Update@Noon

The Ministry of Finance says the 2015 Tax Laws Amendment Act provisions relating to retirement will come into force on 1 March 2016. However, the annuitisation requirement for provident funds will be postponed to the first of March 2018. But some tax experts are concerned that the delays will hit consumers in the long-term. To explain the implications of this latest development, Sakina Kamwendo sp...

The ANC will take its anti-racism march to the seat of government - the Union Buildings in Pretoria later this morning. Scores of party members led by Secretary General, Gwede Mantashe will march for unity, non-racialism and democracy. The group will hand over a memorandum to president Jacob Zuma. Senior political journalist Amos Phago reports

A special drilling machine is expected to arrive at the Lily Gold Mine in Low's creek near Barberton in Mpumalanga. Mine authorities say small buildings have to be removed from the designated new drill site and a flat surface must also be prepared for the new drill. Motsebi wa Monareng reports

1. It seems like there is finally some much-needed relief coming from the Rand, which strengthened quite strongly against all the major currencies yesterday. Who or what do we have to thank for this? 2. On the flip side of the strong rand was a rising oil price though. Do these two factors just cancel each other out? 3. Ahead of the budget next week, there was confirmation yesterday that some aspe...

President Jacob Zuma's parliamentary reply continued his focus on the economy. Addressing members of parliament after two days of parliament reflecting on the State of the Nation Address, Zuma emphasised that the National Development Plan remained the foundation of government's plan. Senior Political Reporter Angela Bolowana reports....

Prices for private hospital care in South African rank among the most expensive and affordable in the world. Private hospitals and specialists are the main drivers of these high prices which increase more than inflation each year. These are some of the findings of a study conducted by the World Health Organisation and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, presented at the Com...

1. Let's start in Japan. Despite some significant stimulus by the Bank of Japan over the last year, there are growing signs that the Japanese economy is battling. How do you think Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will react to this? 2. We tend to focus a lot on Chinese economic growth and the Chinese stock market, but what is the state of China's corporate sector, and in particular, it's banks? 3. But of...

The Angel's Ministry Church led by the Mancoba family in Ngcobo in the Eastern Cape says the Holy Spirit is superior to the constitution of the country. They told a delegation led by Social Development MEC, Nancy Sihlwayi that it will never close down. Government officials have been on a fact finding mission at the church after 18 children of school going age were rescued on Tuesday. Nkululeko Nye...

The situation at the University of Cape Town following violence over accommodation shortages, has stabilized. Students allegedly set fire to a bus and paintings on campus. The Vice Chancellor's office was also petrol bombed. The Vice Chancellor of UCT, Dr Max Price, says while the University supports peaceful protest, it cannot tolerate criminality and violence.

About 18 children rescued from the Mancoba Family Church in Ngcobo Eastern Cape must go to school. Eastern Cape Social development MEC, Nancy Sihlwayi, and officials visited the Angel Ministries church on yesterday (Wednesday) to understand its practices. The children are found to have been living under extremely poor conditions. Sakina Kamwendo spoke to the MEC of Social Development in the Easter...

Lily Gold Mine management near Barberton in Mpumalanga says it will take them 14 days to resume rescue operations underground. This after operation to find three trapped mine workers were stopped due to rock fall at the mine over the weekend. The workers are believed to be in a container which was used a their work station. The announcement was made last night at a joint media briefing with AMCU a...

1. Inflation and Retail sales data released yesterday, both came in higher than expected. What does that say about local economic conditions? 2. High inflation and low growth - is this what is meant with the term 'stagflation'? 3. If we lose our sovereign credit rating, what alternatives do we have as a country, to source loans or capital inflows?

Lily Gold Mine management near Barberton in Mpumalanga says it will take them 14 days to resume rescue operations underground. This after operation to find three trapped mine workers were stopped due to rock fall at the mine over the weekend. The workers are believed to be in a container which was used a their work station. The announcement was made last night at a joint media briefing with AMCU a...

The inquiry into the collapse of the temporary bridge over the M1 at Grayston Drive in Johannesburg will resume again in April. On Tuesday - stakeholders submitted administrative reports where it was revealed that there may have been bolts missing on the temporary scaffolding structure that collapsed onto the highway in October last year. Two people were killed and 19 injured. The inquiry has been...

1. Anglo American released very disappointing results yesterday. What does this mean for the organization and for jobs in South Africa? 2. SAA has requested an extension from parliament to table its annual report from February to March. How does this impact on parliamentary oversight?

A treatment to help the immune system fight cancer could soon be a reality. Scientists in the United States say they have found exceptional results with modified T-Cells for patients who would normally have just months to live. Researchers say they witnessed symptoms in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia disappear completely. Dr Carl Albrecht, Associate Researcher in the Biochemistry Depa...

The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources, Sahlulele Luzipo, says he is satisfied with level of commitment by Lily Mine management on finding the three missing miners. Luzipo met with the mine management, families of the trapped mineworkers and the Department of Mineral Resources on site for an inspection yesterday. The three have been trapped underground since 5 February.

1. Rating's agency Moody's was back in the news yesterday when they announced that they have further downgraded the expected GDP growth of South Africa. Is this a surprise? 2. Yesterday we spoke about oversupply in commodity markets as being one of the major driving forces of lower prices. The agreement between Russia and Saudi Arabia on capping oil output, will this boost oil prices? 3. Also maki...

Opposition parties have torn into President Jacob Zuma's State of the Nation Address. They were taking part in a debate in Parliament on the State of the Nation Address which President Zuma delivered last week. They've expressed concern about government's handling of the economy. Zalene Merrington reports.

One person has been arrested following violent clashes between police and protesting University of Cape Town students last night. Police fired rubber bullets and stun grenades to disperse a group of students on the main campus. Police were called in, to help a private company demolish a shack erected by members of the Rhodes Must Fall movement. Lyndon Khan reports from the university..

Zimbabwe police say its still assessing the matter of a dead body found in a compartment on a South African bound cargo plane. The U.S based private plane was enroute from Germany to South Africa when a technical fault forced it to land in Zimbabwe. Blood was seen coming from a crevice on a side of the plane and the body of man was found. The plane was hired by the South African Reserve Bank to ca...

Afribusiness says President Jacob Zuma is creating more investment uncertainty with his land reform plan outlined in last Thursday's State of the Nation Address. Afribusiness says this undermines the constitutional right to own property and they will fight this all the way to the Constitutional Court. Sakina kamwendo spoke to the spokesperson for AfriBusiness, Stefan Pieterse...

Parliament has confirmed that both EFF and COPE MPs will take part this afternoon in the debate of President Jacob Zuma's State of the Nation Address. This is despite both parties disrupting the president's address last week. Members of these two parties were ordered by the presiding officers to leave the chamber after continuously disrupting the address. Lulama Matya reports

KwaZulu-Natal police say investigations are underway in the case of a woman allegedly found in possession of boxes containing anti-retroviral medication. Last week, forty-year-old Nomvuso Gloria Sithole, briefly appeared in the eMpangeni magistrate's court in northern KwaZulu-Natal, on a charge of theft and illegal possession of a schedule 4 prescribed drug. Nonkululeko Hlophe reports

1. The market rallied very strongly for the second day in a row yesterday. What was behind this latest move? 2. Late yesterday we received news that Anglo American has been cut to so-called junk status by rating's agency Moody's, yet this has been one of the best performing shares year-to-date, so why the downgrade? 3. So it all comes back to commodity prices once again. But is this all just due t...