The Weekend View

As the holiday season approaches and Black Friday is currently in full swing; employees eagerly anticipate the coveted end-of-year bonus or thirteenth cheque to further contribute to the upcoming holiday month. While these additional financial rewards can be a powerful tool for reminding staff that their hard work and commitment are valued, the question remains, are they an obligatory part of comp...

South Africans skeptical about the validity of recent crime stats

SA youth encouraged to register to vote

 IEC's voter registration weekend underway

Liberia elects a new president

President Cyril Ramaphosa was this week at pains to explain to a skeptical South African public that the country's efforts to fight corruption are gaining traction. Speaking at a dialogue on building a corruption-free SA, an upbeat Ramaphosa said while there is a long road ahead, the fight against corruption is gaining momentum. Among the successes, he listed 9 separate court cases, involving 47 i...

International Law professor from the University of Pretoria, Dire Tladi, now sits at the International Court of Justice in the Hague. The first South African to serve at the World Court, Prof Tladi becomes one of 15 judges elected for 9-year terms to settle disputes between nations in accordance with international law and give advisory opinions on questions of international law. The UN Security Co...

President Cyril Ramaphosa has authorised the deployment of 3,300 soldiers in cooperation with the South African Police Service, to tackle illegal mining and the construction Mafia under Operation Prosper. The operation seeks to prevent and combat crime while maintaining and preserving the rule of  law. In August, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) had indicated that it intends t...

 Former ANC Northern Cape chairperson and MEC, John Block has been released on parole. He was sentenced to 15 years for corruption and money laundering on 6 December 2016.  Block took the Correctional Services department to court, claiming that he qualifies for parole, if presidential remissions are taken into account. Meanwhile, the Former ANC Northern Cape chairperson is currently facing another...

With the soon to be introduced two-pot retirement system, pension funds are at potential risk of criminals intercepting withdrawals of high-value investments. While fraudsters won't be able to drain an entire pension, the savings in a pot is still a significant amount of money for most people - especially in the current difficult economy. To find out how pension funds can be kept safe we We spoke...

 Lifestyle genetic testing and screening is said to be the future of medicine. The process enables people to take personal ownership of their health, and by doing so, reduce their risk of disease. The tests are evidence-based DNA screenings that look at specific genetic markers of health like nutrition, exercise, sleep, environmental exposures and other lifestyle factors, that contribute to the de...

The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA forum concluded in JHB yesterday. The forum was set to strengthen trade relations between the United States and the rest of the African continent. Some analysts say the African countries stand to enhance their economies by being part of such agreements as AGOA. Given the recent tussle between the US and South Africa- how beneficial is it for us to conti...

The Proteas are this morning expected to experience World Cup pressure in its raw form as India's 'Blue Army' will fill Kolkata's Eden Gardens for the 2023 Cricket World Cup fixture. The game starts at 10h30. With the hosts seen as one of the contenders for the title, some analysts say India opener Rohit Sharma and his South African counterpart Quinton de Kock could well decide the outcome of this...

The Springboks will this morning conclude their victory tour when they parade the Webb Ellis trophy in the streets of East London in the Eastern Cape. Today's parade wraps up the 4-day victory tour which started in Gauteng on Thursday before heading to Cape Town on Friday and Durban yesterday. Thousands of fervent supporters from all walks of life have gathered on the streets of the cities the Bok...

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden has been named the best botanical garden in Africa. The garden, nestled at the eastern foot of Table Mountain in Cape Town, received the accolade from the World Luxury Travel Awards. It is one of 10 National Botanical Gardens administered by the South African National Biodiversity Institute. Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to Institute's Director of Marketing and Co...

Following this week's tabling of the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, there has been growing opposition to continued cuts to social service budgets. The Public Service Accountability Monitor  -PSAM - has put the blame for budget cuts squarely on the government's hands through its failure to curb the intentional erosion of public finances through fraud, corr...

A recent report released by the South African government paints a grim picture of the country's water resources and water infrastructure as well as the overall quality of its drinking water. Among the issues of biggest concern are a collapse of the country's waste-water treatment works and a sharp rise in the number of local authorities that are failing to meet minimum compliance standards. To com...

Today is the last day of the  African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) forum hosted by the South African government, in partnership with the United States government. Business Unity South Africa (BUSA)  CEO Cas Coovadia says the expansion of the AGOA agreement which expires in 2025, is key in realising the meaningful contribution of the African continent to the global economy. The forum holds signifi...

The Africa Century International African Writers' Conference is set to take place next Tuesday in Potchefstroom in the North West Province.  Ibrahima Aya, Timbuktu-born Malian author,  co-founder and director of the literary festival Rentrée littéraire du Mali, is set to deliver the International African Writers' Day Lecture under the theme: Decolonisation and Decoloniality. The South African Lite...

Emergency measures need to be accelerated to curb chicken shortages and price increases. That's the word from the Association of Meat Importers and Exporters of Southern Africa - AMIE... The organisation says speed is of the essence in rolling out emergency measures to mitigate the inevitable poultry shortages and price increases due to recent outbreaks of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza HPAI (b...

The Springboks' victory tour heads to the streets of Durban this morning as the world rugby champions continue to parade the Webb Ellis Trophy to fans across the country. The Boks were in Cape Town yesterday and kicked off the tour on Thursday when drove around streets filled with supporters in Pretoria, Johannesburg and Soweto. Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to reporter Vusi Makhosini...  

Some parts of South Africa are expected, from tonight into tomorrow, to experience an unseasonal dipping of temperatures and heavy rains with Johannesburg for instance forecast to reecord a maximum of below 10 degrees celcius . To tell us more about this we are joined on the line by  Lehlogonolo Thobela, a forecaster from the South African Weather Service .....  

The Springboks retained the Webb Ellis Cup after a thrilling 12-11 win over the All Blacks in the final at the Stade de France in Paris LAST NIGHT. This  means back-to-back wins for South Africa, who triumphed over England in the 2019 final in Japan. And with four tournament wins to their name, the Springboks are now outright the most successful team in Rugby World Cup history - a title they previ...

 South Africa won a record fourth Rugby World Cup title on Saturday, beating three-time winners New Zealand 12-11 in a thrilling and gritty encounter at the Stade de France. To review last night's final I'm joined on the line by Braam Van Straaten, who played for the Springboks from 1999 to 2001....

The Springboks are bracing themselves for an epic Rugby World Cup final against New Zealand at the Stade de France in Paris tonight. Head coach Jacques Nienaber this week made five changes to his match-day squad from their one-point semi-final victory against England, with two in the starting 15 and three on the bench. Scrumhalf Faf de Klerk and flyhalf Handre Pollard replaced Cobus Reinach and Ma...