The National Pulse

George Municipality mayor Leon van Wyk - provides further update on the coordinated response to the collapsed building. We understand that as of midday, a total of six patients have been declared dead and 27 patients have been removed from the rubble of the collapsed building, leaving 48 persons unaccounted for.   GUEST: Leon van Wyk, Mayor of George Local Municipality

    Khumalo writing to the IEC to remove Zuma. IEC releasing a statement that Zuma is party leader since 10 April 2024.   GUEST:  Political Analyst, Professor Dirk Kotze  

Innovation Hub:  Today, Amazon announced the launch of Amazon.co.za, providing customers in South Africa with a new online shopping experience. However, the explosive growth of e-commerce in South Africa means that they won’t have it easy. For more on this, let’s speak to….   GUEST: BATAUNG QHOTSOKOANE - Technology Columnist at iAfrikan.com

As the elections draw closer, we hear from William Bird on why we should guard against misinformation and disinformation. It is public knowledge that misinformation undermines the democratic process and to a large degree also distort electoral outcomes, may i add that it also poses a direct threat to the sustainability of credible news media.   GUEST: William Bird - Executive Director @Media Monit...

    President Cyril Ramaphosa has given the green light to the Electoral Matters Amendment Bill, signaling significant changes in political funding regulations. The bill abolishes the existing cap on donations to political parties and the criteria for disclosing these contributions as outlined in the Political Party Funding Act. It also introduces adjustments to the previous Electoral Acts. A key...

    Yesterday, the Supreme Court of Appeal set aside the Western Cape High Court’s decision to discharge ANC MP, Bongani Bongo on a charge of corruption in 2021. The appellate court sent Bongo’s case back to the high court for a new trial before a differently constituted court. It found if mistakes of law had not been made, the trial court would have found there was sufficient evidence to convict...

The MK Party has officially released a letter dated ‘9th April 2024’ which states clearly that Jabulani Khumalo did hand over the reins of power to former president Jacob Zuma. This after Khumalo asked the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) to remove Zuma as the face of the party and from its list of potential members of parliament. Currently, Zuma tops the MK party’s candidate list for Pa...

The Electoral Commission says it will not entertain a letter it received from Jabulani Khumalo. In a statement released earlier today, the commission said it does not involve itself in the internal affairs of political parties and it only acts on the instructions of the registered leader of a political party, which in this case is Mr Zuma who has been the registered leader of the MK Party since Ap...

Chad has just become the first of West and Central Africa's junta-ruled countries to hold elections since a wave of coups swept over the region. Interim President Mahamat Idriss Deby is widely expected to win the vote. We understand that since replacing his father at the helm of the oil-producing nation three years ago, Deby has remained close with former colonial power and longtime ally France.  ...

We revisit the DA's controversial election campaign advert which shows the burning of the South African flag. Our guest Solly Moeng says he doesn’t understand the negative reception this advert has attracted. He joins us now to share his thoughts ….. GUEST: Solly Moeng, Brand Reputation Management Strategist & ActionSA member

Chris Yeland

    Looking at the legalities around the DA advert.   Guest: Legal analyst, Advocate Madidima Monnya

    Looking at the creative aspect, brand association and agency involvement/brief for adverts such as the recent DA advert.   Guest: Thebe Ikalafeng, an award-winning pan-African marketer.  

    The City of Joburg has proposed pre-paid electricity tariffs. The proposed electricity-tariff increases are contained in the draft 2024/24 budget for the city and the budget proposes that from 01 July there are different categories of residential pre-paid customers.   Dr Tracy Ledger, Public Affairs Research Institute’s Head of Energy Transition Programme says this increase is cause for consid...

    Yesterday, the ANC Secretary-General, Fikile Mbalula briefed the media on former President Jacob Zuma’s disciplinary process.   Zuma was expected to appear before the disciplinary committee at Luthuli House tomorrow facing two counts of contravening the ANC Constitution. That has now officially been put on hold until after the 2024 general elections.   One minute the DC was on. The next it is...

The Democratic Alliance has come under fire for its latest election advert which shows the South African flag going up in flames. According to the party leader, John Steenhuisen, the advert is a symbolic representation of the future that awaits South Africa if South Africans do not vote for the DA in the upcoming elections. But did they take it too far? We find out from …… GUEST: Solly Malatsi, DA...

Saleh Hijazi - Apartheid Free Policy Corodinator with BDS movement responding to the SA Zionist Federation warning the South African government not to continue using the Genocide term when describing the ongoing war in the Middle East

The SA Zionist Federation has warned the South African government not to continue using the Genocide term when describing the ongoing war in the Middle East. They say it is profoundly troubling that the South African government persists in making inflammatory and legally unfounded accusations against Israel.   Guest: Rolene Marks, Spokesperson for the SA Zionist Federation  

We hear from Rwanda’s Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza who recently approached the East African Court of Justice (EACJ), to obtain a ruling against the Rwandan State’s refusal to restore her civic rights, including the right to run in the elections scheduled to take place in July this year.   GUEST (Rwanda): Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza

  Topic: What do you make of inter-racial and inter-cultural marriages and the intricacies that comes with it?   GUEST (STUDIO): Fasiha Hassan, South African lawyer & politician  

Election analyst, Wayne Sussman recently looked back at some election results and published very interesting numbers when it comes to the ruling party and the official opposition. Wayne shared the following in a series of tweets: “While J. Zuma won far more votes for the ANC in a national election than both T.Mbeki & C.Ramaphosa, no ANC leader comes close to Ramaphosa & the impressive 645K...

On Tuesday President Cyril Ramaphosa awarded Shared Interest Founder, Donna Katzin with the prestigious Order of the Companions of OR Tambo for her innovative thinking in assisting post-apartheid South African businesses get ethical investments by promoting networking between South African businesses and American investors. Shared Interest is an NGO dedicated to expanding access to loans for Black...

Yesterday, the Road Accident Fund (RAF) launched their backlog campaign, the RAF’s Drive Your Claim Forward campaign that is meant to encourage claimants to submit outstanding documents required to finalise their applications in order to reduce RAF’s 321,000 backlog in claims. RAF CEO, Collins Letsoalo, slammed legislation for automatically validating claims after two months as the agency works to...

TIME Magazine has recognized Professor Tulio de Oliveira in its inaugural 2024 TIME100 Health list. This is a new annual compilation that celebrates 100 individuals who have had the most impact on global health this year. This recognition, determined by TIME's international network of editors, thought leaders, and previous honourees, marks De Oliveira's second appearance in TIME's influential rank...