The National Pulse

On Tuesday the 6th of April, employees of the Red Ant Security Relocation & Eviction Services, with the supervision of the Sheriff, illegally evicted dozens of residents from their homes on a property in Dunkeld West, leaving them homeless and destitute. Now, the socio-Economic Right Institute (SERI) has taken on the case and they are representing the residents. SERI has launched an urgent applica...

A Soweto family is still traumatised after the horrific death of their mother, Jostina Sangweni who had dementia. She was attacked and burnt by community members on Friday while she was apparently on her way to consult with her spiritual healer. A video of the attack in which the voices of men insulting her can be heard, went viral on social media over the weekend. The family says she was attacked...

Clashes have erupted again between disgruntled students and security at the Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) in Durban. Students are protesting over funding and registration issues. Students are also reportedly showing support for workers who are on strike demanding an eight percent salary increase. GUEST: Mthokozisi Gumede, SRC President at the Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) G...

235 people lost their lives on the country's roads during this year's Easter period. Releasing the preliminary figures of fatalities on the roads following the recent Easter long weekend, Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula said 189 crashes were recorded, resulting in 235 deaths nationwide. Guest: Ayanda-Allie Paine, Transport Ministry spokesperson

A Soweto family is still traumatised after the horrific death of their mother, Jostina Sangweni who had dementia. She was attacked and burnt by community members on Friday while she was apparently on her way to consult with her spiritual healer. A video of the attack in which the voices of men insulting her can be heard, went viral on social media over the weekend. The family says she was attacked...

Professor Ameena Goga explains why South Africans should be optimistic about the Sisonke - Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 study. There have been 17 breakthrough Covid-19 infections recorded in the study so far and Goga says this should not be cause for concern. She joins us now to elaborate more… Guest: Professor Ameena Googa, Unit Director of the HIV Prevention Research Unit at SA Medical Research Co...

Last week, the high court in the North West acquitted four senior officers over the Marikana massacre and this has angered the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa, a non-profit human rights organisation that supports the widows of the Marikana massacre victims. Guest: Nomzamo Zondo, Executive Director of the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (Seri)

Two twin daughters of a gay couple have been left stranded in South Africa - after the Namibian Home Affairs Ministry refused to issue travel documents for the newborns. The Ministry demands genetic proof of parenthood. The two were born through a surrogate pregnancy in Durban last month. Phillip Lühl and his Mexican husband, Guillermo Delgado, were forced in 2014 to get married in South Africa, b...

ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa says struggle icon Charlotte Maxeke as an Intelligent and outstanding leader. Maxeke was a political activist and an academic. She was one of the first black women in the country to graduate with a Bachelor of Science Degree. Speaking during an ANC event in Fort Beaufort in the Eastern Cape, to mark 150-years since her birth, Ramaphosa one cannot talk about the histor...

Two Free State families are living in fear following a brutal attack in which five people were killed. The victims were shot and their bodies burned. The youngest survivor of the attack is an 11-month-old baby. For the latest update, we speak to Free State police spokesperson, Colonel Thandi Mbambo... GUEST: Free State police spokesperson, Colonel Thandi Mbambo

As we commemorate World Health Day, Sandy Bukula, Interim CEO of Operation Hunger joins us to discuss food security and how best we can build a fairer, healthier world in post pandemic South Africa. Guest: Sandy Bukula, Interim CEO of Operation Hunger

Why are we witnessing an increase in child-on-child violence – are we failing our children as a society? We find out from Paric Solomons from Molo Songololo who says it’s important to understand what causes violent behaviour among children and he argues that many South African children live in violent communities where they are exposed to violence every day and that somehow makes them to become vi...

We unpack Amnesty International’s Annual Human Rights Report that was released earlier today. The report has found that COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the terrible legacy of deliberately divisive and destructive policies that have perpetuated inequality, discrimination, and oppression across Sub-Saharan Africa. Joining us to discuss the outcomes of the report is…. Guest: Shenilla Mohamed, Executive...

Two twin daughters of a gay couple have been left stranded in South Africa -- after the Namibian Home Affairs Ministry refused to issue travel documents for the newborns. The Ministry demands genetic proof of parenthood. The two were born through a surrogate pregnancy in Durban last month. Phillip Lühl and his Mexican husband, Guillermo Delgado, were forced in 2014 to get married in South Africa,...

Staying with this court ruling of would-be parents having the right to bury the remains of a dead foetus, we look at this matter from a cultural point of view. In Western medicine a dead foetus is regarded as nothing more than medical waste, but certain cultures there are ceremonial handling and traditions that parents, guardians or family members seek to follow in burying a foetus GUEST: Pumla Ma...

Would-be parents have the right to bury the remains of a dead foetus, according to a recent ruling by the Pretoria high court. Previously parents who lost a foetus younger than 26 weeks, do not have the right to bury or cremate the remains. The remains were regarded as medical waste and accordingly disposed of. For more on this we speak to Sonja Smith, the founder of the Voice of the Unborn Baby,...

The family of the late freedom fighter, Solomon Mahlangu says it'll be approaching the courts in order for an investigation to be reopened on the circumstances that led his death. Today marks 42 years since Mahlangu died in the hands of Apartheid police in Pretoria, aged 22. Family spokesperson, Prince George Mahlangu says that for them to find closure, more light must be shared on what led to the...

In the past three weeks, the University of Pretoria recorded more than 100 cases of Covid19. Following this, the university has decided to put on hold all in-residence social activities, but their academic programme will continue as planned. Joining us to talk about this is… Guest: Rikus Delport, Spokesperson of the University of Pretoria

Recently we have witnessed acts of violence committed against women suspected of practising witchcraft in the Eastern Cape, something that we should all be concerned about. But what informs this narrative of naming and persecuting women as witches and how can it be stopped? Guest: Zolani Mkiva, General Secretary of the Congress of Traditional Leaders of SA (Contralesa)

World News: Understanding Jordan’s failed coup: On Sunday, Prince Hamzah, the king’s younger half-brother, was accused of destabilizing Jordan’s security. The accusations followed attempts by Prince Hamza to clear his name when he released a video in which he said he had been placed under house arrest. The prince denied involvement in any plot against King Abdullah, though he did condemn the gover...

One SA Movement leader, Mmusi Maimane, has rejected comments that he was an experiment during his leadership of the Democratic Alliance. Former DA Leader, Tony Leon, has said Maimane never fully devoted himself to the liberal ideals of the DA. In an article following the release of his new book, Leon says Maimane was a - quote - 'experiment' that went wrong. Maimane has described the utterances as...

UDM leader General Bantu Holomisa is calling for an interim government to take over until the next election in 2024. This after reports that sympathizers of ANC Secretary-General Ace Magashule are planning a national shutdown. General Holomisa says the ANC must hand over power to the Constitutional court, which would structure such an interim arrangement Guest: General Bantu Holomisa, leader of th...

The Gauteng Education Department says an audio recording in which MEC Panyaza Lesufi is allegedly discussing tenders for the city while addressing a business collective meeting in Tshwane, has been tampered with to mislead the public. Mec Lesufi has denied the allegations levelled against him saying this is an attempt to assassinate his character for "political expediency" GUEST: Steve Mabona, Spo...

We remind our listeners about the significance of Liliesleaf liberation heritage site and how it shaped South Africa’s history, and we also examine its financial status and look at different possible solutions in terms of what can be done to save it from its current financial troubles. Guest: Nicholas Wolpe, CEO of the Liliesleaf heritage site

World News: Recently, a supreme court in Brazil ruled that the former judge Sergio Moro was biased in the way he oversaw former President Lula da Silva’s corruption trial. Leaked messages published by the Intercept Brasil in 2019 showed apparent collusion between Moro and prosecutors during the process that ultimately jailed Da Silva for corruption and money laundering. So following this court rul...