The National Pulse

Police have arrested the man who allegedly murdered his three children and their older sister in Wyebank on Tuesday. The 44 year old suspect who had been on the run has been charged with four counts of murder. Guest: Colonel Thembeka Mbele- Spokesperson for Police in KwaZulu Natal

The National Student Financial Aid Scheme has officially opened applications for the 2020 funding under the theme ‘Make A Difference’. NSFAS has said that the application process has become simpler, quicker and more user-friendly for applicants. Guest: Dr Randall Carolissen- NSFAS administrator

The Zindzi Mandela Foundation (ZMF) will celebrate the African New Year on the 23rd of this month under the theme: “Black Reconciliation”. Guest : Mkhulu Nsingiza- Managing Director

In conversation with Merle Mansfield about the state of education in South African and what can be done to ensure all South African learners get the chance they deserve to succeed at school and make it through to the end. One disturbing thing about our education system is that, despite SA’s significant investment in basic education more than the US or the UK - far too many children still cannot re...

Post the recent escalation of xenophobic attacks by South African nationals on other Africans. The Secretary General of Zambia’s Ruling Party, the Patriotic Front (PF), Davies Mwila, has written to his South African counterpart Ace Magashule; Secretary General of the ANC, urging the ANC to lead South Africans in a “new kind of struggle” against xenophobia. Guest : Sunday Chanda, Media director for...

In our Both Sides of the Story today we will look at the issue of Gender Based Violence and the question that we are asking is, why are not doing enough to address this issue? This is at the backdrop of the murder of UCT student Uyinene Mrwetyana. Guests: Tamara Mathebula – Chairperson of the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) Guest: Themba Masango- Spokesperson, Not In My Name

South Africa has avoided a technical recession after Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) said the country economy grew by 3.1% in the second quarter. Stats SA says this follows a revised 3.3% contraction in the first three months of the year. This is much stronger than expected: A Reuters poll of economists had forecast growth of 2.4%. Guest: Dr Azar Jammine- Economist.

So what exactly is Xenophobia and what sparks it? Guest: Sarah Motha- Vulnerable Group Programme Manager at the Foundation for Human Rights

The Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities is alarmed by the continued killing of women especially in the Month when South Africa celebrated Women’s Month. They are saying that violence against women and girls is the manifestation of a profound lack of respect – a failure by men to recognize the inherent equality and dignity of women. Guest: Mr Shalen Gajadhar, Spokesperson for t...

Mmusi Maimane, leader of the Democratic Alliance joins us to discuss the state of our economy and what needs to be done to avert South Africa’s unemployment crisis. In July this year Maimane wrote to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Thandi Modise requesting for the National Assembly to hold urgent debate about the unemployment crisis in South Africa. Guest: Mmusi Maimane, leader of the Democr...

The South African Human Rights Commission is deeply concerned by violence, looting, arson and vandalism plaguing much of Johannesburg; in areas such as Jeppestown, Malvern, Tembisa and surrounding areas. The Commission calls on the state and law enforcement agencies to restore the rule of law and end the violence plaguing these communities. Guest: Gushwell Brooks - Communications Co-ordinator at t...

Following recent sporadic attacks on foreign-owned shops throughout Gauteng. Today on Both Sides of the Story we ask - Are recent acts of looting strictly xenophobic or they are just actions influenced by economic desperation and a general culture of looting? The latest wave of looting as you may know comes just a month after police raided shops in the CBD for allegedly selling counterfeit goods....

Last week we received a message from an employee from the National District Hospital in Bloemfontein who complained about the poor infrastructure at the hospital. Guest: Mondli Mvambi - Spokesperson for the Free State department of Health

To celebrate Deaf Awareness Month (September), SARS will work together with different organisations and municipalities that support persons with hearing impairments in South Africa, to assist them with their tax affairs at specific SARS branches around the country. Guest: Vusi Ntlakana - Senior Manager for Communication at SARS

Trade union, Solidarity, says it is considering bringing an application to place South African Airways (SAA) under business rescue. When the union attempted to bring a similar application earlier, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan held a meeting with it to discourage such a move. Guest: Werner Human- trade union Solidarity’s deputy Chief Executive

As debate continues over the National Health Insurance Bill that was tabled in Parliament last month. Today we are joined by Diane McIntyer, Emeritus Professor at the University of Cape Town, she will take us through some of the objectives of this much talked about Bill. Guest: Professor Diane McIntyer, Emeritus Professor at the University of Cape Town (the health economics unit)

We unpack the Consumer Housing Protection Bill which was approved by Cabinet. This new legal framework will regulate home builders and developers, expand the protection to consumers, introduce effective enforcement tools and prescribe appropriate penalty sanctions to deter non-compliance by home builders. Guest: Mr Khwezi Ngwenya, Head of Legal Services at the Department of Human Settlements

There are several violent protest actions and looting of foreign owned shops in various parts of Gauteng today. Police have managed to contain the situation in Tembisa east of Johannesburg following yet another looting incident. Meanwhile 31 people have been arrested after being found looting a shop in Malvern, east of Johannesburg. Guest: Sashin Naidoo

Today we celebrate Buhlebendalo Mda who is well known as the Soil's lead female vocalist. Buhlebendalo has gone solo and dropped her new single titled, Iwotshi today. Her debut album is set to drop next year. Guest: Buhlebendalo Mda- Musician

In our False News Friday feature we’ll look at court ruling of the use of the old South African flag which has been seen to have profound impact on freedom of expression and the rights to dignity and equality. Guest: William Bird- Director of Media Monitoring Africa

Apple Inc. says it will begin selling parts, tools and repair guides to independent shops to fix broken iPhones, a major change after years of lobbying against laws in some US states that would have compelled it to do just that. To speak to us in detail about what this announcement means for apple users and independent repar shops. Guest: Toby Shapshack- Editor-In-Chief, Stuff Magazine (082 576 19...

New figures from Statistics South Africa show a decline in free basic services, as more services are being extended to homes across the country. The data was revealed in the non-financial census document for municipalities. According to the report free basic water declined by -13.9%, free basic electricity by -9.6%, free basic sewage and sanitation by -16,17% and free basic solid water waste manag...

Yesterday, the Mangaung Metro Municipality reminded its citizens that the City’s Finance directorate will be intensifying the disconnection of water services at business, government and residential properties to recover debt owed to the municipality. Joining us to elaborate more on this is…. Guest: Qondile Khedama, General Manager for Communications at Mangaung Metro Municipality

When addressing African leaders this week who were gathered at the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in Yokohama, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe revealed that his country’s private sector will invest $20 billion over three years in Africa. He also vowed that his country will do whatever it takes to assist the advancement of Japanese companies into Africa. Guest: Musa...

We look at the upcoming PAC’s elective congress. PAC’s Secretary General Apa Pooe recently mentioned that the party will hold its national elective congress this weekend in Bloemfontein with the aim of unifying the party. The Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) is a political party whose presence in the South African political landscape spans just over half a century. Last weekend another faction of the...