The National Pulse

If you are lucky enough to live in a holiday town, renting out your home (or part of it) for the festive season can be a great way to boost your income and make January a lot less bleak. And there are lots of online platforms like Airbnb, Booking.com and HomeAway that make it easy to list your property and become a "rentrepreneur". But there are also lots of swindlers out there among the real holi...

Following a complaint from a member of the public, South Africa’s Advertising Regulatory Board last week banned a Chicken Licken advertisement that played with the fantasy of African explorers landing in Europe first. The fast-food outlet confirmed it would appeal against a ruling which deemed the ad too spicy. Guest: Xolisa Dyeshana - Chief Creative Officer at Joe Public (the people who created t...

A delay in applying for asylum in South Africa does not disqualify such an application, the Constitutional Court ruled today. The question the court had to answer was whether a prospective asylum seeker should be allowed to apply for asylum at any time they express an intention to do so, even when they have delayed the application. It also looked at whether an asylum seeker who has been convicted...

Hundreds of Non-Governmental Organisations in the Eastern Cape are reportedly not paid as they are still waiting for their funding subsidy-transfers to be paid. This is according to Kobus Botha DA’s Eastern Cape Shadow MEC for Social Development. To get an understanding of some of the reasons behind him, Guest: Kobus Botha DA’s Eastern Cape Shadow MEC for Social Development

Children's rights groups have welcomed the murder and child neglect convictions in the Baby Daniel case in the High Court in Johannesburg . The three year old child died in June last year after being submerged in hot water. Judge Joseph Matshitse found the mother guilty of two counts of child neglect and her long term partner and father of her two other children guilty of child abuse and murder. T...

Yesterday we spoke of St Francis Bay that was on fire. Apparently up to 20 homes were gutted by the blaze. The fire has now been contained by the local fire department, who are also being assisted by resources from the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality. St Francis Bay is over 100km from the region, just south of Jeffrey’s Bay. A coastal resort. Guest: Unathi Henama - Tourism lecturer – Tshwane Unive...

Holiday is a time to catch up on your reading…maybe those books you’ve been struggling to finish. What book are you reading? Give me a call 089 or a book you would recommend this holiday. Guest: Sihle Bolani - Author

The South African National Editors Forum has lodged a complaint with the Equality Court against Julius Malema and the EFF for threatening journalists on various platforms, including social media. SANEF says that the EFF's grievances against the media have not been communicated via the proper channels. They hope that the Equality Court will rule in their favour and stop the EFF and its supporters f...

The ANC in the Northern Cape has fired the mayor and speaker of Phokwane Municipality in Hartswater. The party announced the removal of Mayor Masenya Kalman and Speaker Horatius Modiakgotla today. The decision comes after residents marched to the municipality earlier this month demanding the removal of the mayor, speaker and councillors. To get an understanding of what led to the dismissals. Guest...

Members of the EFF at the Greater Giyani Municipal Council have disrupted the special council meeting to elect an interim mayor. The seating which was scheduled to commence at two o-clock started off with an adjournment, with the speaker calling for security re-enforcement. The seating follows the sacking of Sasavona Mathevula by the ANC last week. Guest SABC reporter Pimani Baloyi

Afriforum has confirmed that a warrant of arrest has been issued for former Zimbabwean first lady Grace Mugabe for her alleged assault of South African model Gabriella Engels. In July, the lobby group won a High Court application to review and set aside the government's decision to grant Mugabe diplomatic immunity. Mugabe allegedly assaulted Engels at a hotel in Johannesburg in August last year. T...

Minister of Communications, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams is currently leading the South African delegation at a High-Level Forum of African and European Leaders in Vienna, Austria. The High-Level Forum is an initiative of Rwanda President Paul Kagame, [current African Union (AU) Commission Chairperson] and Federal Chancellor of the Republic of Austria Sebastian Kurz, [current European Union (EU) Counci...

Five years after pledges were made to address sanitation issues in Gauteng schools, still there are schools with more than 51 learners poor toilet, broken toilets, broken taps, toilet doors that don’t lock and schools with more than 400 children per cleaner. These are the findings of Equal Education in their new report on school sanitation, presented to the Gauteng Education Department on Thursday...

This festive season we tend to indulge, go big, enjoy ourselves and maybe we can go a bit overboard. guest: Mbali Mapholi - Dietician

A story we’ve been covering for the better part of this year is that of gang violence and the steps taken by the Department of police. And of course those communities, there’s nothing they wish more than a peaceful festive season without gun fires, street battles, stray bullets etc. And according to the expert, while many solutions have been put forward to deal with gangs, one of the major problem...

As you may have heard over the weekend that Edcon, which owns CNA, Edgars, Jet, is asking for a R 2 billion in emergency funding from its owners and the state-owned Public Investment Corporation. News broke that the company may shut down leaving thousands without jobs. Unions are also worried and hoping for a solution that will save jobs. Guest: Etienne Vlok, Sactwu’s National Industrial Policy Of...

Bo-Kaap residents were in court today face to face with Blok Urban Developers in the Western Cape High Court. This after the developers were seeking an interdict to stop community members from entering a section of land they are building on. Our reporter Vanessa Poonah is covering the story and now joins us on the line…. guest: SABC reporter Vanessa Poonah

As we report on the spate of accidents around the festive period, reports doing the rounds imply that this is causing strain for blood supply. Guest: Ivor Hobbs – Spokesperson for the South African National Blood Service

The Gauteng Community Safety Department says a total of 34 people died in 31 road crashes in the province between Friday and last night. The department says the highets number of fatalities involved pedestrians, followed by motor vehicle drivers. Reckless and negligent driving as well as excessive use of alcohol have been the contributing factors to the fatalities. Joburg Metro Police chief David...

A horrible story here of two Eastern Cape sisters who were attacked and burnt to death after being accused of witchcraft. The siblings – aged 53 and 33 – were burnt to death in Ngonyameni village, Emaxesibeni, on Wednesday night before their houses were also razed. Officials visited the women's family and requested counselling from the provincial social development department for them, Guest: Damo...

Distribution of police across Western Cape is discriminatory - court Judge MJ Dolamo of the Cape High Court (sitting as the Equality Court) has declared that the allocation of police resources in the Western Cape unfairly discriminates on the basis of race and poverty. The ruling came this morning, and is a victory for the Khayelitsha-based social movement Social Justice Coalition (SJC). Axolile N...

Many people around the country are hitting the road this weekend to their various holiday destinations. The main concern for authorities is the carnage on the roads. This time it is the medical sector that is worried about potential life-long impact of serious head injuries for accident survivors. They say that traumatic brain injury (TBI) affects at least 300 per 100,000 people in South Africa ev...

The National Union of Metalworkers, NUMSA is today launching its political party. The party is said to be dominated by union members. Guest: Irvin Jim - General secretary of Numsa

Delays have categorised the start of the national elective conference of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) in Kimberley in the Northern Cape today. The congress was due to begin this morning but slow arrival of delegates has delayed the start. The conference is expected to elect new leadership for the party which has been dogged by leadership battles over the past decade. Guest: Neo Bodumela – SAB...

The Department of Home Affairs says it has deployed 450 additional employees at its various border posts for efficient services. This as many foreign nationals are making their way home to their countries for the holidays. Guest: Siya Qoza - Spokesperson for the Department of Home Affairs