The National Pulse

The NECT through the National Reading Coalition has developed a National Reading Improvement Plan (NRIP) which is a comprehensive blueprint that provides a roadmap to improve learners’ reading. According to the Progress in International Reading and Literacy Study that was released in 2017, 78% of Grade 4 learners in South Africa are unable to read for meaning. Guest: Godwin Khosa, CEO of the NECT

Ethiopia’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is currently visiting South Africa to discuss boosting economic and political ties between the two countries as well as cooperating in the work of the African Union (AU) which is based in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa. Guest: Professor Mammo Muchie, Research Chair, Department of Science and Technology& National Research Foundation at...

We hear from Nehawu on why they are supporting Cosatu’s call for heads to roll at Eskom. The national union believes that the Minister of Public Enterprises, Mr Pravin Gordhan and the rest of the Eskom board must resign with immediate effect for allowing the entity to deteriorate. Khaya Xaba - Nehawu Spokesperson

Post receiving your final matric result – do you understand what your matric symbols mean and how they will affect a career path that you wish for? There are hundreds of courses available at many tertiary institutions and choosing the right one for you can be very challenging. Guest: Dr Samu Khumalo, Academic leader for Teaching and Learning @ University of KwaZulu Natal

The Public Servants Association of SA (PSA) has written to National Assembly speaker Thandi Modise‚ asking her to launch an investigation into alleged maladministration in office of the Public Protector. In December last year, the PSA made a Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) application enquiring about circumstances into the appointment of Vusi Mahlangu, who was dismissed as a deputy d...

Eskom woes continue. Load shedding was only scheduled for this weekend but we saw continuing blackouts being rolled up across South Africa since Monday. So is there a political will to solve Eskom's problems? Last year Eskom board member Busisiwe Mavuso told MPs it's being curtailed from doing its job, citing political interference. Guest: Chris Yelland, who is an Energy expert and managing direct...

Guest: Russel Luck - Technology Attorney SwiftTechLaw

The department of higher education and training has issued a warning to students and their parents, urging them to be aware of bogus colleges when applying at institutions of higher learning. Guest: Blade Nzimande - Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology

Guest: Brigadier Mathapelo Peters

The DA has denied that Tshwane Mayor Stevens Mokgalapa has been fired. ANC chairperson in Tshwane, Kgosi Maepa - has tweeted that they have learnt from internal sources in the DA, that the party has resolved to fire Mokgalapa - and that his membership be terminated. Mokgalapa has been under investigation following a leaked audio clip - where he was allegedly performing sexual acts with former MMC...

South African passport has dropped three places in the 2020 ranking of the Henley Passport Index and how that affects the country’s outbound tourism. Guest: Unathi Sonwabile Henama, Lecturer in the Department of Tourism Management @ Tshwane University of Technology

Mmusi Maimane joins us to discuss the 2019 matric results and also to talk about the country’s state of education in general. He says the discrepancy between South Africa’s two education systems is glaring. In the private education sector the prospects of university entry are 9/10 and in the public schooling system, those prospects are an average 3/10. He then argues that this is not a pathway to...

Lobby group AfriForum says the 2019 matric pass rate of 81-point-three percent is not a reflection of reality. They say "although it is very high, it doesn't give a complete and accurate reflection of the state of education in the country". Their sentiments follow last night's announcement of the Matric results by Basic Education Minister, Angie Motshekga. For more were our now joined on the line...

The Priority Crime Unit, HAWKS in North West says follow up investigations in to the four lion paws that were found on Monday have yielded further positive result. An additional three suspects were arrested for contravention of the National Environmental Management Act. Guest: Hawks spokesperson, Tlangelani Rikhotso

The South African Policing Union is once again calling upon the police authorities to seriously consider re-establishing specialised police units. They say government’s decision to close specialized police units negatively impacted on service delivery to a larger extent. Guest: Mpho Kwinika, President of SA Police Union

The matric class of 2019 made history by exceeding an 80% pass rate for the first time. The Free State was the best performing province and they obtained 88.4%. But how did they get it right? Guest: Tate Makgoe, Free State MEC for Education

We hear from the Progressive Student Movement (PSM) on why they are rejecting the 2019 matric results. PSM believes accepting results of a broken system will just be throwing the hopes and aspiration of the young and emerging intellectuals into the rubbish bin. Guest: Kabelo Nthekiso, President General of the Progressive Student Movement

Equal Education share their thoughts on the state of SA’s education system and matric results. They argue that while the release of the matric results remains a critical moment for hundreds of thousands of learners - these results do not provide a good indication of the health of the education system as a whole. So what do they think should happen to get our education system right? Guest: Rone McF...

Four suspects aged between 41 and 51 have been arrested by the HAWKS assisted by Crime Intelligence at Rustenburg in the North West, allegedly for trying to sell lion paws. Spokesperson for the HAWKS in North West, Captain Tlangelani Rikhotso, says the suspects will appear tomorrow at the local magistrate's court, on charges of contravening the National Environment Management-Biodiversity Guest: I...

Sonke Gender Justice Is set to take on President Cyril Ramaphosa over the Correctional Services Act. In December 2016 Sonke and Lawyers for Human Rights filed an application at the Western Cape High Court, where it sought for the court to declare that several sections of the Correctional Services Act were inconsistent with the Constitution and invalid. Guest: Kayan Leung from Sonke Gender Justice

The ANC in the Northern Cape will host the January 8 Statement celebrations on Saturday this week. The ANC says this year's January 8 statement is all about reviving the hopes of South Africans who are unemployed and living in poverty. For more on this, we are now joined on the line by Ongama Mtimka, a lecturer and political analyst based at Nelson Mandela University, who says "this January statem...

The ANC says the speaker of the City of Tshwane Metro should call a special council meeting. This after the party and the EFF in the metro submitted a petition to convene the council meeting tomorrow to allow them to bring several motions of no confidence in the DA leaders of the metro. The speaker and executive mayor were removed in a special council meeting last year. However, the High Court in...

In conversation with Miguel Torres who scored a whopping 99% for his final mathematics mark. Torres, who passed with eight distinctions, is one of the 129 matric pupils at St David's Marist Inanda in Sandton who scored 252 distinctions in the 2019 matric examinations. How much does it take to teach a subject like mathematics? I mean it’s not uncommon to hear students complain that they hate maths...

Guest: Ibrahim Dean

The last few days before the release of matric results is a very stressful time for those who took the exams a month ago. The wait is a nerve-racking experience as many pin their future plans on these results. Over 600-thousand full-time learners and more than 100-thousand part-time candidates who sat for the examinations will be getting their results tomorrow. So how should parents and Matriculan...