The National Pulse

IFP president Velenkosini Hlabisa says the party's policies must evolve with time. He was speaking at the opening of the IFP’s policy conference that is currently underway in Empangeni on the north coast of KwaZulu-Natal. The IFP last held a policy conference in 2008. Hlabisa has urged delegates to robustly engage on party policies. For more on this, let’s now speak to….   GUEST: Mkhuleko Hlengwa,...

The United Nations has officially ended its 10-year peacekeeping mission in Mali, after the country’s ruling junta demanded the departure of the mission, accusing it of having failed to stabilise the country. Following this development, there are growing concerns that UN peacekeeping operations are increasingly becoming unwelcome in parts of Africa where most of the missions operate. For example,...

As the festive season approaches, we look at SAPS festive season safety plan that is aimed at ensuring that the police get a grip on serious and violent crime in the country. As part of this plan, SAPS will deploy 10 000 new police officers to ensure a safe holiday period. To elaborate further on this, we are joined by….   GUEST: Athlenda Mathe, SAPS National Spokesperson

GUEST: Professor Musa Xulu, Founder of Indonsa Yesizwe Think Tank

We have been running a series of conversations surrounding the latest report emerging from the Public Service Commission surrounding non-compliance and payment of invoices to suppliers within 30 days. One of the provinces who have emerged as repeat offenders is Gauteng which contributed with the highest number of invoices paid after 30 days which amounted to 45, 538 invoices to the value of R3.5bn...

The South African National Roads Agency shares its state of readiness for the national roads ahead of the festive season. Holidaymakers are going to be on the road this week and traffic will ramp up ahead of the public holiday on 15th December. In the last festive season (period: 1 December 2022 to 11 January 2023), the nation recorded 1 451 road deaths which was a 14% decrease compared to the sam...

According to a research by Solidarity's medical professional networks, it has found out that many South African Specialists and general practitioners would rather close their surgeries than work under the government's National Health Insurance. The NHI bill was recently approved by the National Council of Provinces, and it now only requires President Cyril Ramaphosa’s signature to become law. GUES...

South Africans have survived 332 days of load-shedding in 2023, which is an additional 127 days more than in 2022. One of the big takeaways from the data shared by the Outlier and EskomSePush is that we have endured 74 days of load-shedding under stage six, highlighting that we are not managing our emergency reserves to overcome breakdown in generative infrastructure. To help us understand what th...

The South African Police Service's Deputy National Commissioner for Crime Detection, Shadrack Sibiya, says that kidnapping for ransom is growing gradually in the country. His remarks are backed by the findings of the recent report that was released by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime which revealed that South Africa is among the top 10 countries with the highest rates of...

SASSA and Postbank have announced that, as part of a broader strategy to improve the quality of cash withdrawal services for all social grants recipients, physical cash payment points and cash withdrawal of social grants inside Post Offices will be phased out. The phasing out process will commence in January next year. It is planned that by the end of March next year, all cash payment points and P...

Zimbabwe’s Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) says it’s going to challenge the results of the controversial by-elections that took place over the weekend. The ruling ZANU PF has won most of the seats previously held by the CCC in a by-election that most voters boycotted. For more analysis on this, we are joined by….. GUEST: Dr Ibbo Mandaza – Political analyst based in Zimbabwe

GUEST (STUDIO): Penny Lebyane, Radio & TV personality

In conversation with Nomzamo Nkatshu about the inaugural Maseru Massacres Memorial Lecture which is due to take place tomorrow - in commemoration and honour of the victims and survivors of the 1982 and 1985 Maseru Massacres. The event will also see the official opening of the Inaugural Lerona Re Batho Art Exhibition – a conceptual art project pioneered by the Walter Sisulu University Fine Art stud...

A new study has been released on Murder in South Africa and the profile of the victims of this violent crime. The study sought to challenge the outdated narrative that men in society are considered invulnerable, their susceptibility to violence, and interrogated their ability to navigate access to the healthcare system. The study recommended that more work needs to be done to reduce the rate of me...

Despite the return of the Shosholoza Meyl long-distance trains this week, passengers aboard the train from Johannesburg to Cape Town stopped in Wellington due to cable theft. The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) has assured the public that it is committed to overcoming the operational challenges that it faced in this trip. One of the passengers on this trip will share their experience...

Eastern Cape farmers and livestock owners are urged to be vigilant for stock theft as we heading into the festive season, this is after two men had been arrested near Mzuzanto village between Qumbu and KwaBhaca after they were allegedly found transporting 16 sheep and 12 lambs in a bakkie on Tuesday. Guest:   Warrant Officer  Majola  Nkohli -  Eastern Cape police spokesperson

The National Association of School Governing Bodies is calling on pupils/learners not to attend “pens down” parties as they warn that such gatherings can be dangerous. Just recently, five teenagers were taken to hospital after over-drinking at a pens-down party at the East London beachfront. For more on this, let’s talk to ……… GUEST: Matakanye Matakanya – General Secretary of the National Associat...

Zimbabwe and Botswana will soon scrap visa requirements for each other’s citizens, and this will ease constraints of movement of people between the two countries. However, they are not the first ones to come up with this initiative as several African countries have recently introduced bilateral visa-free movement arrangements. But how will this benefit the two countries? For more on this, we are j...

Let’s now hear from Gold One Mine as they are experiencing another sit in at Modder East operation in Springs. We understand that close to 400 workers are stuck underground at the mine in what is believed to be another hostage situation. However, there are those who believe that the latest sit-in protest might have something to do with the dismissal of 50 employees after investigations into the pr...

News just in: Creditors have voted in favour of the Business Rescue Plan that is aimed at rescuing the ailing South African Post Office, and this unfortunately means that the retrenchment of approximately 6 000 employees will now go ahead as proposed by the Business Rescue Practitioners. Recently, the joint Business Rescue Practitioners of SA Post Office, Mr Anoosh Rooplal and Mr Juanito Damons pa...

This Festive Season, Gauteng Tourism will be promoting the province’s diverse and breathtaking leisure and adventure activities. Family friendly spaces, water parks to curb the heatwave, mouth-watering Gauteng food. Gauteng will ensure that everyone is covered, from parents, kids right to the visiting OoMakhulu. Joining us to tell us more about Gauteng’s Festive Summer is ……. GUEST: Barba Gaoganed...

As 16 Days of Activism against Women and Children draw to a close, we pay close attention to how the scourge of gender based violence and femicide is impacting the local economy. According to a report (University of Johannesburg, Africa Shared Value Initiative and KPMG) released back in 2021, the the financial implications of gender-based violence and femicide costs up to R36 billion per year. To...

The South African Committee of Health Sciences Deans have made a call to National Treasury to protect the healthcare system and not institute budget cuts. If you may recall, the Finance Minister Enoch Godogwana's announced the budget cuts during his medium-term budget policy statement last month.  The Committee has been concerned with the cut impacting medical training grants for newly graduated h...

Today, the CEO of the Black Forum South Africa, Adv. Kgagudi Morota visited the family of Aletta Letsaba and the business establishment, Club La Piroque - following the inhuman treatment they have suffered at the hands of members of SAPS. Late last month, Sergeant Samuel Pokedi accompanied by 20 other members of police, representing the SAPS, raided the establishment without a warrant and gave the...

Following its investigations on the ongoing violence in Sudan. The United States of America has accused Sudan's rival forces of committing war crimes, also adding that the fighting has caused grievous human suffering. However, the finding does not include sanctions being imposed on leaders or members of either side. For more analysis on this, let’s speak to……   GUEST: Ebrahim Deen, Independent Com...