former premier of Limpopo, Advocate Ngoako Ramathlodi speaks to us about his new role and what he intends to do going forward to promote and preserve the Bapedi tribe practices, customs and culture. GUEST: Advocate Ngoako Ramathlodi, new and first Prime Minister of the Bapedi Nation

We assess Thabazimbi’s state of readiness ahead of next week’s by-elections. 12 wards will be contested by 21 political parties and 5 independent candidates. What makes these by-elections more interesting is that they take place after the dissolution of the entire municipality that was witnessed in August last year due to infighting and lack of service delivery. So a year later - can things functi...

Head of European Rohingya Council, Dr Ambia Perveen reacts to the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Myanmar’s military leader Min Aung Hlaing. The ICC is of the view that there are grounds to believe that Hlaing was responsible for crimes against humanity after he led a deadly campaign against the Rohingya community in 2017. GUEST (Germany): Dr Ambia Perveen, Head of European Rohin...

As the MK Party prepares to host its first anniversary since it was formally launched in December last year. We speak to Dr Khanyisile Tshabala about how the party hopes to restore the “dignity of Afrikan people” as boldly pronounced by its constitution. According to her, among other things, the party aims to address the issue of intergenerational trauma at both the individual and national levels....

Today we salute Rene Naylor who after 16 years of service has officially retired from the rugby national team. Naylor who is fondly known as “Player 24” due to her contribution to the success of the Springboks, joined the national team’s medical staff in 2008 and has contributed immensely to its success as she helped our rugby players in terms of maximising their performance while minimising their...

The ANC National Working Committee has summoned the entire PEC of the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal to a meeting to be held on Saturday in Boksburg, Gauteng. What could this meeting possibly be about? To share some light on this, I am joined on the line by… GUEST: Samkele Maseko , Senior Political Reporter at the SABC  

As South Africa marks the start of 16 Days of Activism, an organization called ‘Father A Nation’ believes a fresh and urgent narrative is emerging, one that goes beyond simply creating awareness and highlights the need to heal men, the primary perpetrators of gender-based violence, as the key to breaking the cycle of abuse. To tell us more about this, I am joined on the line by… GUEST: Craig Wilki...

City of Joburg’s City Manager, Floyd Brink spoke to the media and said water issues in Westbury will be sorted by the end of the week and water tanks will be dispatched in the meantime. Associate Editor at the Daily Maverick, Ferrial Haffajee has extensively covered water issues in the City of Joburg so I thought we should have her on the show to talk about the impact such issues would generally h...

Residents of Westbury were protesting earlier this morning over ongoing water challenges in the area. The residents wanted to address Joburg’s executive Mayor, Dada Morero regarding this on-going issue. Jon Garicke, standing in for Sakina, played a clip from the protest and I felt we needed to hear it again before talking to SABC News Reporter, Sashin Naidoo who was at the protest. Listen to this…...

Let’s move to Namibia now - where voters are currently casting their ballots for a new president and parliament in what could be a tough election to win for the ruling SWAPO party. Sophie Mokoena is currently in Namibia and she joins us now to give us the latest……. QUEST (Namibia): Sophie Mokoena, SABC News International Editor

AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit has managed to persuade the National Prosecuting Authority to revisit its decision not to prosecute Professor Pierre de Vos in relation to the 2022 child pornography case. Apparently its representations to the NPA identified numerous investigative errors. To explain what this means is…… GUEST: Barry Bateman, Spokesperson of AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit

We unpack the findings of the latest Amnesty International report titled, ‘Broken promises: protesters caught between teargas, bullets and batons in Angola’. According to the report, Angolan police routinely responded to protests by violating the rights to life and inflicting beatings which could amount to torture and ill- treatment. What is even more concerning is the fact that Angolan authoritie...

The department of education in the Northern Cape has urged law enforcement agencies to deal harshly with matriculants who organise pens down parties after finishing their exams. Also earlier today, our minister of education warned students who will be hosting these parties to stay away from alcohol. But how should parents and society in general deal with this issue? GUEST: Matakanye Matakanya, Sec...

The winners of the 2024 Township Economy Awards were announced this past weekend, and Thulani Ntshuntshe from Five Star Fire, received the Chairman’s award. The awards recognise game-changers making an impact in their communities while contributing to South Africa’s economic development.   GUEST: Thulani Ntshuntshe, CEO & Co-founder of Five Star Fire

    GUEST: Modidima Mannya, Legal Analyst

In a groundbreaking move to combat underage drinking, AWARE.org is bringing the fight to the digital playground with the launch of Roblox: Party in Your Pocket. Mokebe Thulo, Aware.org CEO joins me on the line to tell us about the strategy behind Roblox: Party in your pocket and how that will help curb under-age drinking this festive season…   GUEST: Mokebe Thulo, Aware.org CEO

Auditor General, Tsakani Maluleke has raised a concern regarding the high-impact auditees that have the biggest impact on the lives of South Africans and on government finances, as they have not yet demonstrated good performance against their planned targets. According to her, these high-impact auditees were responsible for approximately 77% of the 2023-24 expenditure budget of national and provin...

Is cash still King in South Africa and what will it take for a country like ours to modernise its national payment system? Our guest Dr Azar Jamine shares thoughts on whether it is possible for South Africa to become a cashless society. GUEST: Dr Azar Jammine, Director and Chief Economist of Econometrix

    Refiloe Mongale joins us to outline the objectives of this year’s Road Safety Summit that is currently underway in Brixton, Johannesburg. This is so important as we know that South Africa bears a high burden of road fatalities in Africa, accounting for 25.1 fatalities per 100 000 population.   GUEST: Refiloe Mongale, Executive Manager for Road Safety Stakeholder Relations at the Road Traffic M...