The Weekend View

Thousands of delegates are gathered in Beijing as China's governing Communist Party starts it's elective Congress today, set to usher in a historic third term in power for Xi Jinping. Xi has been described as  the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong in the 1970s. The decision to extend Xi's presidency comes after a two-term limit was abolished in 2018.  If elected Xi will lead the world'...

Businessman and diamond dealer Louis Liebenberg maintains that there is nothing wrong with him, as an ordinary citizen, giving former President Jacob Zuma five hundred thousand rand to foot his mounting legal bills. This follows Zuma's decision to privately prosecutes state Advocate Billy Downer and Journalist Karyn Maughan. Zuma has accused Downer of leaking his confidential medical records to Ma...

Eskom has signed land lease agreements with 4 independent power producers. These successful bidders are: HDF Energy South Africa, Red Rocket SA, Sola Group, and Mainstream Renewable Power Developments South Africa. Eskom says the companies will now do comprehensive feasibility studies to determine which technologies will be implemented at each site; wind, solar and battery storage. The exact gener...

  Some of our South African Police officers live with the fear of being attacked by criminals at their police stations. One such police station is in Devon, east of Johannesburg, which has allegedly been locking it's gates at 6 o'clock every evening, for fear of being attacked by thugs. That fear, however, became a reality this week when three armed men, who pretended to be hijack victims, attacke...

The South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) and the United National Transport Union (UNTU) say efforts to establish picketing rules with Transnet's management for their planned national strike TOMORROW  have been unsuccessful.  Unions say Transnet had contravened the requirements of the Labour Relations Act by refusing to sign the picketing rules. The unions says Transnet's refus...

African Union-led peace talks that were expected to start in South Africa today to try to end a two-year-old conflict in northern Ethiopia's Tigray region have reportedly been delayed for logistical reasons.  Ethiopia's government and Tigray forces had earlier this week accepted the AU's invitation to talks in South Africa, which would be the first formal negotiations between the two sides since w...

Vote counting is set to begin this morning  in the mountain kingdom of Lesotho following YESTERDAY's parliamentary elections.  More than 50 political parties are vying for a chance to govern. In reality, though it's a race between four major parties including the newly launched party Revolution for Prosperity (RFP). This is the first election the leaders of the four parties are contesting in, so w...

Spokesperson of Jacob Zuma Foundation Mzwanele Manyi AND DA's shadow Minister of Correctional Services Jahno Engelbrecht react to former president Jacob Zuma's end of medical parole.

Your employer may be liable if you are injured working from home. This is according to Independent Consulting Occupational therapist at Workforce HealthCare, Phumla Motsa. Motsa has has an interest in ergonomics which focuses on the interaction between a person and their environment. She says using home office spaces that are not set up correctly may lead to musculoskeletal disorders and repetitiv...

The Deputy Minister of Social Development Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu THIS WEEK announced government plans to decriminalise sex work by 2024. This comes as many sex workers in the Northern Cape say the delay in decriminalising sex work endangers their lives and infringes on their rights to earn an income. Sebezile Nkambule spoke to Sex Workers Education & Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT)'s Spokesperson...

The African Union has condemned the "unconstitutional change of government" in Burkina Faso after the second coup in less than a year, in which a group of junior army officers removed military ruler Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba. The AU has demanded the return of constitutional order by July 2023 at the latest. The 34-year-old self-declared leader, Colonel Ibrahim Traoré says Damiba's inability to de...

Russia's President Vladimir Putin yesterday held a signing ceremony to formally annex four more areas of Ukraine after referendums condemned by Ukraine as a sham. In a speech in Moscow, Putin claimed people living in the regions had made their choice. Russian-backed officials had earlier claimed the five-day exercise secured almost total popular support. The votes were held in Luhansk and Donetsk...

Dada Morero is the new mayor of the city of Johannesburg- this follows the ousting of the former mayor, Mpho Phalatse. She was voted out by 139 votes in the 270-seat council - through a motion of no-confidence. Phalatse insists that the meeting was unlawful. Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance Leader, John Steenhuisen says Action SA's Herman Mashaba is hellbent on destroying the coalition governmen...

Despite opposition from some parties, the Land Expropriation Bill was finally adopted by the National Assembly late on Wednesday evening, taking it one step closer to becoming enacted in law. The DA, EFF, IFP, Freedom Front Plus, and African Christian Democratic Party had objected to the bill for different reasons. The adopted draft allows expropriation only for "public purpose" and in the "public...

Public Enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan announced a new Eskom Board chaired by Mpho Makwana. Included in the new board are some engineers, Mthetho Nyathi, Busisiwe Vilakazi and Tsakani Mthombeni, nuclear scientist Clive le Roux, chartered accountants Fatima Gany and Ayanda Mafuleka as well as trade unionist Bheki Ntshalintshali. The board starts work today. Energy expert, Chris Yelland... 

Today is International Gaucher Day. The day highlights the need for greater awareness of rare diseases to promote early diagnosis. Currently, there are an estimated 6000 - 8000 rare diseases, which affect 350 million people worldwide. Locally, 1 in 15 South Africans is affected by rare diseases. One such rare condition is Gaucher  - an inherited disorder that affects multiple organs. Sebenzile Nka...

Magistrate Leiland Poonsamy has acquitted EFF leaders Julius Malema and Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi of the common assault charge laid against them by Lieutenant Colonel, Johannes Venter. Venter alleged that he was assaulted in 2018 when he tried to stop their vehicle from entering the Fourways Memorial Park, where the late struggle icon, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was being laid to rest. Take a listen to p...

Residents of Savannah City in De Deur south of Johannesburg say they fear for their lives due to some of the structural defects of their RDP houses. Some of the cracks on the walls are so big that one can fit all four fingers inside them. The plaster cement on the inside and outside walls are wearing off, roof tiles in some of the houses are falling apart and the water pipes are leaking causing da...

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU)  is gearing up for its 14th congress which starts tomorrow. Cosatu leaders say this year's congress comes at a critical time in the country's history - with high unemployment rates and an ailing economy among other issues. Cosatu is expected to reveal its future plans and provide comprehensive reports on various functions during the congress. Two...

Heritage Day today is being marked under the theme, "Celebrating the Legacy of Solomon Linda and South Africa's Indigenous Music". The theme pays tribute to the 60th anniversary of the passing of singer and song writer Solomon Popoli Linda. He is best known as the composer of the song "Mbube" which later became the popular music success "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" and gave its name to the world famo...

As the African Union - AU - turned 20  this year, the debate about its effectiveness is back on the table once again. Established here in South Africa, in Durban, KwaZulu Natal, in 2002 with 53 African nations as members, the AU became the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which had existed since 1963. While the OAU concentrated its efforts primarily on decolonization and the e...

Eskom has implemented Stage 6 load-shedding from around 04:00 this morning. This follows the tripping of generation units at Kusile and Kriel power stations. Yesterday, five generating units at Kusile, Arnot, and Camden, as well as two units at Duvha Power Station, broke down. The embattled power utility has warned that should any further breakdowns occur, higher stages of load-shedding may be imp...

The annual Reed Dance is expected to take place at the Enyokeni palace at Nongoma TODAY. However, last night over ten men, some of whom are members of the AmaZulu Royal family, disrupted a SABC News interview with Prince Simakade's spokesperson, Prince Mandlakapheli. There have been disagreements since the start of the week between those supporting Prince Simakade and the official representatives...

Judgment has been reserved in the urgent application brought by Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane to be allowed to go back to work immediately. This follows the Western Cape High Court that set aside her suspension by the president in June. Mkhwebane wants to be allowed back at work despite an appeal application at the Constitutional Court. Public Protector Busisiwe Mkwebane also had the support...

Advocate Malesala Teffo has been ordered by the Pretoria High Court to surrender all his legal documents. Teffo was YESTERDAY struck off the roll after the Legal Practice Council brought an application following numerous complaints against him. Some of these pre-date the Senzo Meyiwa trial. These include contemptuous behaviour in court, misleading the court, and mishandling the clients' monies. In...