The National Pulse

Following the ousting of Joburg Mayor, Dr Mpho Phalatse. We now speak to ActionSA’s national chairperson, Michael Beaumont. Earlier today, ActionSA announced that they will approach coalition partners to seek their support for the party's candidate for the position of Johannesburg mayor if Mpho Phalatse is ousted. Now that Phalatse has been ousted – what’s the next move for the party?     GUEST: M...

Following a short-lived break, Metro FM Music Awards are back and are scheduled to take place in April this year. The event will be hosted by the City of Mbombela and will be broadcast live on SABC1 and supported by various SABC radio stations. Joining us to furnish us with more details about this year’s ceremony is….    GUEST: Kina Nhlengethwa, Metro FM Station Manager  

Power cuts are wreaking havoc in the chicken production industry. One of South Africa’s biggest chicken producers, Astral Foods Limited is warning its profits may plunge by 90% as production costs continue to rise due to load-shedding. The JSE listed poultry group says the cost of producing chicken exceeds the selling price by R2 per kilogram as it puts funds into alternative energy sources, howev...

A police woman from Limpopo has been arrested and charged for sexually grooming and raping a young boy. The woman filmed herself in the video that has gone viral on social media. In the video, she is instructing the boy to perform sexual acts on her. The boy has been sent to a place of safety and her identity has not been revealed to protect the boy’s identity. It has been alleged the boy might be...

eThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda is facing a motion of no confidence, tabled by the Active Citizens Coalition. The Abantu Batho Congress supports the notice of the motion to remove mayor Kaunda as a member of the Executive Committee of the EThekwini Municipality.     GUEST: Imtiaz Syed, President of the Active Citizens Coalition

Johannesburg City Mayor Dr Mpho Phalatse is facing yet another motion of no confidence today. You may recall that last year, Phalatse was removed from office through a motion of no confidence, but was later reinstated by the South Gauteng High Court after she challenged her removal. Another interesting development in relation to today’s proceedings is that ActionSA has announced that it will reach...

Earlier on today, thousands of Australians marched in each capital city across the country to fight for indigenous rights and for the date of Australia Day celebrations to be changed. Today’s protest was particularly important because of an upcoming referendum on whether to enshrine in the Australian constitution an indigenous voice to parliament. Joining us to discuss today’s protest is…..    GUE...

Three suspects were hospitalised following a shooting spree that left 6 people injured and one dead in Gqeberha last night. Police were first attended a shooting complaint where two women ages 38 and 53 sustained gunshot wounds and later a 30 year old man was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds not far from the first crime scene. Two other men were also found with gunshot wounds shortly after...

Some great news for Marvel fans and black women in the film industry. Black Panther Star, Angela Basset has been nominated for best supporting actress at the 2023 Oscars. This is for her performance in "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,". This makes history  as it marks Marvel’s first acting nomination at the Academy Awards. The nomination has made headlines across the world as many have been callin...

In conversation with Masanda Peter who recently launched a mining magazine. The magazine will focus on mineworker news and life events and feature safety,  technology, finance, health, ex-mineworker engagements and mining industry news across South Africa.    GUEST: Mandisa Peter, Director of Dadero Communications and Concepts  

Now that the matric results excitement is over, a new problem begins, placement in higher education institutions. Universities in the Eastern Cape have turned away 90% of applicants because they only have space for less than 10% of the people who have applied. The University of Fort Hare received 219,000 student applications, but it only has space for 3,500 first-years. Walter Sisulu University ca...

Microsoft says it has reversed a network change that may have been the cause of an outage on its platforms across the world, including Outlook, Teams, Xbox Live and Azure. Users reported the Microsoft platforms were not connecting and sometimes failing to refresh. Many of them taking to social media platforms to double check with other users. Microsoft says it continues to monitor the platform, as...

Following the DA’s march to Luthuli House against power cuts – let’s now hear from the party’s Chief Whip, Siviwe Gwarube if she thinks today’s march was a success.   GUEST: Siviwe Gwarube, DA Chief Whip 

Meanwhile, the ANC Youth League has been clear about its stance on the DA's march to Luthuli House and they came out in numbers to defend the party’s headquarters. Nonceba Mhlauli is the convener of the ANC Youth League and she joins us now to react to the DA’s march.   GUEST: Nonceba Mhlauli, ANC Youth League Convener  

The U.S Secretary for Treasury Janet Yellen is on a three-day official visit to South Africa as part of the Biden administration's strategy to engage more with Africa. On the other hand, the US Embassy has registered its dissatisfaction about the recent visit of Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, saying that the remarks that he made while visiting South Africa represent an exhausting example...

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has raised concern over the escalating violence in Eastern DRC that has left hundreds of civilians dead. The latest attack happened last week at a site for internally displaced persons and their shelters were looted and burned down. One region has lost more than 200 civilians in the past six weeks in a series of attacks by non-state armed groups. F...

How important are joint military drills with other countries and what do they symbolise in international relations? South Africa continues to defend its planned military drills with Russia and China in February as it maintains its neutral stance on the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The joint exercise is planned for the 24th of February in the East Coast. Guest: Professor Abel Esterhuyse, Head of Strate...

Let’s now speak to Lesego Peega from Kgabalatsane village, who is one of the co-founders of DEZGNED concept store, a thriving rural boutique – the first of its kind to be in a rural area. This as we celebrate her success story.  

So, what process can mineworkers who contracted TB and Silicosis between 1965 and 2019 follow in order to get compensated? Yesterday we spoke to the National Union of Mineworkers about the announcement by the Department of Health that it would commence a process of compensating the workers. Tshiamiso Trust will be administering those funds and they will give us clarity on some of the details and h...

Frontier Hospital in Komani in the Eastern Cape has had long power cuts since Friday, disrupting services to patients. The hospital not only helps people from the area, it also handles referrals from smaller hospitals and clinics in the region. Residents in the area have been putting pressure on the Enoch Mgijima municipality  due to power cuts in the area, going as far as calling for the council...

The City of Tshwane is urging its residents to use water sparingly so that the impact of the current water challenges can be minimised. Last week, Rand Water notified the City about its intention to control the flow of water to Tshwane in order to reduce water consumption. For more on this, we are joined by …..  GUEST: Daryl Johnston, Tshwane MMC for Utility Services and Regional Operations and Co...

AfriForum plans to enter the energy space through its AfriEnergy plan- to help alleviate the country's current energy crisis. It announced its first leg of the organisation's 3-phase plan during a media briefing in Pretoria today. The plan includes assisting South Africans to access quality alternative sources of energy and help move poor households off-grid. GUEST: Johan Kruger, AfriForum’s Head...

The United States and its allies has imposed more sanctions against Iran. The latest move targets a key economic pillar of the Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which funds much of the current administration’s brutal suppression.   GUEST: Na’eem Jeenah, Executive Director at Afro-Middle East Centre 

Home Affairs Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi has welcomed the North Gauteng High Court’s judgement which confirmed that Atul Gupta is a fugitive from justice and therefore does not qualify for a South African passport. You may recall that about five years ago, Atul Gupta approached the Consul General of South Africa in Dubai to apply for a passport. However, the department of home affairs rejected hi...

The Embassy of Ukraine to the Republic of South Africa reacts to Sergei Lavrov’s visit to South Africa - as you probably know that his visit has sparked criticism against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine.   GUEST: Ms Liubov Abravitova, Ukraine’s Ambassador to South Africa