The Weekend View

A group calling themselves the Professionals League under the African National Congress says it is time to start having a different conversation about the socio-economic challenges facing SA.  They are calling for what they have termed a CODESA-style convention which they say must look at land issues, white privilege among others to address South Africa's poverty issues. We spoke to the Secretary...

The latest crime statistics released yesterday reveal that while the overall murder rate has gone down, more women and children have been killed over the last quarter than over the same period last year. The newest figures from SAPS tabled in Parliament show that gender-based violence is still prevalent throughout the country despite a decline in rape and sexual assault. The statistics show murder...

With just 4 days to go before Zimbabwe's crucial national elections, questions are being raised whether the electoral process will be transparent and officials accountable. On Thursday the country's authorities deported four regional democracy activists on arrival at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport and barred journalists from several international media houses covering the poll. Ea...

Military chiefs from West Africa's main regional bloc - ECOWAS - have agreed an undisclosed "D-Day" for a possible direct armed intervention to restore democracy in Niger if diplomatic efforts fail. This is the conclusion of the two-day military meeting which ended in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, yesterday. No specific date has been given for the intervention and a diplomatic solution has not been...

Various political parties have taken an exception to the release of former president, Jacob Zuma on remission. This comes after, President Cyril Ramaphosa approved the release of about 9 488 inmates as part of the remission programme. However, many feel that this was a ploy to release Zuma from prison- after he handed himself over to finish his 15 months sentence for contempt. In a statement, rele...

Solly Msimanga yesterday retained his position as the Democratic Alliance's provincial leader in Gauteng, with Fred Nel winning the race of chairperson of the party. The provincial elections were held in  Boksburg on Gauteng's East Rand. Around one-thousand delegates cast their ballots in the two-horse race where Msimanga was challenged by Khuma Ramulifho. Bongiwe Zwane spoke to Democratic Allianc...

The Springboks will depart for Europe this afternoon (Saturday) for two warm-up matches, and the defence of their Rugby World Cup title in France. They are eager to become the first team to lift the Webb Ellis Cup for a fourth time. Our reporter, Liezl Olivier, spoke to former Springbok and now Cheetahs stalwart, Ruan Pienaar, about rugby's biggest showpiece, and South Africa's chances at the even...

The Human Sciences Research Council alongside the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation hosted a panel discussion on Zimbabwean ahead of the August 23 elections. The panel of experts looked at the pre-election environment in that country which has been characterised by violence. And they also looked at the prospects of free, fair and credible elections in Zimbabwe. Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to E...

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is hosting its Gauteng Provincial Congress where the party will elect new leadership ahead of the 2024 General Election. DA Federal Leader, John Steenhuisen, is expected to address delegates on the Moonshot Pact which he believes will usher in a new provincial government in Gauteng after next year's election. Incumbent Solly Msimanga is seeking a second term and he wil...

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni on Thursday insisted that his country will do with or without the support of the World Bank. He was responding to an announcement on Tuesday by the US-based global lender that it was suspending new loans to Uganda over what is considered among the world's harshest laws targeting LGBTQI communities enacted in May. Museveni said Uganda does not need pressure from a...

There is a collective sigh of relief after taxis started operating again in Cape Town yesterday following a weeklong stay away by SANTACO which turned violent leaving 5 people dead and thousands of commuters stranded. As the situation slowly returns to normal, it will be a lot longer for the tourism industry which suffered reputational damage after some countries issued travel alerts for the Mothe...

At yesterday's closing of the two-day National Dialogue on Coalition Governments at the University of the Western Cape, Deputy President Paul Mashatile called on the country to draw lessons from others and its own experiences on coalition governments. Mashatile gave examples of successful government coalitions when the  African National Congress (ANC) worked with the National Party at the national...

Banyana  Banyana has lost two-nil to the 2019 World Cup finalists, the Netherlands, in the crunch round of the 16-group fixture at the Sydney football stadium in Australia. Banyana is the first South African team, male or female, to get to the knockout stages of a world cup. Meanwhile, the curtain closes on the 2023 Netball World Cup in Cape Town today with the final match between England and Aust...

The Western Cape E-hailing Association (WCEA), which represents different e-hailing services, yesterday announced that they were joining the Cape Town taxi strike. In a statement, the association said all their vehicles will be parked and not engage in any normal business with immediate effect. On Thursday, chaos, sporadic stone-throwing, and violence erupted on major highways in Cape Town as taxi...

Political parties taking part in the national dialogues on the coalition government have proposed a number of changes in the law to prevent the collapse of coalition governments. Some of the suggestions include a limit to the number of motions of no confidence to avoid it being abused for political reasons. Meanwhile, there are also reports that the Department of cooperative governance and traditi...

The military officers who seized power in the West African state of Niger 10 days ago have until today to restore Mohamed Bazoum as president or face military action from the Economic Community of West African States -  ECOWAS. In an intensification of the standoff coup leader General Abdourahamane Tchiani has declared that he will not bow down to pressure and urged his countrymen to get ready to...

There is a new banking scam you need to be aware of! The Ombudsman for Banking Services in South Africa is warning consumers about a new fraud technique that exploits a growingly popular contactless payment method to empty people's bank accounts. Fraudsters are using stolen card information - such as the card number, expiry date and CVV number -  to make purchases via digital payment wallets. Thes...

There are no surprises among the teams who will contest today's semifinals at the Netball World Cup 2023 in Cape Town with the top four on the latest world rankings all advancing in the competition. England will take on defending champions New Zealand and Australia will face Jamaica. Yesterday the Proteas beat Tonga 72-46 booking South Africa's place in the 5th-place playoff on Sunday. Meanwhile,...

 African leaders pressed Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday to move ahead with their plan to end the Ukraine conflict and to renew a deal crucial to Africa on the safe export of Ukrainian grain, which Moscow pulled out of last week. While not critical of Russia, the leaders appeared more concerted and forceful than they have voiced until now. That served as a reminder of the depth of Afric...

ANC veteran Dr Snuki Zikalala has been elected unopposed as the president of the ANC Veterans League. The ANC elders are holding  their conference in Boksburg, east of Johanesburg. Zikalala was nominated for president alongside three others, including former ANC treasurer-general and home affairs department director-general Mavuso Msimang, all of whom declined their presidential nominations. Msima...

South Africa's national rugby and netball teams had a good day at the office yesterday recording wins in the Rugby Championship and the Netball World Cup. The Springboks managed to grind out victory edging Argentina 22-21 in their final Rugby Championship fixture at Ellis Park Stadium in JHB. The trophy had however already been won by New Zealand earlier following a 38-7 victory over Australia, in...

 The EFF turned 10 years old this week and today the party will hold it's final celebratory anniversary rally at the 95 thousand seater FNB stadium in Johannesburg. EFF Commander-in-Chief, Julius Malema, is expected to address the gathering at noon. On 27 July 2013, the EFF National Assembly convened at Uncle Tom's Hall in Orlando West, Soweto. In it's decade of existence, the EFF has grown to bec...

The uncertainty of South Africa's economy and the risks attributed to the unstable performance of the Rand, as well as the current market volatility, has left a lot of consumers, savers, and investors feeling uneasy about what the rest of the year will look like for the financial planning goals they've set to achieve. Some South Africans can also remember the 2008 global financial crisis that resu...

115 CEOs from many of South Africa's largest companies have signed a pledge to offer their skills to the government to help alleviate the many crises that the country faces. The CEOs committed to helping solve country's energy, logistics and security issues. The pledge was signed THIS WEEK  by CEOs from Standard Bank, FNB, Shell, Anglo American, Napsers, MTN, and over 100 other major companies. Ca...

Areas near the explosion site in central Johannesburg have been without power since Wednesday afternoon, following a gas leak explosion. The City of Johannesburg Manager, Floyd Brink, says electricity and water will be restored to areas that the recent blast in the city centre has affected. He has also confirmed the structural integrity of the buildings adjacent to where the blast took place on Li...