The National Pulse

Do you think raising the alcohol drinking age to 21 will help deal with underage drinking in the country? The Southern African Alcohol Policy Alliance in South Africa says the impact of government’s delay in passing the Liquor Products Amendment Bill into law is evident in South Africa’s alcohol abuse issue. The bill has hardly moved since it was first mooted six years ago. Among other things, the...

Earlier on today, Eskom announced that it has successfully recovered the R30 million it unlawfully paid to the Eskom Pension and Provident Fund for the benefit of its former CEO Brian Molefe. This after in July this year, the North Gauteng High Court re-affirmed a 2018 high court judgement that had reviewed and set aside a 2016 early retirement agreement between Molefe and Eskom. To react to this...

We hear from the South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) on why they are supporting News24 journalist Karyn Maughan in a private prosecution case brought against her by former president Jacob Zuma. Zuma served Maughan and state prosecutor Billy Downer with the summons on Tuesday to appear in the High Court in Pietermaritzburg.  Guest: Makhudu Sefara, Media Freedom Committee Chairperson @ SAN...

The Constitutional Court in Angola has rejected opposition party UNITA's claim seeking to annul the results of last month's general election. UNITA filed a complaint after the victory of the governing party, MPLA. The opposition alleged that a parallel vote count showed huge and unacceptable differences from those published by the electoral body.  Guest: Charlie Khumalo, veteran journalist on Afri...

The African National Congress (ANC) has postponed its nomination process for national leaders until a special national executive committee (NEC) meeting this weekend where the party will approve a membership audit of all members and branches.    Guest: Pule Mabe, ANC National spokesperson  

What do taxi association think of the violent protests that have been going on in the Western Cape? City of Cape Town withdrew MyCiti Bus and Dial-A-Ride services after protesters threw stones at the at busses and private cars. Taxi operators in the area say their livelihoods have been affected by the operation of busses in their routes. Santaco in the Western Cape has condemned the violence and c...

The ANC is denying allegations by opposition parties that it attempted to bribe coalition partners in the City of Johannesburg in exchange for votes to remove the DA’s Dr Mpho Phalatse from her position as mayor. The party says the Democratic Alliance is mischievous and struggling to come to terms with the poor management of the coalition they have been leading.   Guest: ANC’s Chairperson in the G...

A consortium of researchers has published a new analysis of data which suggests that street-based female sex workers in South Africa have extraordinarily high HIV incidence, emphasising the need to sustain and strengthen efforts to mitigate risk and provide adequate care. For more on this, we are joined by…..  Guest: Dr Alex Welte, from the SA Centre of Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis

UNICEF is calling for South Africa to be active in protecting and nurturing vulnerable children. This follows latest data from Imperial College London revealing that Covid-19 UNICEF associated deaths have left almost 150 000 children orphaned. When including children who lost primary and secondary caregivers such as grandparents, the number rises to over 200 000.  UNICEF says the figures speak to...

Seven opposition parties in the City of Johannesburg have laid corruption and bribery charges against the ANC. They allege that a R150 000 bribe was offered to some councillors by ANC councillors in exchange for votes in support of removing Joburg mator, Dr Mpho Phalatse. Two councillors from the IFP and Patriotic Alliance gave wrote affidavits saying they were approached moments ahead of last wee...

According to data that was released by Statistics South Africa earlier today. The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) decreased by 0,7% in the second quarter of this year. The devastating floods in KwaZulu-Natal and load shedding contributed immensely to the decline. To explain what this means is…..   Guest: Dr Lumkile Mondi, Lecturer at the School of Economics and Finance @Wits

Former president Jacob Zuma has launched a private prosecution against News24 journalist Karyn Maughan and State advocate Billy Downer. You may recall that last year, Zuma opened a criminal case against Downer for allegedly leaking his medical records to Maughan and he also approached the NPA to have Downer prosecuted, but his request was rejected, hence he decided to apply for a private prosecuti...

In a report published yesterday, Human Rights Watch says China is increasing the arbitrary collection of DNA in Tibet. This is not the first time China has been accused of collecting DNA from populations. According to a 2020 report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute entitled “Genomic surveillance”, state authorities obtained biometric samples from nearly the entire population of the Tibe...

Yet another gang rape story, this time, in Limpopo. Police are investigating the gang rape of five women at a funeral parlour. Six gun-wielding suspects allegedly stormed into two funeral parlours situated next to Leporong along the R37 road in Malipsdrift. They raped the women and assaulted the men they found at the funeral parlour. One of the funeral parlour employees was shot and wounded. For s...

The Ndengetho High School in Durban has been closed indefinitely. This is after learners at the school burned a few classrooms down during a protest after their cellphones were confiscated by the teachers. The principal says the school’s code of conduct prohibits carrying of cell phones in school premises. However, it had been lenient with it. The schoo confiscated about 400 cellphones while remov...

Guest: Dr Faisal Suliman, Chairperson of the South African Muslim Network 

The Zimbabwe Immigration Federation says it will still be going ahead with court action against the department of Home Affairs despite Friday’s announcement that the deadline for people on the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit will be extended to June next year. Home Affairs Minister, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi says the extension is to give permit holders an opportunity to apply for one or other visas provided f...

The City of Cape Town has suspended MyCiti and Dial-A-Ride services from Hout Bay after a group of people threw stone on buses and other vehicles during a protest. The protesters closed blocked roads with burning tyres near Hout Bay Gateway Circle, interrupting the commute to workplaces and schools in the area.    Guest: Rob Quintas City of Cape Town’s MMC for Urban Mobility.  

The Mpumalanga High Court has withdrawn all charges against former Mpumalanga MEC for Agriculture Mandla Msibi. Msibi and five co-accused were facing two counts of murder and one of attempted murder for their alleged involvement in a shooting incident in August 2021. They were accused of fatally shooting Sipho Lubisi and Dingane Ngwenya, as well as injuring Sifiso Mpila outside a liquor outlet in...

Liz Truss has been announced as Boris Johnson’s successor after beating former finance minister Rishi Sunak. Truss garnered 81,326 votes compared to former finance minister Rishi Sunak's 60,399. The incoming UK prime minister will inherit a cost-of-living crisis, and she will also face a series of daunting challenges at home and abroad which will define her premiership. So what should the world ex...

Yesterday, Twitter announced that they are currently testing a widely requested edit button, a feature that will be rolled out to paid subscribers in the coming weeks. To talk to us about how this new feature will benefit Twitter users is……     Guest: Siphumelele Zondi, Anchor of NETWORK TV program which airs on SABC  

Alleged Parliament arsonist, Zandile Mafe did not appear in court as it was planned today. Mafe’s legal team says it will find out exactly why he was a no-show in court today. He is facing charges four charges, including terrorism. It is the second time Mafe is refusing to spear in court. In July he refused to leave the court’s holding cell after he arrived wearing pyjamas. What exactly is happeni...

Some great news for the cannabis industry. As processes of formalizing the industry are underway, a new cannabis organisation is launching, in an attempt to promote the South African hemp industry. Friends of Hemp is a non-profit organisation that seeks to build an inclusive hemp industry that will ensure the participation of black people, women and traditional growers of cannabis. A recent report...

Transport Minister, Fikile Mbalula has announced that Cabinet has approved the replacement of the current driving licence card with a new card that will comply with the international driving licence standard, as the current card’s technology is outdated. To tell us more about this new card is….     Guest: Lwazilwaphesheya Khoza, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Transport  

Advocate Malesela Teffo has opened cases of defamation of character and crimen injuria against EFF leader Julius Malema and Kelly Khumalo’s lawyer, Magdalene Moonsamy. Meanwhile, Moonsamy has confirmed that she is aware of the case opened against her, and she joins us now to elaborate further on this.     Guest: Magdalene Moonsamy, Kelly Khumalo’s lawyer