Update@Noon

The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) says it is working on an appeal system for the aggrieved applicants of the R350 social grant. This follows complaints of lack of clarity in the criteria followed by the agency in approving or rejecting applications. Frustrated unemployed South Africans took to social media complaining that they have been declined the grant despite meeting the requir...

Proceedings are under way in the Palm Ridge Regional Court in Gauteng where seven of the eight suspects arrested for their alleged involvement in the Venda Building Social VBS) Mutual Bank scandal are appearing. One of the suspects remains in quarantine due to the Corona Virus. The arrests were made yesterday nearly two years after after the theft of more than two-billion-rand from the bank was ex...

Amid reports of companies stealing Covid-19 payouts meant for workers, the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) has appointed auditors to "follow the money trail"…we spoke to Makhosonke Buthelezi - Director of Communications and Marketing @ UIF (Unemployment Insurance Fund)

Yesterday we covered a story of a Johannesburg mother who gave birth to triplets at the Rahima Moosa hospital who is questioning the alleged mysterious death of 1 of her children . Hilda Mpofu gave birth to triplets (2 girls and 1 boy) at the hospital last week. She was then discharged without her children because they needed extra care. She was later she was told that 1 of her babies had died. Th...

The Western Cape Education Department says 202 staff members at schools across the province have tested positive for COVID-19 between the 29th of May until the 11th of June. It says 49 learners have also tested positive for the virus since schools reopened on the first of this month. 25 out of one-thousand-500 schools have also been temporarily closed recently due to positive cases. We spoke to We...

A Johannesburg mother who gave birth to triplets at the Raheema Moosa hospitals is questioning the death of child at the Rahima Moosa Mother and Child hospital. Hilda Mpofu gave birth to triplets (2 girls and 1 boy) at the hospital last week. She was then discharged without her children because they needed extra care. She was later told that it was in fact the baby boy who didn't make it. We spoke...

As we remember the 44th anniversary of June 16th 1976 today, we reflect on the dangers of diluting the message behind this historical day and caution against telling events of the day from a single narrative…to help us reflect on events of the day, we spoke to Seth Mazibuko, Former Robben Island prisoner and June 16 student uprisings leader.

Despite wide consensus that a nuclear energy build for South Africa is not affordable, the energy department is moving ahead with issuing a request for information for goods and services involved in such a program. South Africa said last month that it plans to expand nuclear capacity within the next five years. The country currently has a single nuclear plant. We spoke to Zizamele Mbambo, Deputy D...

The DA's Shadow Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Kevin Mileham, has issued yet another stark warning about the severity of the fuel and diesel shortage currently affecting South Africa. Numerous wholesalers in both Gauteng and the inland regions of South Africa are likely to suffer from the shortage.

The Congress of South African Students in the Western Cape is marching to Khayelitsha to close down schools. The student body is demanding that there should be not learning and teaching until all students and teachers are tested for Covid19. Earlier this morning COSAS Western Cape clashed with the police at Rhodes High School where it claims that there are positive cases. In Free State, COSAS carr...

The Constitutional Court has declared the Electoral Act unconstitutional - meaning independent candidates are allowed to contest for national and provincial elections without being member of a political party. The case was brought by civil society organisation the New Nation Movement and others. Parliament has 24 months to remedy the Electoral Act. Judge Mbuyiseli Madlanga handed down the judgemen...

There has been a resurgence of gang related violence in some communities around Johannesburg. This is despite a temporary ceasefire that was agreed to by local gangs across the country at the start of the lockdown. In Westbury, Newclare and Riverlea - areas notoriously known for 'gangsterism' and drug peddling - community members say over the last few weeks there has been a number of gang related...

South Africans need to adopt a serious behavioral change with regards to the consumption of alcohol, as the world is still grappling with the threat of COVID-19. That's government's message as the country enters the second week after the ban on the sale of alcohol was lifted. This comes amid concerns over the abuse of alcohol last week, which resulted in multiple fatal road crashes. There was also...

A 14-year-old girl has sustained serious burn wounds on her body, after her mother allegedly poured her with boiling water at Ga-Maja outside Lebowakgomo, Limpopo. It is alleged that the woman who was angry that her daughter had come home late, boiled water in a kettle as she slept then poured it over the girl. She sustained wounds on the chest, stomach, thighs and back. A case has been opened, bu...

Afriforum is taking the department of public works to court over sub-standard quarantine sites. Among other things, AfriForum argues that people returning from abroad should have the right to self-isolate however, the state insists that people returning from abroad have to stay in state facilities and there are recurring problems with facilities that do not meet quarantine standards, as well as ot...

76 taxi associations in Johannesburg are set to hike fares amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula has urged taxi associations to be mindful of the poor when increasing taxi fares. Mbalula has threatened to refer a decision by some Gauteng taxi operators to hike fares by over 100% to the Competition Commission. We spoke to Thabisho Molelekwa - South African National Taxi Coun...

A group of SA Express workers this morning marched from Kempton Park to the Union Buildings in Pretoria - to submit a memorandum of requests over the non-payment of their salaries. SA Express employees have not received salaries for March, April and May - and are relying on temporary relief money from the Unemployment Insurance Fund to survive. The state-owned regional airline was placed in provis...

A tailor from the Vaal says she was was asked to produce 25-thousand masks at R13 each in two days- while another procurer asked her to do 100 000 masks for R6. In a message, the tailor raises concerns about the quality of masks that are being procured for schools. For more on this we are joined by the tailor- who has asked to remain anonymous.

8 police officers, including 3 brigadiers and a retired General arrested for alleged fraud and corruption relating to the marking of police vehicles. National police spokesperson Brigadier Vish Naidoo says since 2017 a task team has been conducting a widespread intensive investigation into tender fraud.

The Constitutional Court has dismissed applications for direct leave to appeal against the judgment and order by the High Court in Pretoria. Public Protector, Busisiwe Mkhwebane and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) wanted to appeal against the judgment and order by the High Court, interdicting her from enforcing her remedial action contained in a report published by the Public Protector known a...

It's that time again on a Friday when Update At Noon presents another Update From The Coal-Face with Martin Creamer, Publishing Editor of Engineering News and Mining Weekly.

Sassa CEO Busisiwe Memela- Khambula confirms that only 10 people have been paid the R350 social relief grant so far. She says they are waiting for more than 100 000 others to confirm their banking details so that they can be paid immediately. Memela- Khambula says those with no bank accounts will be paid via their phones. More than 3.5 million people have applied for the new special Covid19 Social...

Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga's 's optimism regarding the reopening of schools on the 1st of June must be questioned. This is according to a survey by various teacher unions in the country. The unions collectively conducted a survey earlier this week in 9365 schools across the country. The survey reveals that 79% of the respondents report that they have not received regulations on how t...

Foundation for Human Rights says its extremely concerned about a rising number of human trafficking cases. The Foundation for Human Rights (FHR) says it has received alerts of potential human trafficking incidents during the COVID-19 lock down. South Africa's anti-human trafficking hotline has already revealed that they have received a total of 588 calls at the end of March 2020, compared to the 2...

Since the start of the lockdown, the mortality rate has been on a decline- this is according to the department of Home Affairs. Briefing the parliament's portfolio committee on Home Affairs, the department indicated that they have recorded over 50,000 deaths that are not related to Covid-19 since the lockdown was announced, the lowest in two years. We spoke to Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Aaron Mo...