The National Pulse

Two police officers who were gunned down last week while on duty have been hailed as heroes in a memorial service that was held earlier today. Sergeant Batsha and Constable Malahlela were murdered while responding to a complaint of unnatural death in the area. They were shot by suspects who stole their service pistols and bulletproof vests before fleeing the scene. The suspects have not yet been a...

Old Mutual SME feature: In his 2022 Budget speech, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced a bounce-back scheme to assist SMEs due to two years of economic turmoil and scant growth as a result of the COVID-19 lockdowns, exacerbated by load shedding and the civil unrest of July 2021. As we reflect on what was said at the beginning of the year, we look forward to what we can expect in the medium...

Does Minister Ronald Lamola and the correctional services department have a case to answer? The family of slain Hillary Gardee’s family is suing for R18 million in damages. One of the suspects in her murder, Hlabirwa Rassie Nkuna had been released on parole in 2019 after he was convicted for a variety of charges including armed robbery, murder and possession of a stolen vehicle. The family says Hl...

The South African Reserve Bank (Sarb) has secured a court order to attach assets linked to former Steinhoff CEO Markus Jooste. Jooste was Steinhof CEO until 2017, when the company became embroiled in one of the biggest auditing scandals in South African history. Joining us to react to this is ……  GUEST: Christo Wiese, former Steinhoff chairperson  

Judge Piet Koen has decided to postpone former president Jacob Zuma’s arms deal corruption trial to January next year. Handing down his order, Koen said it was in the interest of justice to postpone the matter, as the postponement will give him more time to prepare his judgment on his possible recusal to preside over the trial. Joining us to explain the legalities around this is….    GUEST: Dr. Ll...

we ask, can Liz Truss survive the economic and political storm? This as some leading British figures and Conservative MPs are calling on her to stand down after less than six weeks in the job. But despite the mounting pressure, Truss says she intends to lead the Tories to the next general election and she has apologised for chaos caused to Britain by Mini-Budget mistakes that sent the pound tumbli...

The South African Transport and Allied Workers Union says it has been sold out by fellow union, the United National Transport Union. This follows Untu’s decision to accept Transnet’s latest wage increase offer. Transnet is offering a 6% increase in the basic wage for levels H to L, and 6% on the annual cost-to-company package for level G, the percentage will go down to 5.5 in year two and back to...

We look at the state of human rights in Burundi. This as international human rights groups are calling for the release of Tony Germain Nkina, a lawyer and one of the last people publicly associated with Burundi’s once thriving human rights movement who is still in jail today. He was arrested in 2020 and convicted in 2021, despite the lack of any evidence against him. Human rights groups have calle...

In a call that is being backed by the NSPCA, the Sizwe Kupelo Foundation is calling for a ban of pit bulls as pets. The call fallows a series of attacks by pit bulls on people, including children as well as other dogs and animals. The foundation has started a petition that has garnered over 32 000 signatures from people across the country. The foundation also has it has been reeving calls from peo...

Today, the Statistician-General of South Africa, Risenga Maluleke, released the findings of the Gender Series Volume IX: Women Empowerment, 2017-2022 Report. According to the findings of the report, there is a steady increase in women's share in the working-age population over the last 5 years. But what is still concerning though, is the fact that males still hold the majority of senior management...

What will it take to build a capable state in South Africa? We find out from the former Statistician General of South Africa, Dr Phali Lehohla, as we search for possible solutions aimed at addressing South Africa’s many socio-economic challenges such as; high unemployment rates, poverty, social inequality, power crisis and inadequate public service access.     GUEST: Dr Phali Lehohla, Professor of...

President Cyril Ramaphosa is hosting the Sahara Arab Democratic Republic President, Brahim Ghali - who is on a state visit at the Union Buildings in Pretoria. Ghali’s visit is aimed at strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries. You may recall that the Western Sahara region was previously under the colonial rule of Spain before Morocco. The Moroccan monarchy still considers Wester...

President Cyril Ramaphosa has made a U-turn on the ministerial handbook. This follows backlash about ministers getting free water and electricity as a perk as stated in the ministerial handbook. His spokesperson. Vincent Magwenya says Ramaphosa acknowledges the public’s sentiments on the issue and has withdrawn the amendment in the ministerial handbook.  Guest: Cosatu spokesperson, Sizwe Pamla.

South African children are under siege. The body family of four year old Bokgabo Poo is still looking for some of her body parts after she was murdered and her body was dismembered. 30 year old Ntokozo Zikhali was arrested in connection with the murder, he appeared in court today. Zikhali was out on bail for allegedly raping a 9 year old. In another case, a police officer allegedly raped a 15 year...

Deloitte Africa embarked on Future Fit project to improve its audit quality after a process of introspection in 2019. The company has now released an annual transparency report. In the report, it looks at its performance with regards to issues like transformation, diversity and inclusion, especially in its leadership as well as its compensation model. What is the aim of this report, what are its h...

Our guest helps us understand Dis-Chem’s moratorium on the appointment and promotion of White employees. In a leaked letter that has caused a huge public outcry, Dis-Chem's CEO Ivan Saltzman said that given their transformation targets, they needed to employ more black people. The organisation has since withdrawn its internal memorandum, saying that “we regret the wording and tone of an internal m...

It has been two years since the National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide was adopted. The country however, continues to deal with a worsening rate of violence against women, children. Just today, we saw the father of slain four year old Bokgabo Poo trying to confront her alleged killer in court. The Department of Social Development has started a series of dialogues with commun...

Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu held an emergency meeting this morning, to engage with Rand Water, representatives of all three metros, district and local municipalities of Gauteng Province affected by Rand Water’s water restrictions. Post this important meeting, Mchunu has committed to increase the bulk water allocation to the Rand Water system as an emergency measure to address water...

Zwakele Mncwango has officially joined ActionSA as its provincial chairperson in KwaZulu-Natal. Mncwango, who is a former DA chief whip in the provincial legislature, announced his resignation from the party earlier this month.    GUEST: Zwakele Mncwango, Provincial Chairperson of ActionSA in KwaZulu-Natal  

The African Union has called for an immediate, unconditional ceasefire in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region. The AU statement followed one issued by a UN representative who said Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was gravely concerned about the escalation of the fighting and called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. AU-led peace talks were due to take place in South Africa earlier this mon...

Earlier on today, KwaZulu-Natal Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube met the leadership and community of uPhongolo to discuss long-term solutions that are aimed at dealing with road safety issues, with a focus fixed firmly on truck compliance. This engagement forms part of a series of interventions led by the provincial government after the fatal crash on the N2 in uPhongolo, which claimed 20 lives. Premier...

The Nelson Mandela Museum is hosting its inaugural African Liberation Heritage Indaba. Leaders from former liberation movements, civil society organisations, academia and students are engaging on how to reclaim the values of our predecessors, to build a caring and peaceful society and a United Africa. Other issues discussed, include African heritage repatriation, decolonisation and food security....

Rand Water has been urging residents to help reduce the extremely high water consumption during the hot spring period. Water systems have been severely constrained. Three metros, the City of Tshwane, City of Joburg and Ekhurhuleni have been put on level 2 water restrictions. High consumption of water in the province has been pointed as one of the main contributing factors for the province’s water...

The Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA) in Limpopo has defended the nurse who allegedly refused to assist a woman in labour at the Burgersfort Clinic, who reportedly arrived before the clinic opened. According to DENOSA, “the nurse’s only crime was to speak the unwanted truth that the clinic opens at 07:00am.”    GUEST: Jacob Molepo, DENOSA Provincial Secretary in Limpopo  

Earlier today, Umalusi briefed the media on the levels of readiness of the public and private assessment bodies to manage and conduct the 2022 end of the year national examinations. The council for quality assurance has assured South Africans that they are ready for this year’s National Senior Certificate exams. Joining us to elaborate further on this is……    GUEST: Dr Mafu Rakometsi, Chief Execut...