Update@Noon

Markets analyst , Clive Ramathibela 1. Asian Stocks Rebound as Ringgit Pares Worst Quarter Since 1997 2. Japan Tobacco Inc. fell the most in four and a half years after agreeing to pay about $5 billion for the international rights to Reynolds American Inc.'s Natural American Spirit division 3. Platinum poised for worst quarter in 7 years on VW scandal

National Police Commissioner Riah Phiyega says more than 60-percent of murders that occur in the country happen during weekends. Phiyega and Police Minister Nathi Nhleko were briefing Parliament's Police Committee during the release of the annual crime figures for the 2014/2015 financial year. 83-percent of the population reported serious crime for that period. But committee members questioned the...

Government is ready to talk out of court settlements with the Marikana miners. President Jacob Zuma says they are considering initiating an alternative dispute resolution process to expedite the processing of all claims arising from the 2012 tragedy. This comes after the Arrested and wounded miners as well as the widows of the deceased miners launched a billion rand civil claim suit against govern...

The ANC rejects claims that it was involved in the transaction between Hitachi and its investment arm, Chancellor House. This relates to a deal in which Hitachi allegedly sold a 25 percent stake in a South African subsidiary to an alleged front company of the ANC. Sakina Kamwendo speaks to the ANC's National Spokesperson, Zizi Kodwa

On the day the Police Minister released the national crime statistics, which indicated a drop in cash-in-transit robberies, two people - one a cash in transit guard - were shot and killed in an armed robbery at a shopping mall in Ga-Rankuwa, north of Pretoria. The latest statistics indicate cash-in-transit robberies are down by 17-point-nine per cent and bank robberies by 19 per cent. Ga-Rankuwa h...

Unemployment and poverty continue to be among some the biggest challenges facing South Africa. With the unofficial unemployment rate at almost 40 percent, and the economic growth revised downwards, the gap between the rich and the poor is likely to grow wider. This is part of the reason why the Nelson Mandela Foundation has invited renowned French economist Professor Thomas Piketty, to deliver the...

1. Asian stocks tumbled toward an almost three-year low, the cost of insuring debt in the region surged and the yen advanced as a selloff in commodity-trading firms spooked investors 2. The 15-month commodities free-fall is starting to resemble a full-blown crisis - Glencore 3. South Africa's rand weakens as China growth worries weigh on EM

Mineral resource deputy minister,Godfrey Oliphant, says some illegal mining operation needs to be legalized. This follows a recent incident where five bodies were discovered in an open veld in Springs on Gauteng's East Rand. Sakina spoke to Social Anthropologist from Wits University, who has done research on illegal mining, Prof Robert Thornton.

Mineral resource deputy minister, Godfrey Oliphant, says some illegal mining operation needs to be legalized. This follows a recent incident where five bodies were discovered in an open veld in Springs on Gauteng's East Rand. A fight is believed to have ensued between rival groups of illegal miners in the area. Some of the miners had been shot, while others stabbed with sharp objects. Oliphant say...

A defiant Zimbabwean President and AU Chair, Robert Mugabe has denounced what he called the illegal sanctions imposed on his country by the European Union and the United States. The 91-year old president was addressing the UN General Debate in New York. He re-iterated Africa's common position on the reform of the Security Council and rejected attempts to prescribe new rights that are contrary to t...

President Jacob Zuma has given a hard hitting speech at the United Nations General Assembly urging the international body to be more reflective of today's world. Addressing the 70th session in New York, president Zuma decried the lack progress in resolving the Palestinian question and urged the world to tackle the climate challenge when the UN conference meets in Paris in December. Presidential co...

About eighty offenders are serving their prison terms in dilapidated structures made from corrugated iron at the Tzaneen correctional centre in Limpopo. This is despite having a newly built prison, standing vacant in the vicinity. Last week two prisoners escaped from the structure through the roof. There is also no recreational facilities for the inmates. Correctional service officers are operatin...

South African comedian Trevor Noah has officially taken over from Jon Stewart as the host of the Daily Show. Noah's grandmother, Nomalizo Noah, says she is a proud grandmother. The 88 year old was at her Orlando east home in Soweto when the show was aired. Pearl Magubane reports

The SABC's annual financial report tabled in parliament last week drew strong criticisms from a host of political organisations in the country. Many questioned the wisdom of a pay rise of R1million to the broadcaster's COO, while the Corporation had incurred a R400 million loss in the last financial year. On the Forum@8 we speak to the SABC Chief Operations Officer, Hlaudi Motsoeneng the Chief Fin...

A South African who was held in Equatorial Guinea for two years, has arrived back in the country. Daniel Janse van Rensburg had been detained after a deal with a local businessman turned sour. Van Rensburg was meant to leave Guinea on Thursday, but was blocked by men believed to be working for a former Malabo mayor who accused him of stealing money. For more on this we're now joined on the line by...

1. Asian markets slightly negative this morning despite mixed US equity market 2. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said the U.S. central bank is on track to raise interest rates this year 3. VW's new CEO set to change strategy

Plans for the anti-corruption march which was expected to take place on Wednesday seems to be disrupted. This after the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) gave Numsa permission to strike on a different date than the one they planned for. According to Media reports, Federation of Unions of SA (Fedusa) general secretary, Dennis George, blames Numsa for jumping the gun by annou...

The Department of Correctional Services has discovered and prevented escape plans by their inmates at Zonderwater Correctional Centre. According to media reports, Czech fugitive Radovan Krejcir was among the inmates who were planning a prison break. A number of illegal items like pistol, ammunition, a knife, 10 cell phones, a memory stick and a diary which contained the names of witnesses and inve...

DA leader Mmusi Maimane says the ANC in the Western Cape failed to run the province when it was in power and accused it of achieving flying colours when it came to corruption. He was addressing supporters at at Bishop Lavis on the Cape flats over the weekend as part of his vision 2029 tour. Maimane visited various part of the Western Cape - the only Province under DA control. Our parliamentary Cor...

1. Lets talk about the GDP growth numbers that came out of the U.S. on Friday 2. Outflows from emerging markets and their impact 3. The stepping down of Tiger Brands CEO

For the first time since 1982, sky gazers were treated to a double spectacle of a swollen "supermoon" bathed in the blood-red light of a total eclipse, this morning. The last time such a confluence happened was in 1982....there were just five such instances in the 20th century. For more on this Sakina Kamwendo spoke to the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa's Johannesburg Centre chairperson a...

President Jacob Zuma has called on the African Diaspora to play a meaningful role in supporting the African Union's twenty sixty three agenda. A blueprint socio-economic development initiative which embodies a renewed commitment by African leaders to achieve the pan-African vision of integrated, prosperous, and peaceful Africa. President Zuma delivered a public lecture at the Princeton University...

Durban taxi strike has finally been suspended after a last minute agreement between taxi bosses and the eThekwini municipality was reached. As part of the agreement, taxi operators will pay reduced fines for the impounded taxis at the centre of the dispute. Small businesses and hawkers have lost hundreds of thousands of rands as people couldn't get to work and many shops remained closed. This repo...

A body representing wildlife farmers in the country, Wildlife Ranching South Africa, has questioned the legitimacy of a multi-million rand BEE deal awarded to ANC heavyweights in North West, including former Rustenburg Municipal Mayor Matthew Wolmarans. Wolmarans together with his associates, former Rustenburg Municipal Manager Andries Boshoff, and tenderpreneur Mike de Kock, benefited from a heft...

This week, publishing editor of Engineering News and Mining Weekly Martin Creamer looks at the, Heat that’s been going waste for decades is now being turned into valuable electricity at a platinum smelter in Rustenburg, BMW has unveiled the first charging station for electric cars at Melrose Arch in Johannesburg and Japan is standing ready to invest big in South Africa if we re-establish a solid i...