The National Pulse

Guest: Professor Raymond Parsons

Water Update post heavy rains: Following recent heavy rains, we hear from the ministry of water and sanitation about how SA dams are performing. Guest: Sputnik Ratau – Spokesperson for the Department of Water and sanitation

Today the High Court in the Eastern Cape ruled that undocumented children, including children of illegal foreigners, are entitled to receive basic education. The Centre for Child Law and Phakamisa High School in Port Elizabeth, represented by the Legal Resources Centre (LRC), set out to challenge all the regulations and laws that inhibited undocumented children from accessing basic education. Gues...

The Democratic Alliance (DA) says it is seeking legal advice on what action to take following the election of ANC councilor Nonceba Molwele as the new speaker of the Johannesburg council. DA councillor Vasco Da Gama has been removed as speaker despite the DA and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) councilors being absent from council Guest: Mike Moriaty -DA Gauteng chairperson

Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane, today released several reports on investigations conducted by her office. One of the reports include the allegations of improper conduct within Eskom in connection with allegations that the utility used a concept invented by the complainant to develop a programme called “Operation Khanyisa” without acknowledging her as source and creator of the concept. Guest:...

Jaoa Rodrigues made yet another court appearance today at the Palmridge High Court for his role in the murder of anti-apartheid activist Ahmed Timol. A promotion of Access to Information Act Application submitted by Imtiaz Cajee (Ahmed Timol’s nephew) to the Department of Justice revealed that the state has paid more than R3.5 million Rands to cover legal costs since his appearance at the 2017 Inq...

The 2019 South African Reconciliation Barometer (SARB) shows that a vast majority of South Africans agree that South Africa still needs reconciliation, although only about half report that they have experienced reconciliation or believe that South Africa has made progress with reconciliation. The report was launched earlier today by the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation. Guest: Gugu Nonjing...

Nigeria says it will give all African travellers visas on arrival from January, dropping the requirement that they apply in advance. The announcement comes five months after Nigeria signed a deal aimed at promoting free trade on the continent. Guest: Musa Mdunge, International relations political analyst

Over fifty thousand workers in the country's major State Owned Entities (SOE's) will down tools at the beginning of next year. The National Union of Metal Workers (NUMSA), NUM and their affiliated unions say their members will embark on a massive strike action next year in what the unions say is a fight back against government's attempt to privatise state owned entities. Guest: Paris Mashego – Nat...

Today on Both Sides of the Story we ask – is 16 Days of Activism enough to fight the scourge of Gender Based Violence? Yesterday was the last day of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence campaign – but what was achieved during the course of the campaign? Guests: Shoki Tshabalala Guest: Dr. Mbulelo Dyase

Today President Cyril Ramaphosa met with Eskom executives to discuss the issue of load-shedding which is currently affecting many South African households and businesses. Guest: Tshepo Mongoai – SABC Reporter

Today the African National Congress briefed media on the outcomes of the National Executive Committee meeting which was held over the weekend. The focus of meeting was on the state of Eskom and SAA. Guest: Pule Mabe – ANC National Spokesperson

The Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs in KwaZulu-Natal has placed disaster management teams on high alert as heavy rains persist in parts of the province. Cogta took these measures after the South African Weather Services issued a warning of heavy rains that can lead to localised flooding over the northern parts of KZN on Wednesday. Guest: MEC Peggy Nkonyeni – acting co-...

Today, Eastern Cape High Court ruled that processes to change the name of Grahamstown to Makhanda were properly followed and the court also affirmed that adequate consultations did take place. To react to this we hear from the Keep Grahamstown Grahamstown movement as they are the ones who took this matter to court. Guest: Adv Jock McChonnachie, joint coordinator of the movement Keep Grahamstown Gr...

Reports coming from Namibia are suggesting that the country is planning to deport about 53 foreign nationals who fled South Africa last month following a recent wave of xenophobic attacks. But who should take responsibility for these foreign nationals and what must South Africa do to resolve this problem? Guest: Dr Vusmuzi Sibanda, political analyst and Chair of the African Diaspora Forum

Yesterday, the People Health Movement South Africa picketed outside parliament to highlight the fact that South Africa is currently faced with the double burden of malnutrition - undernutrition and overweight with poor quality nutrition. Joining us to discuss what transpired yesterday is…… Guest: James van Duuren, member of the Steering Committee of the People’s Health Movement

The department of health in Limpopo has announced that it’s going to terminate the contracts of more than 150 community service doctors and other professionals at the end of the month due to dire financial constraints in the province. Guest: Phophi Ramathuba, MEC for Health in Limpopo

Today Co-operative Governance Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and Gauteng MEC for Co-operative Governance, Lebogang Maile visited areas in Gauteng affected by flooding due to the heavy rainfall. Hundreds of people mostly living in informal settlements across the province have been displaced. Guest: Lebogang Maile - MEC for Co-operative governance in Gauteng

The City of Cape Town has warned its residents that the impact of load-shedding is likely to have an impact on water supply in the area. According to the city their pumps for both the water and sewerage systems cannot operate properly without power for significant periods. Guest: Alderman Xanthea Limberg - the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Water and Waste

South Africa's mining companies have had to shut some of their underground operations and processing plants last night due load shedding. Nation-wide load-shedding by Eskom meant tens of thousands of workers faced the risk of being left in the dark, far below the surface. Guest: Henk Langenhoven - Chief economist Minerals Council South Africa

Dr Lungi Nyathi joins us to talk about the role of employers in fighting the scourge of HIV/Aids in the workplace. Of nearly 8 000 businesses surveyed in 103 countries, fewer than six percent had formally approved written HIV policies, but over a third, nevertheless, believed their current policies and programmes were sufficient and effective. Guest: Dr Lungi Nyathi - Executive Director for Health...

The Commission for Gender Equality released a statement yesterday saying that it plans to meet with Deputy Minister of Social Development Hendrieta Bogopane-Zulu following her recent comments on gender-based violence. While addressing a conference last week, Deputy Minister Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu allegedly said women were not only victims but also contributors of gender-based violence. Guest: Ja...

The 2019 United Kingdom general election is scheduled to be held on Thursday this week. Whoever wins the election will ultimately determine whether the United Kingdom leaves the European Union early next year. Guest: Professor John Keiger, Director of Research at the Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS), University of Cambridge in the Uk

We hear from the Black Management Forum on why they have decided to challenge the appointment of Nico Bezuidenhout as the chief executive of Mango Airlines. The organisation has filed filed papers in the Johannesburg High Court and in the application, they are asking the court to set aside Bezuidenhout’s appointment and calls into question the lawfulness of the process that was followed to appoint...

Guest: Masibulele Naki