Update@Noon

The former president of Botswana, Sir Ketumile Masire has passed away at the age of 91. Masire was admitted to the intensive care unit in a Gaborone hospital at the weekend. He led country between 1980 and 1998. He led various diplomatic initiatives in Africa, including chairing a panel that investigated the 1994 Rwanda Genocide, and co-ordinating the Inter-Congolese National Dialogue. Sakina Kamw...

The City of Cape Town was the only metro that received a clean audit from the office of the auditor general. 24 out of 30 municipalities in the province received clean audits from the Auditor General in the 2015/16 financial year. The Western Cape Local government department says it will continue to provide municipal and governance support to those who need it. Amina Accram reports

Disaster officials in the Southern Cape think the recent devastating fires in Knysna and Plettenberg Bay were caused by lightning and an electricity transformer blown away by strong winds. They briefed Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Agriculture on the extent of the damage during a visit to the area. Seven people died in the fires and 400 formal houses and 200 informal structures were destroye...

It's all eyes on the Constitutional Court on Thursday morning. The highest court on the land is expected to make a ruling in an application brought by the United Democratic Movement that a secret ballot be allowed during a vote of no confidence debate against president Jacob Zuma. The application is also supported by a number opposition parties and civil society groupings. Senior political journal...

Market Analyst, Lungile Malinga of Effectus Capital Management looks at Asia Markets as oil prices continue to remain under pressure and impact of CPI data which was released yesterday by Stats SA...

Trade union SAMWU says it can not confirm whether they were involved in the burning of the historic Bloemfontein city hall last night. Workers affiliated to SAMWU allegedly set the building alight in protest at the Mangaung Metro mayor Olly Mlamleli's failure to meet them to discuss their demands for salary increases. The workers embarked on a strike a month ago. Sakina Kamwendo spoke to SAMWU Fre...

The City of Cape Town was the only metro that received a clean audit from the office of the auditor general. 24 out of 30 municipalities in the province received clean audits from the Auditor General in the 2015/16 financial year. The Western Cape Local government department says it will continue to provide municipal and governance support to those who need it. Sakina Kamwendo spoke to economist a...

Mangaung Municipality officials say it was unnecesary for striking workers to set the Bloemfontein City Hall on fire, as negotiations are underway. The historical City Hall was gutted by flames last night when striking Mangaung Metro workers, affiliated to trade union SAMWU, set furniture alight. They reportedly became angry when the Mayor, Olly Mlamleli, failed to meet them on their demands for s...

Bloemfontein police have arrested three men on charges of arson following last night's fire that gutted the historic city hall in the CBD. The fire started when striking workers at the Mangaung Metro set furniture alight after they became angry because the mayor, Olly Mlamleli, failed to meet them on their demands for salary increases. The fire was almost brought under control, but the situation g...

Nadir Thokan, Investment Analyst at 27-Four Investment Manager looks at inflation which rose for the first time this year as stands at 5.4% from 5.3 per cent and where to for the US equitiesgiven the slowing share buybacks?

Market analyst, Lungile Malinga of Effectus Capital Management looks at Asian markets as oil prices continue to remain under pressure and Hyprop faces headwinds as big retailers shut outlets

CEOs of the country's banks have met with the ANC to discuss Radical Economic Transformation, among other things. The closed meeting was held in Johannesburg and was led by the ANC Treasury General Dr Zweli Mkhize. Sakina Kamwendo spoke to him on what the aim of the meeting was...

Uganda is seeking at least $8 billion for the next four years to support refugees hosted in the East African nation. Minister for Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, Hilary Onek, says hosting 1.3 million refugees has stretched the country's resources. Onek says Uganda will seek the assistance of the international community during a two-day solidarity summit on refugees to be hosted in the capital...

Disaster Risk authorities in the Western Cape say damage caused by the recent natural disasters in the province is estimated at over 150 million rand. Heavy rains and gale force winds lashed the province about two weeks ago, leaving a trail of destruction. Simultaneously, devastating fires in the Southern Cape wreaked havoc. The Department of Local Government has briefed the Standing Committee on...

Some of the community members at Bapo ba Mogale in the North West are not happy with the recent report by the Public Protector, Busisiswe Mkhwebane. They say it does not give a full account of who is responsible for squandering millions of rand in mining royalties from their communal bank account since 1994. The money is meant to benefit the community. On Monday, Mkhwebane ordered an investigation...

Nadir Tokan, Investment Analyst at 27-Four Investment Manager looks talk about the current account numbers that came out yesterday, Diverging fortunes for the U.K and promoting economic growth.

Violence and persecution globally is causing more people than ever to be forcibly displaced. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says 65.6 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide at the end of 2016. The UN report finds that the pace of displacement remains very high, on average 24 people are driven from their homes every minute or one every three seconds.

The Patriotic Alliance (PA) is in negotiations to become the latest coalition partner in Nelson Mandela Bay Metro. It appears mayor Atholl Trollip is looking for majority votes in council as he started negotiating with the Patriotic Alliance that has one seat in council. Unconfirmed reports suggest Trollip plans to appoint PA councillor Marlon Daniels to his mayoral committee. This comes as the DA...

Nadir Tokan, Investment Analyst at 27-Four Investment Manager talks about Brexit negotiations kicking off in the United Kingdom today and the technology sector rebound

Political Economist David van Wyk says a private Bank that is masquerading as a reserve Bank. Political Economist David van Wyk says the reserve Bank must be accountable to the people of South Africa not its shareholder. Van Wyk says the Reserve Bank is not failing its current mandate and should be accountable to South Africans and not its private shareholders. he spoke to Sakina Kamwendo.

Rooibos Limited, the largest processor of rooibos tea in South Africa, has been brought before the Competition Tribunal for prosecution. The company is facing charges relating to abuse of dominance by inducing rooibos tea farmers not to deal with the tea processors it competes with. This follows an investigation by the Commission, after it received a complaint from a rooibos tea processor in 2015....

Violence and persecution globally is causing more people than ever to be forcibly displaced. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says 65.6 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide at the end of 2016. The UN report finds that the pace of displacement remains very high, on average 20 people are driven from their homes every minute or one every three seconds. Sherw...

Lungile Malinga , Equity Research Analyst at Effectus Capital Management looks at the Asian markets in light of mainland China's possible inclusion in the MSCI Index, South African bonds of South African equities and Shoprite is looking to target the higher end consumer.

COSATU's second deputy president Zingiswa Losi has criticised those endorsing Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma as the next president of the ANC. Losi lashed out at Dlamini-Zuma's supporters during the SACP's youth rally at Emalahleni in Mpumalanga. Eric Lubisi reports

President Jacob Zuma has emphasised the importance of education to young people. Addressing a youth celebration at Hammarsdale Township outside Durban, Zuma called on young people not to just pursue any career, but to focus on scarce skills. Zuma also repeated the ANC's call for accelerated radical economic transformation in order to address the country's skewed economy. The event was also attende...