The National Pulse

We hear from Tshifhiwa Tshivengwa on why South Africa’s tourism sector is not happy with government’s Covid-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test requirements. The tourism sector wants PCR tests scrapped for fully vaccinated visitors to SA as they argue that test requirements discourage many potential tourists from visiting South Africa.   Guest: Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, CEO of&nb...

The ANC Women’s League in KwaZulu-Natal says they are not deterred by the recent magistrate’s court ruling that slammed Bathabile Dlamini for lying under oath over her involvement in the social grants distribution crisis. ANCWL KZN secretary Nonhlanhla Gabela says the provincial structure will continue to support Dlamini and her ambitions to secure a second term. She joins us...

Ahead of the March 26 by-elections, Zimbabwe’s opposition leader Advocate Nelson Chamisa speaks to us about a wide range of topics, including the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, immigration/migration crisis, the issue of economic sanctions and political conditions in Zimbabwe – as most of you have probably witnessed some truly unsettling videos, showing police officers carrying...

President Cyril Ramaphosa will soon face his first vote of no confidence as well as one in his cabinet. The ATM tabled its motion of no confidence in 2020. The party had tabled its motion on the grounds that Ramaphosa had presided over the collapse of state-owned entities and falsely promised an end to load-shedding. However the latest is that Speaker of Parliament, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula ha...

According to reports, doctors and nurses at Chris Hani Baragwanath are taking food to starving patients after the hospital allegedly failed to pay suppliers. There has been no bread for the past two weeks at the hospital and a number of food contracts have expired, so Requests for Quotations are used to fill the gap in a haphazard way that has led to shortages of meat, chicken, and fish despite pa...

Following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement that government would extend the social relief of distress grant until the end of March 2023, the South African Social Services Agency (SASSA) in KZN says it has processed more than 10-million applications for the grant. The agency is calling on all clients who have been paid through the Post Office to get bank accounts and upload their deta...

World Bank report has revealed that South Africa is the most unequal country in the world, ranking first among 164 countries. The report was produced before the COVID-19 pandemic and its authors used the Gini coefficient – an indicator of income inequality to rank countries. To comment on this is…     Guest: Zwelinzima Vavi, General Secretary of the South African Federation...

Is Africa ready to adopt a single currency and how will it benefit the continent? It was Muammar Gaddafi’s vision to create a new united Africa with its own currency, an army to defend the continent, and a single passport. However, International Relations Minister Naledi Pandor has recently revealed that South Africa is in full support of a single African currency as this will boost intra-co...

Former social development minister Bathabile Dlamini has been found guilty of perjury in her case pertaining to the South African Social Security Agency’s debacle. Dlamini was accused of lying under oath during the inquiry instituted by the Constitutional Court in 2017.   Guest: Phindi Louw - Spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority in Gauteng

South Africa has struggled with incidences of xenophobic sentiment and related prejudice, violence, and crime for many years. The cost of xenophobia is high; it puts lives in danger, stunts economic potential by deterring investment, tourism and cross-border trade, and risks making South Africa a pariah in Africa and on the global arena. To discuss what should South Africa be doing to address this...

The radical amendments to the Cannabis for Private Purposes bill were presented for the first time to parliament’s justice and constitutional development portfolio committee on Tuesday. The committee hopes to pass the bill in parliament by the end of this term in April, after which it will go to the National Council of Provinces. It will also likely have to go for a second round of public he...

We hear from the Public Works Minister – following yesterday’s ruling by the Special Tribunal, ordering that the companies that were contracted to construct the Beitbridge border fence must pay back any profits received for the project. On the other hand, the Democratic Alliance is calling for De Lille to resign, arguing that the SIU report found her interference in the appointmen...

Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has suffered another legal defeat after her rescission application, relating to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s ANC presidential campaign of 2017 was dismissed by the Concourt earlier today. The Constitutional court concluded that the application should be dismissed as no case has been made out for rescission. For more analysis on this, we are joined by&h...

We examine the ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine as many say they are at a critical juncture. Currently, there are no significant breakthroughs, although Ukrainian officials say there are slight shifts on safe passages for civilians attempting to flee the war-torn country.   Guest: Dr Emanuel Matambo, Research Director at the Centre for Africa-China Studies at the...

The theft of fuel from the Transnet pipeline network is an enormous problem in South Africa. To tackle this problem - last year, Transnet decided to implement various security interventions to address the fuel theft attempts, which according to them have yielded positive results and reduced the number of incidents by 50%. However there was another fuel theft incident...

Some mayors have welcomed calls for the introduction of performance management and accountability for all councillors including mayors and speakers. The proposal contained in the SA Local Government Association’s (Salga) five-year strategic plan for the period 2022-27, wants a remuneration regime that is based on performance and accountability. We’ll get an understanding of the pr...

As the digital migration process is already underway to switch off analogue terrestrial television transmitters. Civil Society is uniting to challenge government plans to disconnect the analogue TV signal of over 14 million people. They are arguing that once the digital migration process is in full swing, our country’s communication system will be even further privatised as those that can af...

A Bolt driver accused of sexually assaulting female passengers appeared in the Randburg Magistrate’s court earlier today. Police have also revealed that the suspect is also linked to several other cases of sexual assault – while on the other hand Bolt South Africa has since suspended the driver from its platform.   Guest: Phindi Mjonondwane, Gauteng NPA spokesperson

Judgement in the multimillion rand Beitbridge Boarder Post Fence tender has been delivered. The 40 km fence between South Africa and Zimbabwe was built in April 2020 as part of measures to curb the spread of the Coronavirus by illegal immigrants and to repair and replace an existing marginal fence between the countries. Judge Modiba has found that the two contractors that were...

Several businesses in Alexandra had to close their doors after community members, who identified themselves as part of the Dudula Movement, forced shops to close their doors. The Dudula Movement is a separate community organisation to Operation Dudula, which has held protest marches against foreign workers. Community members who are part of the movement were allegedly searching for migrant employe...

The Alexandra Dudula Movement in South Africa's Gauteng province has threatened a complete shutdown of all townships in the country as clashes with foreign nationals intensify. The movement went on a rampage yesterday forcing businesses to close down as they made their demands for land and job spaces. The group alleges undocumented foreign nationals have a complete monopoly and dominance of the to...

Irish musical superstar, Ronan Keating, golf legend, Gary Player and wealth management specialists, Citadel, recently held their annual charity fundraiser where they raised a remarkable R2-million in aid of sick, vulnerable, and impoverished children in South Africa. Citadel has hosted this event annually since 2018. Guests: Andrew Möller, Citadel CEO Ronan Keating, Irish musical su...

Disgruntled ANC members in Mpumalanga are heading to court to interdict the much-anticipated provincial conference. Senior ANC member in Mpumalanga, Peter Nyoni, alleges proper procedures were not followed when the provincial task team was established. Last week, the ANC's National Working Committee disbanded the Provincial Executive Council whose term of office had lapsed.   Guest: Peter Nyo...

Thuso Mbedu has scooped the Best Female Performance in a New Scripted Series at the 37th annual Independent Spirit Awards. The South African actor secured her win last night at the awards held in Santa Monica, California, for her career-defining role as Cora Randall in Barry Jenkins' The Underground Railroad.  She beat Anjana Vasan (We Are Lady Parts), Jana Schmieding (Rutherford Falls),...