The National Pulse

Earlier on today, national police commissioner Fani Masemola announced that police have every right to defend themselves from criminals who shoot at them first. Masemola was reacting to criticism of the shootouts between police and suspects as was witnessed recently in KwaZulu Natal. But what about those who argue that police can’t be trigger happy?   GUEST: Dr Chris De Kock, Independent crime, vi...

About 123 countries are demanding that Cuba be excluded from the list of state sponsors of terrorism that has been drawn up by the U.S government. These countries are arguing that the list violates the fundamental principles of international law. To react to this, let’s speak to…..   GUEST: Bryan Brito: Cuba’s Deputy Head of Mission

How does Telkom support businesses in their digital transformation efforts, and what unique value does Telkom bring to the table?   GUEST: Randall Abrahams, Group Executive for digital solutions @Telkom SA

DA ministers in the government of national unity (GNU) are making the ANC look bad as DA ministers outperform their ANC counterparts; senior ANC members have complained. Several DA ministers, as well as Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie of the Patriotic Alliance, have been mopping the floor with the ANC, making its ministers appear "incompetent". These were some of the concerns rais...

The University of Johannesburg is breaking new ground in legal education with its trailblazing Virtual Reality Courtroom Game. This cutting-edge initiative not only marks a first for South Africa but is also a groundbreaking development for the entire African continent.   GUEST: Professor Michele van Eck, Associate Professor and Head of Department of Private Law at the University of Johannesburg F...

President Cyril Ramaphosa has hailed the assent of the Public Procurement Act, arguing that it is a key intervention in clamping down on the rampant corruption in South Africa’s public procurement. However, some, including Western Cape Premier Alan Winde as well as the Finance MEC in the province, Deidre Baartman have raised “serious concerns over the constitutionality” of the act, labelling it as...

Car hijackings on the increase in South Africa – but what informs this latest trend? We find our from….   GUEST: John Wessels, Data and Actuarial Science Manager at Blink by MiWay  

Thabo Bester’s prison escape pre-trial hearing has been postponed to February 10 next year. Earlier, Judge Cagney Musi adjourned the matter to allow lawyers to confirm their availability and trial date. But interestingly, Bester is seeking the court’s intervention in what he says is unfair treatment by the Correctional Services Department.   GUEST: Makgala Masiteng, SABC News reporter….  

There are fears the Middle East may witness an all-out war after Hamas' political leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in a guided strike on a residence in north Tehran. Politically speaking – what can we expect following the killings of these two high profile leaders?   GUEST: Zeenat Adam, Deputy Executive Director at the Afro-Middle East Centre

Hundreds of churches have joined civil society’s call for the Social Relief of Distress grant to be made permanent and become a universal basic income grant. At an event hosted in Woodstock, Cape Town last week, churches that are part of the World Communion of Reformed Churches pledged to urge the government to implement a UBIG.   GUEST: Reverend Dr. Bukelwa Hans

Earlier on we spoke to SADTU about the shooting of Phikiswayo Primary School teacher at the school yesterday. This incident has once again raised concerns around the safety of teachers in schools. Department of Basic Education spokesperson, Elijah Mhlanga will be speaking to us about this issue.   GUEST: Elijah Mhlanga, Department of Basic Education spokesperson

Gauteng Judge President, Dunstan Mlambo, says the case loads of judges in Gauteng are heavier than anywhere else in the country. This has a negative impact on the performance of the courts. The high volume of cases, coupled with limited resources, has led to an overwhelming backlog of cases.   GUEST: Mbekezeli Benjamin, Research and advocacy officer for Judges Matter

Gauteng Education Department gave the Pretoria Girls High School’s SGB time to investigate allegations of racism and the school’s poor response on the matter. Today, the Principal of the School was suspended for 3 months. guest: Nonhlanhla Matshingila   

Minister of sport, arts and culture Gayton McKenzie entered the debate surrounding Miss South Africa contestant, Chidimma Vanessa Adetshina's eligibility to compete for the title via a tweet last night. Adetshina has been subjected to scrutiny on social media due to her bloodline. She is a South African, born at Soweto's Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital to a Nigerian father and a mother of...

The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) has revealed that more and more police officers are taking their own lives due to poor working conditions that impact their productivity. According to the union, about 300 police officers have taken their own lives since 2017. Surely this is concerning. But how best can we arrest this situation? For more on this, we are joined by….   GUEST: Richar...

InfoQuest says about 54% of young people in South Africa are not loyal to their employer. What is even more interesting is the fact that the youth in Gauteng show lower loyalty than those in other major cities. GUEST: Claire

The Global Watch: After Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner of the presidential vote on Sunday. Thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets yesterday to protest the election outcome – while the country’s main opposition claimed they have gathered enough evidence that proves that Edmundo González won Sunday’s election. As concerns over the legitimacy of the election persis...

We ask this question after the gruesome murder of a female teacher of Phikiswayo Primary School at Lindelani, Ntuzuma. It is alleged that two gunmen stormed the school and entered her classroom where she was teaching, fired shots at her in full view of children and the educator succumbed to her gunshot wounds instantly. For more reaction on this, let’s speak to….   GUEST: Nomusa Cembi, Spokesperso...

    Cape Town Mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis, has officially opened the City’s new 300-bed Safe Space shelter to help more homeless off the streets in central Cape Town. The facility offers dignified transitional shelter and social programmes to assist people off the streets sustainably, reintegrate them into society, and reunite them with family. Personal development planning and employment opportunit...

The installation of the state-of-the-art Da Vinci XI surgical robot at the Busamed Private Hospital in Gateway this Wednesday showcases a milestone in South African healthcare as it is the first surgical robot in KZN. This cutting-edge technology aims to revolutionise patient care through improved surgical outcomes. To tell us a bit more about this state-of-the-art surgical robot, I’m joined on th...

    Nicolas Maduro has won Venezuela’s presidential election. This despite independent polls having predicted his demise. So will his re-election end the country’s economic misery and what about the sanctions that were imposed by the US government against Maduro’s administration?   GUEST: Prof Lyall White, Founder of Contextual Intelligence and Research Associate at the Brenthurst Foundation

    A number of Pinelands High School pupils have been suspended for alleged racist bullying. This was after black pupils were cast in the role of slaves, while their coloured classmates pretended to auction them off. The prices started at R100,000 and gradually increase. Another racism incident in our schools.   GUEST: Professor Jonathan Jansen,

It’s official, former president Jacob Zuma has been expelled from his long-time party, the African National Congress. This was confirmed by the party’s Secretary General Fikile Mbalula this afternoon. Zuma was suspended from the ANC in January after announcing he would campaign for the new uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party in the general election, which was held in May. For more on this, let’s speak to...

There were in-and-out air traffic delays at the Cape Town International Airport last night due to a power outage. The power outage was so severe, it actually forced flights to be diverted. The Airports Company South Africa has been giving regular updates on this matter and earlier today, ACSA said some circuits were back on. What’s the latest?   GUEST: Mark Maclean, Regional Manager: Cape Town Int...

ANC veteran, Lennox Klaas reacts to Zuma’s expulsion. The ANC's disciplinary committee found Zuma guilty of prejudicing the integrity of the party by joining uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), and has given him three weeks to appeal against its ruling.   GUEST: Lennox Klaas, Member of the ANC’s Veteran’s League