The National Pulse

Earlier on today, SECTION27 and the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (CASAC) launched a conference report titled ‘Democracy & Constitutionalism: Civic Education Conference Report & Keywords’.  The report brings into focus the importance of civic education at a time when South Africa is preparing for the 2024 elections, which are widely viewed as the most signif...

We look at the Gauteng medium-term budget policy statement that was tabled by finance MEC Jacob Mamabolo in the provincial legislature earlier today. While the provincial budget increased in total, certain departments had their budgets cut to cater for increases for other provincial programmes. GUEST: Jacob Mamabolo, MEC for Finance in Gauteng

Niger’s military junta has revoked the country’s anti-migration law which made it illegal to transport migrants through Niger. We understand that the decision to revoke this law is part of their strategy to reassess relations with former western allies who condemned the coup that saw the ousting of President Mohamed Bazoum. GUEST: Dr William Mpofu, Political analyst & Senior Researcher @Wits  

Health Department in Limpopo has confirmed that they are currently looking into the death of a patient who was allegedly denied access into Northam Clinic in the Waterberg District. According to the department, the 23-year-old critically ill patient died after the security guards refused his family entry due to load shedding. For more on this, we are now joined by….. GUEST: Thilivhali Muavha, Spok...

Political parties are requesting donations that fall slightly short of the 100, 000 rand threshold in order to avoid having to disclose their contributions and perhaps undermining the Funding Act.   So what should happen to these political parties – should the laws be amended to prevent this from happening? For more on this, let’s now chat to…. GUEST: Prof Dirk Kotze - Professor, Political Science...

It's a celebration for Mackenzie "Mighty Mack" Friedman and her family. Two years ago, Mackenzie received an official diagnosis of Acute Myeloid Leukaemia. And after founding her stem cell match and underwent her life-changing transplant – last week's test came back indicating she has reached 100% donor chimerism.  Guest: Megan Friedman - Mighty Mack's mother

Tracker released its most recent vehicle crime statistics just in time for the holidays, revealing that hijackings continue to account for the majority of vehicle crime incidents. It also provides information on the day of the week and the time of day when you are most likely to have your car stolen or become the victim of a hijacking. Joining us for this conversation is….. GUEST: Mike Bolhuis, ow...

Buffalo City Metro’s staff overtime bill has skyrocketed to R35.4m in just three months, causing the financially strapped municipality to impose restrictions on overtime compensation as creditors close the taps. Last Thursday, some traffic officers complained that their municipal petrol cards had been declined at filling stations.   To talk to us about the municipality’s financial situation is….  ...

Calm has been restored in Sierra Leone, following an attack on a military barracks in the capital city, Freetown, yesterday. We understand that the country’s night-time curfew has also been lifted. However, the political situation in the West African nation has remained tense since President Bio's re-election in a disputed election in June. Joining us to explain what’s behind these tensions is……....

Sergeant Vusimuzi Mogane has been questioned why he left out crucial evidence when he testified at the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial within a trial. Mogane is back in the witness box at the High Court in Pretoria to give clarity on the vehicle tracking report. Mogane is being cross examined by defense Bakwena Monyeki-who is standing in for advocate Zandile Mshololo. Monyeki asked Mogane why he never m...

New HIV Survey shows that the percentage of all people living with HIV in South Africa has decreased from 14.0% in 2017 to 12% in 2022. Also according to the survey, HIV prevalence was nearly twice as high among women - by race, it was the highest among black Africans (sitting at 20%). GUEST: Professor Khangelani Zuma, Divisional Executive in the Public Health, Societies and Belonging (PHSB) Resea...

As the four-day truce between Hamas and Israel enters its final day. Israel says it is open to extend truce if more captives are released by Hamas. On the other hand, Egypt, Qatar, France and the U.S are all calling for the ceasefire to be extended. Joining us to explain their next move is…. GUEST: Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner, Israeli Defence Force spokesperson

With the Christmas break coming up, let’s talk about mental health over the festive season. Some may be excited to to with their families and friends where they will be gatjering over the holiday period. While for some this time of year is filled with sadness, substance abuse, violence, and even financial ruin, which can lead to depression and, sometimes, even suicide.    How can we play a role in...

Let’s now look at the Eastern Cape’s Medium Term Policy Statement that was recently delivered by the Provincial Finance MEC, Mlungisi Mvoko. Mvoko announced that the conditional grant has been reduced by 761-million rand  from  the 14-point-six billion rand main budget for 2023/24. The adjustments have been attributed to tough economic conditions and low revenue collection. He also revealed that t...

As shoppers take advantage of Black Friday specials over the next five days, the Department of Health has issued a warning to consumers to check the expiry date for essential food items.  The Department has also outlined the importance for  consumers to report any retailer who are selling suspicious goods, particularly highly perishable goods, to the relevant authorities. To share more information...

The Living Wage South Africa Network is calling for employers to pay workers a living wage and not only what is prescribed in the National Minimum Wage legislation. At the moment, minimum wage is sitting at R25,42 hour and a take home that is just over R4000. Our next guest has done research around what an optimal living wage looks like given the current economic conditions and the qualitative imp...

Today marks the beginning of the four-day truce between Israel and Hamas. The temporary truce will see the first exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners. This  is expected to occur in batches over the four days of the truce. However, the exact location for the exchange has not been made clear. For more details on this, let’s now speak to….. GUEST: Dr Khaled Qadomi, Hamas spokesperso...

Here we go again, just when most South Africans were starting to enjoy their summer. Eskom has just announced Stage-6 blackouts and according to them, this is due to the loss of five generating units over the past 24 hours resulting in a shortage of generation capacity, as well as the need to replenish our emergency reserves. Energy analyst Adil Nchabeleng says this is not good news for South Afri...

After serving close to 10 years for the 2013 murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp – Oscar Pistorius has been granted parole. However, he will only be released in January next year. According to the department of Correctional Services, the parole placement decision was taken after having assessed Oscar’s profile and other material submitted for the purposes of parole consideration. GUEST: Sing...

We examine the scope and complexity of work in the State Attorney offices. Some of you may recall that earlier this year post the release of the State Capture Report, Chief Justice Raymond Zondo expressed grave concern about the state’s capacity to defend court applications that were aimed at reviewing the State Capture Report as he was worried that the State Attorney is not sufficiently capacitat...

We hear from Sarah Camp, a final-year medical student at Stellenbosch University, wo recently completed her personal cycling championship that was aimed at assisting other students to pay off their debt. Inspired by Professor Thuli Madonsela's efforts to assist students with university debt, Sarah says she managed to raise just over R32 000. She joins us now to tell us more about her cycling journ...

Hawks Public Hearing Earlier today, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (aka the HAWKS) briefed the nation on the milestones achieved in the second quarter of 2023/24 financial year. In this quarter, 801 arrests have been made and 244 of those accused have been convicted as well as sentenced for national priority offenses.  National priority offenses that have led to the bulk of these...

Earlier this week, we came to you live from Mapungubwe National Park. During the broadcast, one of our listeners referred us to a South African studying towards her PhD on the contemporary human-place interactions in Mapungubwe in post-apartheid South Africa. In the study, she delves into a historical reflection starting from the time of the “discovery” of the site (1932 onwards) and evaluates how...

Investigating officer in the Senzo Meyiwa murder case, Sergeant Batho Mogola has told the high court in Pretoria that accused number one, Muzi Sibiya refused to go to hospital after alleging that he was assaulted. Mogola has wrapped up her cross examination in a trial within a trial to establish the admissibility of an alleged confession statement. Interestingly, today we also witnessed a heated c...

The repo rate of the South African Reserve Bank remains unchanged at 8.25%, bank governor Lesetja Kganyago has just announced. To explain what this means, we are joined by…..   GUEST: Xhanti Payi, Senior Economist @PwC