The National Pulse

Former South Africa President Jacob Zuma has been jailed for 15 months for contempt of court after he failed to appear at the Zondo Commission of Inquiry earlier this year. In a scathing judgment, Justice Sisi Khampepe said that Zuma attempted to corrode the legitimacy of the Constitutional court by conducting a politically motivated smear campaign against it, the Zondo Commission and the judiciar...

Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga says schools will reopen on the 19th of July this year. Briefing the media earlier on in Botshabelo, Free State, on the basic education sector's response on the impact of Covid19 to schools, Minister Motshekga said teaching will stop on Wednesday and teachers and managers will have an orderly closure of schools on Thursday and Friday. To elaborate further o...

In conversation with William Bird about the pernicious influence of Covid-19 fake news. You may recall that our government once warned that anyone that creates or spreads fake news about the coronavirus COVID-19 is liable for prosecution. But why are South Africans not listening? Yesterday, President Ramaphosa was at pains explaining that false stories are being spread on WhatsApp groups, on socia...

Following the NPA’s announcement that they are going to establish a specialist unit that will investigate and prosecute apartheid-era crimes. We hear from Yasmin Sooka who has been very consistent in saying that justice and closure remain elusive for victims of apartheid-era crimes. Guest: Yasmin Sooka, Human Rights Lawyer and former TRC Commissioner

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi arrived in Baghdad yesterday, marking the first visit by an Egyptian head of state to Iraq since Saddam Hussein’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait. The visit is part of Al Sisi’s participation in a trilateral summit bringing him together with Jordanian King Abdullah II and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi. Guest: Na’eem Jeenah, Executive Director of the Afro-Mi...

EFF protest organizers may face criminal charges for contravention of lockdown regulations during the party's march to the headquarters of the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority, SAHPRA in Pretoria. The party is demanding that the regulator speed up its approval of Covid-19 vaccines to curb the spread of the virus. Police will open a criminal case against the convenors after large...

Scores of EFF supporters have gathered at the headquarters of the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority, SAHPRA, in Pretoria. The party is demanding that the regulator speed up its approval of Covid-19 vaccines to curb the spread of the virus. The party says SAHPRA has seven days to adhere to their demands. GUEST: Vuyani Pambo, EFF National Spokesperson

Today, Economic Freedom Fighters marched to the offices of the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority in Pretoria. The party is demanding that SAHPRA approves the use of vaccines from Russia and China. On the other hand, SAHPRA says they are not going to be pressured into approving Covid-19 vaccines that do not meet the regulatory requirements. Guest: Dr Boitumelo Semete-Makokotlela, C...

As Gauteng continues to account for the majority of infections, including the worsening situation at hospitals. We assess the province’s Covid-19 response strategy. Guest: Dr Marry Kawonga, Head of Gauteng Premier’s Advisory Council for Covid-19

29-year old man has died after allegedly being arrested and assaulted by police officers at the Jeppe Police Station in Gauteng. The man was reportedly beaten in front of his girlfriend and his brother, who took video footage and pictures of the incident. The man's girlfriend took him to hospital and he was later transferred to another hospital in Mpumalanga where he passed away. The Independent P...

29-year old man has died after allegedly being arrested and assaulted by police officers at the Jeppe Police Station in Gauteng. The man was reportedly beaten in front of his girlfriend and his brother, who took video footage and pictures of the incident. The man's girlfriend took him to hospital and he was later transferred to another hospital in Mpumalanga where he passed away. The Independent P...

The Johannesburg labour court has again ruled that the Economic Freedom Fighters, EFF is not a registered trade union and has no authority to represent workers in the workplace disputes. GUEST: Michael Bagraim, Labour Analyst

The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment has rejected Turkish-led Karpowership's application for environmental permits. The 3 applications by Karpowership for environmental authorisations were submitted in last year October for the development of gas-to-power via powerships in Richards Bay, Ngqura and Saldanha Bay. Without these critical permits Karpowership's projects cannot go a...

Yesterday, Southern African nations approved the deployment of its standby force to help Mozambique to combat terrorism that threatens stability in the region. The decision ends months of deliberation and disagreement within the bloc about what is needed to tackle an armed insurgency. Guest: (Mozambique) Borges Nhamire, Researcher at the Institute for Security Studies

World News: As Covid-19 cases show a steady decline globally, a sharp rise in coronavirus cases in many parts of Africa is concerning. What is even more worrying about our continent is the fact that currently only about 1.1% of the population has been fully immunized. But why is Africa lagging behind? Guest: Dr Mary Stephen, Technical Officer at the World Health Organization (WHO) African Regional...

The University of Cape Town Council has decided to change the name of the Smuts Hall student residence to Upper Campus Residence until a new name is approved. The residence was named after General Jan Smuts who was Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa from 1919 to 1924 and again from 1939 to 1948. UCT spokesperson, Elijah Moholola says the name change will allow UCT to move on from the past...

The Basic Education Department say teachers will not be forced to vaccinate for Covid-19. This after some teachers and other school workers called in on SAfm to raise concern that they are being forced to vaccinate. But the department’s spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga says they will not force teachers to vaccinate during their vaccination rollout in schools. GUEST: Elijah Mhlanga, Spokesperson for the...

The department of employment and labour explains the rationale behind the newly updated occupational health and safety directive Guest: Thembinkosi Mkaliphi, Chief Director for Labour Relations at the Department of Employment and Labour

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU), has granted an order to freeze R22 million held in bank and investment accounts linked to Digital Vibes. The SIU say they will approach the Special Tribunal to have the Covid-19 media campaign contract irregularly awarded by Health Department to Digital Vibes declared unlawful and invalid. GUEST: Mr Kaizer Kganyago, Spokesperson for the Special Investigating U...

There are reportedly delays in autopsies in Gauteng. One of our listeners Langa Prince Zitha, has been waiting for almost 2 weeks for an autopsy to be conducted on his brother's wife Nomonde Theresa Zitha. GUEST: Langa Prince Zitha, a relative to the deceased Nomonde Theresa Zitha, who is his brother's wife

The African Christian Democratic Party has noted with concern the directive issued by the department of employment and labour recently – which affords employers discretion to make vaccination compulsory in the workplace. They are arguing that this directive will open the floodgates for the violation of fundamental constitutional rights of employees, particularly those who object to vaccinations on...

World News: While the 2014-2016 deadly Ebola outbreaks in West Africa devastated lives and wrecked health services, it also offered pivotal lessons in outbreak control. This is the view of the World Health Organization. When the virus re-erupted in Guinea in mid-February this year, neighbouring countries were quick to ramp up readiness to tackle potential cross-border infection. WHO has since help...

World News: On World News today we ask, How bad is Zimbabwe’s economic situation? We look at the World Bank’s economic and social update report which suggests that almost half of Zimbabwe’s population fell into extreme poverty between 2011 and 2020. Guest: Godfrey Kanyeze, Director of Labour and Economic Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe

The National Ports Authority is to become an independent subsidiary of Transnet with its own board. This was announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa this morning. He says the creation of the entity will allow the port authority to make its own investment decisions and ensure that it treats all terminal operators fairly and equally. He says this is part of government’s efforts to accelerate economic...

Working on Fire teams together with Sarah Baartman District Municipality and other relevant stakeholders are still trying to combat the Tsitsikamma fire in the Eastern Cape that started yesterday. To give us the latest in terms of what’s happening now is… Guest: Nthabiseng Mokone, Working on Fire (WoF) Communications Manager