The National Pulse

  As the African National Congress gears up for its 55th National Conference that is due to take place in December this year. We speak to ANC NEC member and former deputy president of the ANC Youth League, Ronald Lamola, who has been calling for a generational mix within the ANC leadership structures and he has also made it clear that he is available to serve as the party’s deputy president.      ...

An investigation into the tragic Pongola accident that killed 21 people, mainly children, has found the truck driver to be at fault. The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) led the probe after the truck collided with a bakkie ferrying school learners on Friday last week. To tell us more about the outcomes of the report, is …..  GUEST: Lwazilwaphesheya Khoza, Spokesperson for the Ministry of...

The Health Professions Council of South Africa says hospitals are buckling under pressure due to long hours of load-shedding. The council is calling on government to exempt all healthcare facilities from load-shedding. It says the long hours without power are straining a healthcare system that is already overwhelmed. Are hospitals not meant to be exempt from load-shedding, how have they been copin...

Is South Africa facing a leadership crisis? Buyani Zwane helps us understand the reasons for an increasing sense of crisis permeating society. When addressing students at Unisa yesterday, former President Thabo Mbeki said "I think we face a major, major challenge here at home; it's a leadership challenge." He went on to say - many of the country’s current challenges like the ongoing power blackout...

Government has finally signed three wind power projects that will add 420 MW to the grid and help curb the worsening electricity crisis in the country. The three projects fall under Bid Window 5 of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Program launched in April 2021. The signing of the other 22 successful IPP bidders will be announced before the end of October this year. The...

World News: What do leaders gain when they refuse to relinquish power? In his last address before world leaders at the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari, promised to leave a legacy of free-and-fair elections as his eight-year tenure comes to an end in May next year. Buhari also criticised leaders who refuse to relinquish power, saying he has...

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases says there is an increase in the number of whooping cough cases in South Africa.  Whooping cough is a bacterial infection that gets into your nose and throat. The NICD says 147 cases were reported from the beginning of the year to the 15th of September with a steady increase in the number of cases reported since May and a sharp increase from July th...

Inflation has slowed down in South Africa for the first since beginning of the year, but it is still above the Reserve Bank’s limit. The slowdown is therefore unlikely to sway the central bank from delivering a second consecutive 75 basis-point hike in interest rates. Food and fuel prices have been pushing our inflation rate up, but we have seen a decrease in fuel prices over the past few weeks. W...

Old Mutual SME Feature: As we continue to bring you more stories about how Old Mutual has been supporting SMEs. Today, Velani Mboweni will share his story as someone who has benefited from Old Mutual Enterprise Supplier Development (ESD) funding.   GUEST: Velani Mboweni - CO-FOUNDER & CEO of LULA    

Small businesses have been hardest hit by the impact of load-shedding. Many businesses are cannot afford alternative sources of power and are losing four to eight hours of productivity per day and some have had to lay off people as a result. Kwanele Mtolo owns two restaurant in Mofolo in Soweto. She’s had challenges with keeping her stock cold to ensure it doesn’t go off. She’s also had to let go...

Parliament’s Public Enterprises committee has raised questions about the planned sale of SAA to Equity Partner, Takatso Consortium. Management from SAA briefed the committee on its annual financial statements from 2017 following years of non-submission. MPs looked at the financial statements, but were mainly concerned about recent developments in the SAA issue and reports that Treasury may withdra...

A female police officer stationed at the Durban Harbour Police Station in KwaZulu-Natal, made her first appearance in court yesterday, for the alleged murder of her boyfriend. It is alleged that the officer had an argument with her partner after she found a receipt for condoms in his trousers. Then the confrontation led to the fatal shooting of the victim.      Guest: Lizzy Suping, Spokesperson, I...

As South Africa’s biggest cities are working on strategies to secure their own power supplies as Eskom struggles to meet demand due to continuous breakdowns. We are now joined by Sbu Ntshalintshali, from eThekwini municipality energy office and he is going to share his municipality’s plan to end load shedding. Their long-term plans will see the municipality procuring 2,600 megawatts of generation...

Private forensic investigator, Paul O’Sullivan has welcomed the arrest of high-ranking police officials in connection with a 2016 over 54-million-rand police tender. The former acting national police commissioner, Khomotso Phahlane, is among the six accused who appeared in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Pretoria this morning. These officials are facing fraud, theft and corruption charg...

we look at Shinzo Abe’s complicated political legacy and try to understand as to why so many people and opposition parties in Japan don’t want the late former prime minister to be granted a state funeral. It’s been more than two months since he was assassinated and we understand that Japan will hold a state funeral next week Tuesday. But why has it taken so long? We find out from……  Guest: Salman...

In another example of how social media can open doors to opportunities, South African artist Mthandazo Gatya participated in the #OpenVerseChallenge on Tiktok and stitched a duet with American RnB singer, John Legend. He added a Zulu verse on John Legend’s song titled ‘nervous’. The video has since gone viral with many artists responding to it, including John Legend himself and DJ Black Coffee. Wh...

Eskom has announced a three programme plan to procure power for the national grid in order to deal with the ongoing power crisis. The power utility wants to procure power from companies who have existing generation capacity for a period of three years. It is also looking into procuring more expensive power during periods when the grid is significantly constrained. Lastly, Eskom wants to look into...

Eskom has announced a three programme plan to procure power for the national grid in order to deal with the ongoing power crisis. The power utility wants to procure power from companies who have existing generation capacity for a period of three years. It is also looking into procuring more expensive power during periods when the grid is significantly constrained. Lastly, Eskom wants to look into...

The Constitutional Court says the Executive Code of Ethics falls short of constitutional and statutory dictates of transparency and accountability, and therefore it is unlawful and invalid. It has ruled that the code in unconstitutional because it does not require members of the executive to disclose donations they receive for internal party political campaigns. As we head towards 2024, this means...

SAFTU affiliated unions are picketing outside the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council, calling for salary increases. They are adamant that they will not accept a wage increase of 3%. For more on this, we are joined by….    Guest: Lesiba Thobekgale, Spokesperson of the South African Policing Union  

As the ruling party prepares for its elective conference that is due to take place in December, we ask - why are we seeing more and more ANC members raising their hands for the deputy president position? What does this say about the state of the party and its unity project? Is it still about serving the people or there is more to it?     Guest: Professor Lesiba Teffo, political analyst  

Earlier on today, health authorities in Uganda declared an outbreak of Ebola after a case of the Sudan ebolavirus was confirmed in Mubende district in the central part of the country. According to the World Health Organisation, this is the first time in more than a decade that Uganda is recording an outbreak of Sudan ebolavirus. For more on this, we are now joined by…..    Guest: Emmanuel Ainebyon...

The Democratic Alliance has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to sack Mineral Resources and Energy Minister, Gwede Mantashe, amid the country's worsening electricity crisis. It follows Eskom's recent implementation of Stage 5 and 6 rolling blackouts - due to the power utility's severe shortage in generation capacity. DA leader, John Steenhuisen, made this call during a media briefing this mornin...

We continue covering that funeral of the late Queen Elizabeth II. As we watched today’s procession, what has been very clear is the links between the Anglican Church and the British Royal Family. What is the history between the two institutions? We are now joined by Reverend Doctor Simon Tibbs, Lecturer at the The College of the Transfiguration. 

We now focus on new terminology post the Queen’s death, looking at how it affects the UK’s legal profession? Did you know that Queen Elizabeth's death ushers in a major change for the United Kingdom’s legal fraternity as all Queen's Counsels now become King's Counsels. Joining us for this conversation is……    Guest: Dr Courtenay Griffiths KC, a Jamaican-born British barrister