The National Pulse

Will Unit 4 of Eskom’s Kusile Power Station’s ease South Africa’s load-shedding? The power utility announced earlier today that the unit has been handed over to the Generation Division after five months of testing. It says this means the construction of four out of six generation units have now been completed at the Kusile Power Station Project. This unit will contribute 800...

As COVID-19 infections are decreasing in South Africa. Dr Sammy Mokoena, Free State Provincial Head of Outbreak Response has observed increases in infections in the age group 0-11 years and the elderly, particularly those in old age homes who have either taken one dose of vaccine or none at all.    Guest: Dr Sammy Mokoena, Free State Provincial Head of Outbreak Response

Amid a scandal over events he hosted two years ago that essentially broke COVID-19 lockdown rules. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces growing calls to quit, some coming even from within his own party. You may recall that Johnson became the first serving UK prime minister found to have broken the law while in office when he was fined by police for attending a birthday party in June 2020. However...

Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa helps us understand how the grounding of Comair flights will have a negative effect on domestic tourism. Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has already expressed concerns about this matter.   Guest: Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, Chief Executive Officer at the Tourism Business Council

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has just announced that the price of 95-octane unleaded petrol will rise by R2.33 a litre, while 93-octane unleaded petrol will go up by R2.43 a litre. Also what happened this afternoon is that the Minister of Finance announced that he has written to the Speaker of the National Assembly asking for the extension of the reduction in the general fuel lev...

A new report by the African Child Policy Forum shows thousands of African children are accused of witchcraft and are victims of ritual attacks, physical and psychological abuse. South Africa is among the countries with reports on ritual attacks and witchcraft accusations against children. The African Child Policy Forum says despite there being laws that protect children, enforcement remains a prob...

The Council on Higher Education says there is no need to panic following reports on universities with unaccredited courses. Higher Education Minister, Dr Blade Nzimande recently told parliament that Walter Sisulu University had five unaccredited qualifications. The University of Fort Hare also has a B.Comm Course that needs to be accredited. The university called off a graduation earlier this mont...

Independent Online News is reporting that residents of Parkwood have decided to take law into their own hands - after they allegedly caught a suspect, who allegedly tried to snatch children in the area. Apparently, residents then decided to burn a vehicle belonging to the alleged kidnapper.   Guest: Robin-Lee Francke, IOL News Senior Reporter

So where did the jobs the 370 thousand new jobs created between the fourth quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022 come from? Covid-19 worsened South Africa’s labour market, with many companies shutting down, but Stats SA says the unemployment rate has declined to 34.5 percent in the first quarter. The organisation had raised concern about the impact of Covid-19 on the accuracy of unem...

Following our call to John the Scammer on this show yesterday, it is clear there is a scam making rounds in South Africa where scammers tell unsuspecting victims they have been rewarded R95 000 from and SASSA Covid-19 promotion. They then ask for more details like bank account numbers and other personal information in order to carry out their scam. Gest: SASSA Spokesperson Paseka Letsatsi to...

Disgruntled community members in Shwaiza-Reneke have closed down municipal offices calling on the ANC to remove councillors who defied the mandate of the party by electing their own candidate as the speaker. Guest: Bennie Gaborone, (Mamusa community member) Hlomani Chauke, Coordinator of the ANC Interim Provincial Interim Committee in the North West

Statistics South Africa has released the unemployment rate for the first quarter, which came in slightly lower at 34-point-5 percent from 35-point-3 percent in the fourth quarter. This means that the number of unemployed people now stands at 7-million-862-thousand. 45-point-5 percent of the labour force was without work in the first quarter, compared with 46-point-2 percent in the fourth quarter....

According to the data that was released by the commerce ministry in India. The U.S is now India’s biggest trading partner and many attribute this to India's continuous efforts to deepen ties with Washington. But where does this put China and how should we interpret it moving forward? For more on this, we are joined by…. Guest: Professor Patrick Bond, Political Economist & Professo...

The IEC’s Party Funding Fourth Quarter Disclosure Report is out and only the ANC and the DA have declared. The ANC received R10 million in donations, while the DA declared just over R2.5 million. The IEC says this is by far the least declarations it has received both in donation value and the number of parties making declarations. Here’s another interesting fact, 95 percent of the DA&r...

How far is the process of auditing 19 quarantined votes at ANC’s Ekurhuleni region elective conference? The votes were set aside after the authenticity of the branches they came from was questioned. Mzwandile Masina has been provisionally declared the ANC Chair, pending the outcome of the audit. Masina was up against Doctor Mxhakaza who got 151 votes, while he got 163. Masina will only need...

Limpopo police are searching for four suspects who lured three unsuspecting job seekers into a scam. The victims responded to a Facebook advert about job opportunities in Tzaneen. They were then taken to a bushy area where they were robbed of their money, clothes and cellphones. They were then ordered to strip naked before taking photographs and sending them to their families, asking for ransom. T...

President Cyril Ramphosa’s personal financial information has been hacked and this is very worrying I must say (I mean if they can do this to the president of the country, what about you and me – how safe is our personal information?). Following this wicked act, cybersecurity firms have warned South Africans about the vulnerabilities discovered by this hacking group and how it could le...

The petrol price is expected to increase by between R2.27 to R2.37 a litre on Wednesday (1 June 2022), which could see the price of a litre at R25. Diesel prices are also expected to increase by about R2,70. Following this pending increase, the People Against Petrol and Paraffin Increases movement (Pappi) is calling on South Africans to stage a protest. Earlier on today, the movement led the switc...

On World News today, we assess the ongoing tensions between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The head of the African Union, President Macky Sall of Senegal, has expressed grave concern at rising tensions between these two countries and has urged them to resolve their dispute through dialogue. But why are these two nations not seeing eye to eye in the first place? To unpack this for us,...

Advocate Malesela Teffo, is asking the magistrate presiding over his case to recuse himself. Teffo was arrested last month inside the High Court in Pretoria for being in contempt of court. His legal representative says he has laid a complaint against Magistrate Bradshaw through the magistrates commission. He made a brief appearance at the Hillbrow Magistrates Court today, however, the matter has b...

The fourth sibling of three brothers who died yesterday is still fighting for his life in hospital. Five pupils were allegedly given an energy drink by their father before school on Thursday in Ratanda, a township south of Hiedelberg in Gauteng. Two of the five siblings died in school after complaining about stomach cramps, while a third sibling died on the way to hospital and the fifth did not dr...

Yesterday, US law enforcement authorities revealed that Glencore agreed to plead guilty to a web of bribery and price manipulation charges that stretch from Venezuela to Nigeria and Los Angeles in deals with the US, UK and Brazil. Glencore is the largest among a handful of companies that dominate global trading of oil, fuel, metals, minerals and food. Following this embarrassing revelation, t...

The corruption and fraud case against former Transnet CEO Siyabonga Gama and four others has been postponed to 13 July. The five were arrested this morning by the Hawks on charges of corruption, fraud, money laundering, and contravention of the Public Finance Management Act. The case relates to the evidence that was presented to the commission of inquiry into state capture. Guest: Sindisiwe Seboka...

On World News today, we ask – Is the U.S doing enough to reduce firearm access to youth and individuals who are at risk of harming themselves or others? This following the most recent data that was released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) which suggests that fire arms are now the new leading cause of death among kids and teens in the US. Guest on the line (US): Dr Joh...

THE INNERVIEW: The release of Flabba Habedi’s killer, Sindisiwe Manqele on parole this week has brought back a conversation around how the process of victim-offender-dialogue works. Many support the idea of people being brought back to society after a process of rehabilitation and mediation between offenders and their victims, while some believe this is unfair and a spit in the face of victi...