Update@Noon

Ukrainian officials say at least eight people have been killed following explosions by Russian troops across the country. Russian forces have launched a major military assault on Ukraine, with reports of missile strikes and explosions near major cities. People have been trying to flee the capital Kyiv and there is a palpable sense of shock. Officials say at least eight people are known to have bee...

The trial of Mackenzi Ratselane continues in the Bloemfontein magistrate's court. Ratselane is accused of stabbing his ex-wife, Lesedi FM Current Affairs Presenter Dimakatso Folotsi in February last year. He is facing five charges that include attempted murder, kidnapping, illegal possession of firearm, illegal possession of ammunition and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. Sakina...

 All eyes on Finance Minister Enoch Godogwana 's maiden budget speech expected to be delivered in Parliament this afternoon. This as members of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and party supporters hold a march in parliament ahead of the budget speech, opposed to the International Monetary Fund ( IMF) and World Bank loans to bailout the country's economy. Sakina Kamwendo spoke to Executive...

Advocate Muzi Skihakhane SC says the assassination of the late SACP leader Chris Hani almost killed the democratic dream of the nation. He is representing the Hani family and the SACP in the application by Hani's killer Janusz Walusz to overturn Justice Minister Ronald Lamola's refusal to grant him parole.  The matter is being heard virtually by the Constitutional Court. Earlier Walusz's lawy...

The Independent Police Investigative Directorate(IPID) says it cannot confirm reports that two officers are on the run following the deadly shoot out between police and cash-in-transit robbers in Johannesburg on Monday. Eight members of the gang of cash- in-transit robbers  were killed and another eight arrested. The shoot-out ensued after the robbers shot at a police helicopter and wounded t...

Gauteng's Deputy Provincial police Commissioner Major-General Tommy Mthombeni has told the Human Rights Commission hearings into the July 2021 unrest, that resources had to be mobilised with speed to deal with the threat. Mthombeni is the second state witness to testify in the commission's Gauteng hearings in Sandton north of Johannesburg. Police Minister Bheki Cele testified on Monday. About 350...

Suspended secretary general of the ANC - Ace Magashule says he does not know anything about the 70 charges against him. This as the state says it is busy with Moroadi Cholota's extradition application. Cholota Magashule's former personal assistant while he was Free State premier. The prosecution told the high court in Bloemfontein that it has Cholota's email in which she assured them of her cooper...

Sakina Kamwendo in conversation with Chief Technology Officer at Netstar, Clifford de Wit, on the latest crime statistics which show a another steep increase in car hijackings across the country. The data, presented by the police, covers the period between October and December 2021. A total of 5,455 hijackings were reported over that period – a 13.8% increase from the same period the pr...

Mining company DRDGold has launched 41 programmes to take its communities out of poverty. Cutting red tape will release R90-billion worth of mining projects out of their starting blocks. Yet another company has announced that it is taking steps to generate its own electricity. Sakina Kamwendo presents another Update From The Coal-Face with Martin Creamer, publishing editor of Engineering...

Mid-month fuel price data supplied by East Cape Fuels shows that South African motorists can expect steep fuel price hikes in March. The Automobile Association (AA) of South Africa has warned the government against any planned fuel tax increases in its 23 February budget, which it says will be particularly damaging following record-high increases. Sakina Kamwendo spoke to Jeff Schultz- Senior Econ...

The City of Tshwane says that it has been too lenient on defaulting government departments and businesses, while focusing on debts accrued by residential customers. The City says that it was owed more than R17 billion in rates, taxes, water, and electricity bills- and because of the debt, the City was unable to fulfil its service delivery obligations. Jon Gericke  spoke to City of Tshwane spo...

EFF Leader, Julius Malema has testified that the singing of the song "Kill the Boer" represents the rejection of the apartheid system. Malema has also dismissed allegations that he has sung the song. He is testifying before the Johannesburg High Court. The court is hearing the matter between Afriforum and the EFF regarding the singing of the "Kill the Boer" song. The lobby group is asking the cour...

The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) will on Wednesday deliberate over leaked audio of President Cyril Ramaphosa's comments about public funds being used to fund ANC factions. ANC MP Mervyn Dirks wrote to SCOPA and  wanted  Ramaphosa to appear before the committee to account for his remarks. Dirks was suspended from his parliamentary duties by ANC Chief Whip Pemmy Majodina f...

The United States continues to promise swift and decisive measures were Russia to invade Ukraine. President Joe Biden spoke telephonically with both his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts over the weekend achieving no immediate breakthroughs. Washington believes an attack could happen at any time this week, ordering most of its Embassy staff to leave the Ukrainian capital Kiev while the Pentagon w...

Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi has met with the leadership and learners of Hoerskool Jan Viljoen in Randfontein west of Johannesburg to determine the cause of last Friday's alleged racially-motivated incident. Earlier, police used rubber bullets to disperse some parents and learners who accuse the provincial government of not listening to them following the incident. Sakina Kamwendo spoke to...

The troubled Enoch Mgijima Municipality in the Eastern Cape is under the scrutiny again after it allegedly issued a tender of nearly 100-million rand for the construction of a 6.7 km road. The tender was approved late last year and awarded to Makali Plant and Construction to upgrade the 6.7 km Fikile Gwadana Road in Ezibeleni, at a tender value of R98.5 million. The project is allegedly expected t...

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) says President Cyril Ramaphosa's State of the Nation Address this evening needs to provide a frank assessment of what needs to be done and clear interventions to turn the nation around. Cosatu says government needs to acknowledge that the deepening socioeconomic crises in South Africa come from the misguided macroeconomic policy framework that ha...

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to end of the National State of Disaster when he delivers the State of the Nation Address this evening. The State of Disaster was declared by Ramaphosa in March 2020, after the first Covid-19 cases were reported in South Africa. The party has also called for the sale or closure of all non-performing state-owned companies and the...

Sakina Kamwendo speaks to National Assembly House Chairperson, Cedric Frolick  on Parliament's state of readiness for the 2022 State Of the Nation Address (SONA).     

Parliament's Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence continues to interview candidates shortlisted for the position of the Inspector General of Intelligence Services. On Tuesday during his interview process;  Reverend Frank Chikane said that the revival of the suicide incident of former president Jacob Zuma's wife Kate - is both sensitive and painful. Chikane reiterated that he did not leak...

A group of advocates has come out in support of Advocate Dali Mpofu following a strongly-worded opinion piece, penned by Editor-in-Chief of News 24, Adriaan Basson, saying it is offensive. Basson refers to what he calls Mpofu's 'thuggish behaviour' at the Judicial Service Commission's interviews for a new Chief Justice last week, in particular his questions to Gauteng Judge President Dunstan Mlamb...

Sakina Kamwendo in conversation with Bheki Myende, a recovered drug addict about the increase in drug abuse among South Africans... 

Sakina Kamwendo in conversation with  Thembekile Msane, the National Spokesperson for the South African National Council on Alcoholism & Drug Dependence (SANCA) and Shaun Kelly, Director and Co-founder of the Network of People who Use Drugs (SANPUD) about the alarming rise of drug abuse in South Africa. 

 A woman has been arrested after being caught red-handed breaking into the City of Johannesburg's Metro Centre in the early hours of Monday morning. It is believed the woman previously broke into the offices, but evaded authorities. Sakina Kamwendo spoke to the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) spokesperson Wayne Minnaar    

Serial killer, Julius Mndawe is back at the Mpumalanga Division of the High Court for sentencing on Monday. Mndawe was found guilty on counts of murder and defeating the ends of justice. He was arrested for killing and burying five women in his yard at Numbi village near Hazyview in 2019. The women aged between 15 and 24 were killed between 2018 and 2019. Police arrested him after a cellular phone...