The National Pulse

The mining industry is gathering at the Cape Town International Convention Centre for the Mining Indaba until Thursday. This is the biggest mining event on the continent. Among other things, delegates will be discussing ways to address challenges facing the mining sector. What does the future of mining look like for South Africa as the country moves away from coal through President Cyril Ramaphosa...

Last month, the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande unveiled a three-dimensional (3D) technology demonstration project with the potential to improve the delivery of houses in South Africa. The objective of this project is to demonstrate the potential of improving housing delivery, also to assess social acceptance of 3D printed homes – and what is even more amazi...

The latest statistics released by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment show 40% decrease in the number of Rhino poached in the Kruger National Park in 2022 compared to 2021. The Kruger National Park has previously been a hotspot for rhino poaching, however, poachers are now targeting KZN parks. The province lost 244 rhinos and 16 of those were in privately owned reserves. Mini...

The United Nations’ Secretary General, Antonio Guterres has condemned the attack on a South African National Defence Force aircraft in the DRC. A member of the crew died and another one was injured when an Oryx helicopter came under fire on the way to the airport in Goma. Guterres has called on the Congolese government to investigate the matter, as attacks on UN peacekeepers constitute a war crime...

Gift of the Givers says that its medical teams with specialised equipment would be heading to Turkey following the devastating earthquake.  GUEST: Dr Cassim Bhorat, Medical Team leader and Volunteer @Gift Of The Givers  

More than 1,400 people have died so far after a devastating earthquake of magnitude 7.8 struck Turkey and Syria. Many buildings in different cities and villages in Turkey and Syria collapsed, even now, we are told that many families are under the rubble. But what causes the 7.8-magnitude quake?     GUEST: Dr. David Khoza, the Executive Manager for Applied Geosciences in the Council for Geosciences...

As Nigerians are preparing for their upcoming general elections, scheduled to take place later this month. We look at the rise of violent attacks on members of opposition parties, security agents and electoral commission personnel and infrastructure as many people are concerned that the country may not have a free and fair election, particularly in the south-east states.  GUEST: Dr Chidochase Nyer...

Today we hear from Joankie Makwakwa, founder of KasiConvocation – an online platform that assists stokvels to do their business in a simple and useful way by organising their data to be more accessible.   GUEST: Joankie Makwakwa, founder of KasiConvocation 

The ANC will appeal the court ruling ordering it to give its cadre deployment committee records to the Democratic Alliance within five days. The court said the ANC’s decision to refuse to give the opposition party access to the information is unlawful. If the ruling stands, how would it affect governance and how political parties deploy into strategic positions Guest: Sanusha Naidu, political anal...

Patriotic Alliance’s Deputy President, Kenny Kunene has been sworn in as member of mayoral committee for transport in the City of Johannesburg. He forms part of the new administration in the city, led by newly elected mayor, Thapelo Amad. Amad announced his MMCs earlier today after he was sworn in last week. What can Joburg residents expect? Kenny Kunene 

The National Prosecuting Authority in the Eastern Cape has confirmed that the Gqeberha High Court recently sentenced two adults to serve direct imprisonment terms after convicting them on charges of trafficking in persons relating to the forced marriage of a 13-year old mildly mentally disabled girl.      GUEST: Luxolo Tyali, Eastern Cape NPA spokesperson  

School safety remains a topical issue in South Africa. Just yesterday, a Grade 10 schoolboy was stabbed to death in an after school fight in Brakpan. Gauteng education says the fight was about the pupils pepper spraying other pupils at school. Earlier on today, Gauteng education MEC visited Geluksdal Secondary School 

Why there is so much controversy around the screening of Ousmane Sembène’s “Black Girl” film - especially because, the film previously played at the Joburg Film Festival without controversy in 2016. To give us clarity on this is….  GUEST: Percy Mabandu, Joburg Film Festival Media Liaison & Spokesperson  

Why Africa matters to the rest of the world? “Dissecting the state of African affairs, also asking…….”      What does the future hold for Africa in the next couple of decades and how should political and economic drives be advanced to assist African societies build a sustainably secure, prosperous and just continent? We find out from………      GUEST: Professor Patrick Lumumba, Kenyan Lawyer & Ac...

Veteran South African actor, director, and playwright Dr John Kani is our guest today and he joins us to talk about his role as Colonel Ulenga in Adam Sandler’s Murder Mystery 2 sequel. We understand that the 2019 Murder Mystery was massively successful, being streamed by over 30 million accounts in its first three days.  GUEST: Dr John Kani, South African actor, director, and playwright 

Outa has written to Toursim Minister, Lindiwe Sisulu and the acting CEO of SA Tourism, Themba Khumalo, asking them to put the Tottenham Hotspur deal on ice. The organisation says the size of the budget for the deal is unacceptable considering the urgent issues that need funding in South Africa the low public trust in government’s decisions on spending. It says initiatives to improve SA tourism sho...

A two day cabinet lekgotla is under way at the Presidentital Guesthouse in Pretoria. The energy crisis is at the top of the agenda among other issues being discussed. Leaders of government from all three spheres are in attendance at the meeting being chaired by President Cyril Ramaphosa. What else is on the agenda? Guest: Ntebo Mokobo

SA Tourism's Acting CEO, Themba Khumalo, says the economy is expected to rake in around 88-billion-rand in profits from its investment in the Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. Khumalo was responding to the Daily Maverick report on a proposed SA government sponsorship of the club – also revealing that the funding was meant to be spent on foreign soil regardless of the initiative. Documents obtained...

Following the recent unfortunate incident that involved Sheba the tiger. The department of forestry, fisheries and the environment has revealed that government has approved the establishment of a task team to audit facilities where non-native species are kept.   GUEST: Flora Mokgohloa, Deputy Director General: Biodiversity and Conservation at the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environme...

UN agencies have welcomed a pledge by 12 African countries to end AIDS in children by 2030. South Africa is one of the countries that has committed to this pledge. According to the United Nations, currently, around the world, a child dies from AIDS-related causes every five minutes. But can the 2030 target be reached? GUEST: Dr Bulumko Futshane, Director of Programmes at Beyond Zero

What kind of impact would the reported Tottenham Hostspurs deal have on the image of South Africa and its tourism? Rwanda has a similar deal and they have reported a 17% improvement in their tourism since it was signed. Many seem against it, but what could be the benefits? We’re now joined by Solly Moeng brand reputation management advisor and MD of strategic corporate communications consultancy D...

The Health and Allied Workers Trade Indaba Union has written to the Gauteng College of Nursing as well as the MEC for health in the province to express shock and concern following the increase of tuition fees at the Gauteng College of Nursing by 200%. This follows a report by nursing students at the college that a course they paid R3129 for later year, now costs over R11000. The unions also says n...

Today we celebrate twin sisters Matlhogonolo and Masego Mphahlele who invented Digital X-Ray Glasses. Their exceptional innovation boasts technology that enables radiologists to scan the human body quicker than traditional scans.     GUESTS: Masego Mphahlele   

The deadline for South African companies to take part in the 4 day week pilot project have closed. The project seeks to find out the possibility of moving a work week from five to four days, without compromising productivity. 29 companies have signed up and will participate in the project for six months and track productivity levels. 28 of the companies are from South Africa and one in Botswana. T...

The Independent Police Investigative Directorate is investigating a case of four police officers from Boksburg North Visible Policing for the assault and torture of an immigrant on the 9th of January. The torture and assault left the victim in a comma for nine days. It took place at the police station after he was arrested for failing to produce an original identity document when the officers aske...