The National Pulse

NPO, Gift of the Givers has unveiled a R60 Million upgrade at Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital following the destruction of the old one by fire in April 2021. This is a state of the art facility that includes a dispensary. The health department’s minister, Dr Joe Phaahla officially opened it earlier. We’re now joined by Gift of the Givers Founder, Dr Imtiaz Sooliman.

One thousand healthcare workers including nurses and doctors in Gauteng have not had a salary since April. They were roped in when the country was grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021.They continued working when their contracts ended, however, they have not received clear communication on when their salaries will come. We’re now joined by Bongani Mazibuko- Provincial Secretary of DENOSA Ga...

Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Mondli Gungubele has made some positive remarks during his Budget Speech about the country’s pending transition from analogue to digital broadcasting, saying that his department aims to conclude the distribution of available set top boxes to registered indigent households as soon as possible. This is despite the fact he is currently facing legal act...

The South African Competition Commission has found that Red Roses Africa, previously registered as Mainstreet 669 (Pty) Ltd, charged the South African Police Service excessive amounts during the national state of disaster and they have referred the matter to the Competition Tribunal for prosecution. To explain how the investigation was carried out in relation to this case is…..   GUEST: Maanda Lam...

Former President of Mozambique Joachim Chissano has raised concerns about Zimbabwe’s current economic situation, saying it is hurting the SADC region. This as the country is said to be owing international creditors about R162 billion ($8.5 billion) and apparently, arrears make up 69% of the bilateral debt, which totals $5.7 billion. But what informs Zimbabwe’s economic crisis? For more on this, we...

We continue our live broadcast in Cape Town. We're for the Transport Department's Budget Vote. It was tabled in parliament by Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga earlier, highlighting some of the budget priorities for the department.  Guest: Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga

The Section 194 Inquiry into suspended Public Protector, Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane's fitness to hold office resumed today. This is after Parliament's Speaker, Nosiviwe Mapisa Nqakula raised concerns about the delays as the deadline for the committee to conclude its work looms. What came out of the inquiry today, we are joined by SABC News Parliamentary Correspondent, Joseph Mosia. 

We're still coming to you live from Cape Town. We're here for the department of transport's budget vote. It was tabled in parliament by Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga. We're now joined by Mokganyetsi Sithole, Chair of the Ubumbano Operating Company's Board. They are the host's of today's gathering of the department of transport's entities. Ubumbano are Gibela Rail Transport Consortium's BBBEE shareho...

Today we look at the positive role played by SA Harvest in reducing food waste and hunger in the country. Since its inception in 2019, SA Harvest has delivered the equivalent of 40 million meals and rescued 12 million kilograms of food from going to waste. The organisation’s food rescue operation collects perfectly good food that would otherwise go to waste in refrigerated trucks and delivers it t...

We are still coming to you live from Cape Town as Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga tables her department's budget vote in parliament. We now move to another important aspect of our transport system, airports. We're joined by Mpumi Mpofu, CEO of Airports Company South Africa, Mpumi Mpofu. 

Why is there no action being taken against controversial Advocate Malesela Teffo as it is public knowledge that he was barred from practising law? We pose this question as Teffo interrupted the court proceedings again today, claiming that he was assigned to represent Sfiso Meyiwa (Senzo’s brother).   GUEST: Mpumelelo Zikalala, Legal Practitioner

Water and Sanitation Minister, Senzo Mchunu tabled his budget vote before parliament yesterday. He has allocated over R14 billion to municipalities to address water and infrastructure backlogs as communities. Makana Municipality in the Eastern Cape is among the municipalities that will be getting prioritised in this financial year. The department has allocated R393 Million for the development of t...

We assess Pravin Gordhan’s SCOPA Appearance: Public Enterprise Minister Pravin Gordhan has dismissed Andre De Ruyter’s allegation that he was micro-managing Eskom, labelling De Ruyter’s remarks as “absolute nonsense”. Gordhan was responding to De Ruyter’s claims of corruption and crime at Eskom, among other allegations. So what is really happening at Eskom and why are we being subjected to this hi...

We are coming to you live from Cape Town this afternoon. We are here for the tabling of the department of transport's budget vote by Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga in parliament. She will be sharing what government's budget priorities for transport in South Africa are. One of the issues that have been highlighted by the increasing number of trucks on our roads, is the need for the rail industry to be...

The department of health in Limpopo is calling on residents to take precautionary measures following an increase in the number of reported malaria cases in the province. Malaria cases rose to 1423 in the past month and two people have died. The increase has been attributed to weather conditions favourable to mosquito breeding as well as the Easter travel season that saw many people travelling acro...

10 people died so far and five more are still in hospital after house was burnt down in Pietermaritzburg with 15 people inside. Colonel Robert Netshiunda 

According to the latest Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, over 80% of South African children in Grade 4 cannot read for meaning in any language. Something that is very concerning as all-11 official languages were used in the assessment. So how do we turn things around and what is it that we are not doing right in our education system? For more on this, we are joined by…… GUEST: Pro...

According to Stats SA, unemployment rate in South Africa has increased to 32.9% in the first quarter of 2023. The discouraged work-seekers decreased by 87 000 in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the fourth quarter of 2022 resulting in a net decrease of 296 000 in the not economically active population. To give us a breakdown in terms of what informed these figures is…   GUEST: Risenga Malulek...

The United States of America has imposed entry restrictions on some Nigerians, particularly those who were involved in intimidation of voters during the country’s general elections that took place two months ago. To explain what this means in terms of bilateral relations between these two countries is……   GUEST: Professor Chris Isike, political analyst from the University of Pretoria

How is the process of updating STS compliant electricity meters going in South Africa and whose responsibility is it to update them? If the software of the meters is not updated by November 2024, they will stop accepting new prepaid credit tokens. There are about 70 million of these prepaid meters rolled out in over 100 countries and 10 million of them are in South Africa. We’re now joined by ener...

Sarafina has made history by becoming the first local film to be selected twice by the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. The South African film was recently announced as part of this year's Official Selection for Cannes Classics. Joining us to celebrate this latest achievement is Mbongeni Ngema who will remind us about the story behind Sarafina…..   GUEST: Mbongeni Ngema, South African writer, Dir...

Over one thousand people have been evacuated and accommodated on halls, schools and churches after heavy rains in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality. Municipal workers are busy with mop-up operations in low lying areas that were mostly affected by the flooding in KwaZakhele, Motherwell, New Brighton and Walmer. The heavy rains come after a long period of drought in the area that has adde...

Why are some companies failing to comply with employment equity laws and what’s the role of government in ensuring that companies comply with the laws of the country? We find out from the department of labour as they intend to take legal action against some of the companies who are failing to comply with employment equity laws. The Foschini Group, Truworths and industrial firm Barloworld are some...

Turkiye is headed for a runoff presidential vote after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu failed to achieve the 50 per cent of votes required to win on Sunday. Joining us to explain what this means for both candidates is…. GUEST: Zeenat Adam, Deputy Executive Director at the Afro-Middle East Centre

As nurses across the world are being celebrated today on International Nurses Day. We chat to Dr Nkhensani Mukoki about the importance of this day and what it means to the nursing profession. Mukoki is a Chief Operating Officer and founder of Primary Health Care Clinics in three provinces and they are all nurse driven.   GUEST: Dr Nkhensani Mukoki, is a Nursepreneur who is COO and founder of Prima...