The National Pulse

The Restaurant Association of South Africa has called on government to put in place concrete Covid-19 relief measures for the industry. Restaurants believe they may be allowed to open again in the second phase of South Africa's lockdown on a strictly takeaway-only order. Guest: Wendy Alberts – CEO of the Restaurant Association of South Africa

The Democratic Alliance has proposed a Smart Lockdown as a sustainable approach to saving lives. The party is of the view that the lockdown in its current form is not a feasible approach to contain the coronavirus in South Africa. The DA presented its Covid-19 strategy plan today and has also submitted it to President Cyril Ramaphosa. Guest: John Steenhuisen- DA Leader

Following City of Cape Town’s decision to evict people and demolish homes in Empolweni, Makhaza, on Thursday last week human rights group, Legal Resources Centre (LRC) has decided to approach the courts. According to LRC, the evictions are in contravention of the Disaster Management Act. Guest: Khensani Motileni- litigation attorney at the Cape Town Regional Office of the Legal Resources Center

In playing its part in the fight against Covid19, the Nelson Mandela Foundation has launched a hunger relief fund, known as Each One Feed One (#Each1Feed1), with an initial contribution of R500 000. The model involves providing non-perishable food items to stores for distribution to communities in most need. Guest: Sello Hatang, CEO, Nelson Mandela Foundation

We now look at water challenges in Maluti-a-Phofung Local Municipality, in the Free State. Many of our listeners who reside in that municipality have been complaining about water shortages in the area. They say nothing has changed since the apparent intervention by government to address the problem. Many of you may recall when angry residents took to the streets demanding a reliable water supply....

World News today: Following Donald Trump’s accusation that the World Health Organisation is China centric. Today we assess China’s relationship with the rest of the world and also look at its role in the international struggle against the Covid19 pandemic. Guest: Dr David Monyae, Director at the Centre for Africa China studies at the University of Johannesburg

Testing for Covid19 – how is South Africa doing so far – do we have any success stories and what kind of challenges is the country encountering? Currently, it is safe to say that it’s understandable that many South Africans want access to testing to determine whether they have acquired COVID-19 or not, however at this stage it is impossible to test everyone. Guest: Dr Florette Treurnicht, Head of...

The ANC in Limpopo says it will act decisively on the conduct of the party's ward Councillor arrested for allegedly violating lockdown regulations in Polokwane. Councillor Jack Legodi, together with other five people, was allegedly having a party yesterday morning when police arrested them. Guest: Soviet Lekganyane, Limpopo ANC provincial secretary

The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has changed dates for the payment of social grants in light of some of the challenges experienced in the recent payment cycle during the national lockdown. Sassa says these changes are aimed at protecting the vulnerable in society. Guest: Paseka Letsatsi- Spokesperson for South African Social Security Agency (Sassa)

The Institute of Race Relations (IRR) says that urgent reforms are needed in light of the looming jobs catastrophe due to Covid-19. According to the IRR one of the measures that government should take is to do away with the concept of “essential services” and allow any business to trade if doing so poses no serious public health risk. Guest: Nicholas Babaya- Institute of Race Relations (IRR) Analy...

Yesterday the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (NEHAWU) met with the Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize to resolve the issues that led to the union resorting to a legal course of action on the need for government to comply with the Occupational Health and Safety Act in dealing with the Covid-19 Pandemic. Guest: Deputy General Secretary of Nehawu December Mavuso

There is a lot of talk about excessive pricing and consumers being charged exorbitant amounts for goods in high demand during the national lockdown. However, regulations have now been issued which prescribe severe consequences for firms found guilty of charging excessive pricing during this period. Also, the Competition Commission announced that it has been flooded with over 500 excessive pricing...

In conversation with the Progressive Student Movement about the burning of schools during the national lockdown: The movement says they are deeply disappointed and gutted at the actions of Soshanguve residents who have resorted to burning schools. So far, four Gauteng schools have been torched and 22 vandalised since President Cyril Ramaphosa ordered a 21-day lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-1...

World News today: Wuhan, the Chinese city where the novel coronavirus reported to have emerged from, has ended its more-than two-month lockdown. Yesterday, people were allowed to leave for the first time since the central Chinese city was sealed off two months ago. So what can the rest of the world learn from China in terms of containing the coronavirus? Guest: Dr David Monyae, Director at the Cen...

The Association of Mineworkers and Construction is proposing that government should appoint a task team to set standards on protective gear and strategies before workers return to work. Union leadership met minerals and energy minister Gwede Mantashe recently to discuss the consequences of the lockdown in the mining sector. Guest: Joseph Mathunjwa, President of the Association of Mineworkers and C...

Following the revelation on social media that Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams had recently visited the home of former Higher Education and Training Deputy Minister, Mduduzi Manana who hosted a lunch, contrary to the lockdown regulations, President Cyril Ramaphosa has decided to place her on special leave for two months, one month of which will be unpaid. Gu...

The Chair of Data Science at the University of Pretoria, Dr. Vukosi Marivate is leading a group of researchers who have created a databank to "empower experts and citizens with accurate information on COVID-19 in South Africa. The databank provides real-time updates using official data. Guest: Dr. Vukosi Marivate, Chair of Data Science at the University of Pretoria

The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) has estimated that around R3.5 billion will be needed to mitigate the effects of lockdown on the industry. Yesterday the taxi federation launched the industry’s coronavirus relief initiative in Johannesburg to provide relief funding for its members. Guest: Thabiso Molelekwa- Santaco spokesperson

Movement of children of separated parents will now be allowed during the lockdown period. However, this is provided that the co-parents have a court order or an agreement authorising this. This is according to an amendment to the National State of Disaster, which came into effect yesterday. Guest: Courtney Elson- an Attorney and Associate at Adams and Adams, specialising in family law

As South Africa continues to observe the 21-day national lockdown; J’Something joins us to talk about the power of music and how it can be used to heal the nation during the difficult moments. J’Something and other artists were inspired by the power that music has had to uplift people globally over the past few weeks and have joined forces to incite hope in the hearts of South Africans, by writing...

Founders of Shout SA, Danny K and Kabelo Mabalane, have launched a campaign to help raise money to buy masks for health care workers and patients. The campaign aims to make it possible for corporate South Africa and normal citizens to donate towards packs of masks that are for a combination of specialist and surgical applications. Guest: Kabelo Mabalane, SA artist & Co-founder of Shout SA

World News today: The government of Botswana says that it might extend its state of emergency to six months. According to President Mokgweetsi Masisi, this will enable the state to channel all its resources and energies to fighting the coronavirus (COVID-19). He met with opposition party leaders on Monday in the capital Gaborone. However, the main opposition party, the Umbrella for Democratic Chan...

In the next few days, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s sixth administration will decide whether it will extend the lockdown or not. On the other hand, Dr Ralph Mathekga – one of SA’s leading political analysts, argues that if we fail to control the spread of the virus during the lockdown, we must maintain the lockdown or even impose tougher restrictions than we have done before. Anything short of this...

News24 has apologized to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for their 'Africa vaccine' story. News24 published an article which claimed that the Foundation wanted to test a vaccine for coronavirus in Africa, which turned out not to be true. This has since raised questions about fact checking among journalists. To elaborate further on this, we're joined on the line by.... Guest: Mahlatse Mahlase...

The World Health organisation is this year using World Health Day to highlight the work of nursing and midwifery across the world while celebrating this workforce as one of the most valuable resources of every country. Guest: Simon Hlungwani- President of the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (Denosa)