The Weekend View

In our ongoing roundtable discussion ahead of the local government we host the National freedom party. Who are dedicating this election to their later leader Zanele Ka Magwasa Msibi. But after missing out on the last local elections what make the party tick and what are they promising to do for you you.

The City of Johannesburg's plan to take over distribution from Eskom faces several costly hurdles, including R7.5 billion in outstanding consumer debt and R4 billion to take ownership of distribution infrastructure. Electricity supply has turned into a critical election issue in Gauteng, where communities have borne the brunt of 'load reduction' by Eskom

The eThekwini Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal says there has been an alarming rate of new HIV infections among girls and young women between 13 and 19-years old. The municipality has launched a programme to help reduce the rate of HIV infections and sexually transmitted diseases. adding to the problems.... Many people also stopped their HIV treatments when health services were disrupted by the outbr...

The recently updated Food Poverty Line Indices report shows a growing or worsening state of poverty in South Africa... With the poverty line now sitting at R624 per capita a month... And if you consider that ther average child support grant sits at 460 per month per child or that the Emergency SRD grant sits at R350 rand per month..., then it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that bot...

We spend the hour with the African Transformation Movement...A Party defining itself as an African Humanist Party.....They launched their manifesto in Mtata yesterday.

The Metro Mall B in the Johannebsurg CBD, situated at corner Simmonds and Bree streets is uninhabitable but yet nothing is being done about it, this is according to the five association that occupy a taxi rank popularly know as Bree. According to SWUTA, an association representing all five association at the rank, the building has been deemed uninhabitable by a team of specialists appointed by the...

With a recent report showing a staggering 23000 of Gauteng teens falling pregnant since the start of Covid 19, Global comapnay Organon has embarked on a world wide campaign to improve awareness and to enabe young people to make informed choices on their sexual and reproductive health. The campaign seeks to provide solutions by educating women about their contraceptive options.

The community of Khutsong near Carletonville in the west of Gauteng, says the improved service delivery they fought for when they objected to being incorporated into the North West, is falling short of expectations. The Merafong City Local Municipality under which Khutsong falls, was part of the North West from 2005 to 2009. But it was reincorporated into Gauteng through a constitutional amendment...

AfriForum is heading to the Constitutional Court in an attempt to force Parliament to change South Africa's referendum legislation. The civil rights group wants government to give premiers legislated powers to call for a referendum. This it says is one of the ways to accomplish its mission to give the Western Cape greater autonomy. To further discuss this we speak to Afriforum CEO Kallie Kriel.

A fantastic new partnership has developed in the fight not only against Covid-19 but also cancer and HIV.. the partnership spearheaded by SA born Billionaire Dr Patrick Soon- Shioong will involve the SA medical Research Council, the CSIR, University of KZN and will be based at Stellenbosch University… The man leading it all is Professor Thulio De Oliviera, the man, who along with his team i...

Though the South African Council of Churches (SACC) has welcomed government's move to adjusted alert level 2, it is reported that its pushing for a rethink of the 250 indoor capacity approach. The council thinks the 250 blanket approach should be replaced by a fifty percent capacity restriction.

The final voter registration weekend kicked off to a slow start nationally, but the pace picked up during the day. The IEC says in the first few hours of Saturday over 104 000 South Africans visited their voting stations to register, re-register or update their details.  It says over 230-thousand people have used the online registration facility since its launch in July.

The Constitutional Court has dismissed former president, Jacob Zuma's rescission application with costs. It says he has failed to meet rescission requirements. Zuma had applied to the apex court to have his incarceration overturned. Despite the minority judgement finding that his rights were violated after he was jailed without a trial -- the majority judgement described his attempt to have his 15...

Only 14 percent of South Africans have legitimate wills, according the Professional Provident Society. This is particulaly concerning given the fact that we are living through a pandemic. Close to 43 billion rands in unclaimed insurance benefits is sitting with financial institutions because beneficiaries cannot be found. Experts say some of the reasons include lack of a valid will and outdated or...

The Independent Electoral Commission says it expects between 500-thousand and two-million more registrations throughout its over 23-thousand stations in the country this weekend.  The commission says new Voter Management Devices (VMDs) will also be used for the first time on a mass scale during registration. It also confirmed that by Thursday this week a 156 651 voters had successfully used t...

The IEC is encouraging those who have access to internet to use our online voter registration application. You can register, change address as well as update your details online. South Africa is this weekend registering to vote after a back and forth in court on whether the Local Government Elections should go ahead. The IEC says its sub-dividing some of these big stations to what we call a voting...

Deputy Finance Minister David Masondo has reportedly suggested that foreign investors scrap Eskom's R164 Billion debt so the money can be used by the company to reach climate targets. Masondo says Eskom needs to borrow R400 billion in order to transition from coal to renewable energy supply. He says in exchange for the forgiveness South Africa would pledge an equivalent amount as an equity injecti...

The first South African children taking part in the SINOVAC  COVID-19 trial have been vaccinated  at the Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University in Pretoria. Two-thousand South African children between the ages of six-months and 17 have been enrolled in the trial which involves 14-thousand children in five countries. Participants will receive two doses of the SINOVAC vaccine

Political parties have weighed in on the Biko family's quest for an inquest into Black Consciousness Leader, Steve Biko lambasting the Government for having failed to get justice for the slain student leader. Biko died in police detention on the 12th of September in 1977. The country is set to mark the 44th anniversary of Biko's death in the Annual Memorial Lecture that is set to take place virtua...

U.S. President Joe Biden accompanied by first lady Jill Biden joined mourners at Ground Zero in downtown New York City to mark the sombre 20th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks on America. The first couple were accompanied by former President's Barack Obama and Bill Clinton and former first ladies Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton who joined families of victims and survivors who paid tribute to the...

Tissue donation is an essential component in the work that surgeons and healthcare professionals do to improve the quality of life of their patients. But it has recently been reported that hardly any South Africans are organ donors. The country only has 1.4 donors per 1 millon people. Yet at any given time.... some 4,300 South Africans are in need of organ or tissue donation.

Trade union Solidarity has published a new report suggesting that the burden on South African taxpayers could double if the White Paper on the National Health Insurance (NHI) is accepted and the Green Paper on social security is implemented after being reviewed. According to the report, South Africans pay incredibly high taxes in global terms, while the government generally fails to fulfill its si...

Teenage pregnancy during COVID-19 in South Africa is a double pandemic. That according to a research by Dr Kim Jonas, a Specialist Scientist, Health Systems at the South African Medical Research Council. South Africa recorded increased rates of teenage pregnancies in some parts of the country between 2018 and 2019 and more recently during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Financial services firm Discovery reportedly plans to move to a mandatory vaccination policy from January 1st. The group says it has a moral and legal obligation to introduce the policy. The company says its aim is to make its people healthier as well as to enhance and protect their lives.

The University of Fort Hare law student, Nosicelo Mtebeni, has been laid to rest at her home village of Khauoe near Matatiele in the Eastern Cape. Family and friends described her as a humble and visionary individual who's mission was to contribute to the judicial system. Nosicelo was brutally murdered, allegedly by her boyfriend, at Quigney in East London, last month