The National Pulse

Former public protector Thuli Madonsela has received the Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur/ French knighthood from President Macron. Professor Madonsela was honoured in recognition of her work in defence of the rule of law and the fight against corruption in South Africa. GUEST: Prof Thuli Madonsela, chair in social justice at Stellenbosch University’s faculty of law

The National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa, Numsa has been served with a section 189 notice from Unitrans. Unitrans says the company has been negatively affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and may have to close its operations. GUEST: Numsa National Spokesperson, Phakamile Hlubi-Majola

The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority, SAHPRA, says it has processed ten applications for the use of Ivermectin for the treatment of COVID-19. The body briefed Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Health on the use of the anti-parasitic drug. The CEO of SAHPRA, Boitumelo Semete, has so far repeated that there is insufficient data to approve that the drug for use in humans. The drug...

Church leaders are calling for the immediate lifting of the ban on faith based gatherings. They are arguing that if gatherings at places such as casinos and gyms are allowed, why not the church Guest: Pastor MoAfrika WaMaila, Spokesperson of Pastors Against Church Closures

This year marks the 24th anniversary of the Constitution coming into effect on 04 February 1997, replacing the Interim Constitution of 1993. The country will also mark the 25th anniversary since the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa was signed into law. The Constitution was signed into law in Sharpeville, Vereeniging, by former President Nelson Mandela in 1996. The country's Constitutio...

An emotional former ANC MP Dr Makhosi Khoza has told the Zondo Commission of the harassment and death threats she had to endure against her and her children, for her public criticism of the ANC and former president Jacob Zuma. Dr Khoza is appearing before the Commission to give evidence related to Parliamentary Oversight. Guest: Dr Makhosi Khoza

The National Consumer Commission has formally commenced investigations into Food Lovers Market, the Spar group, Pick n Pay, the Shoprite group, Boxer Superstores, Cambridge Foods and Woolworths for alleged price gouging. However they have made it clear that their investigation is not limited to these suppliers and they are calling on consumers throughout the country to monitor the market and to fi...

Few hours ago, the Constitutional Court confirmed 2019’s Gauteng High Court ruling that found that parts of the RICA act are inconsistent with the constitution. Amabhungane challenged RICA act after its journalist Sam Sole’s communications were targeted by state surveillance while he was reporting on the corruption investigation against former President Jacob Zuma. Guest: Cherese Thakur, Advocacy...

Former Ugandan rebel commander, Dominic Ongwen has been convicted of war crimes at the International Criminal Court. He was convicted on 61 of the 70 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes he faced. The charges relate to attacks on four camps for internally displaced people in Uganda in 2004. Guest: Elise Keppler, Associate Director, International Justice Program at Human Rights Watch

Labour unions have approached the Constitutional Court to challenge a Labour Court ruling that declared the 2018 wage agreement invalid and unconstitutional. The Unions say government cannot deviate from their wage agreement simply because of challenges brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. The unions want to appeal the labour court's decision to prevent a salary increase for government employee...

SARS has taken a decision to extend the filing season deadline for provisional taxpayers, saying Covid19 was a key reason behind this decision. Taxpayers who received auto-assessment notices last year but did not yet accept the auto-assessments are encouraged to use this extension period to do so. Guest: Mr Nat Mabetwa, SARS Regional Director, Gauteng

ActionSA president Herman Mashaba has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to "demonstrate real leadership" by cancelling former President Jacob Zuma's presidential perks and benefits. This after the Jacob Zuma Foundation stated that Zuma will not comply with the State capture commission of inquiry and will not appear before the commission as requested. So under what conditions can Zuma's president...

The ANC in the Eastern Cape is calling for Luthuli House to suspend former president Jacob Zuma for his refusal to testify at state capture commission. They are adamant that Zuma is constitutionally obliged to appear before the commission and they insist that he must lead by example Guest: Lulama Ngcukaitobi, Provincial Secretary of the ANC in the Eastern

What is the importance of reading aloud to children in their mother tongue? As the world marks World Read Aloud Day today, we speak to Nal'ibali CEO Yandiswa Xhakaza about the importance of home languages in learning to read. Because many parents and communities have this firm belief that their children will get a head-start in education by learning to read and speak in English instead of their ho...

Tanzania's government says it will delay the purchase of the COVID-19 vaccine until it is satisfied that there are no side effects. This comes at a time when the World Health Organisation is reporting a surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths in Africa as new, more contagious variants of the virus spread to additional countries. GUEST: Zitto Kabwe is leader of the Tanzanian opposition alliance, ACT (Al...

President Cyril Ramaphosa has dismissed rumours that the COVID 19 vaccination program will be compulsory for all citizens. But what if businesses, companies, malls, airports and other areas exercise their right of admission and do not allow patrons, visitors or workers access into certain facilities or buildings if they don't have proof of vaccination? To elaborate more on this, I'm joined on the...

South Africa will today join other countries in marking World Wetland Day. This year's theme of: "Wetlands and Water" looks at the role of wetlands as sources of freshwater and will also tackle issues around the protection and restoration of wetlands. A 2018 National Biodiversity Assessment found that 79% of wetlands are the most threatened of all South Africa's ecosystems. So how important are we...

We now speak to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (scopa) about their calls for an open tender process for the storage and distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine. Scopa says South Africa cannot afford the recurrence of maladministration and fraud in the tender process for the vaccine as it happened in the procurement processes for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) GUEST: Mkhuleko Hlengwa,...

South Africa's frontline healthcare workers will start receiving the COVID-19 vaccine in a few weeks. Yesterday one million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine landed at OR Tambo International Airport from India. A few samples are being sent to the National Control Laboratory in Bloemfontein for testing. The rest of the consignment will remain refrigerated in the BioVac warehouses in Johannesburg awaitin...

We hear from the finalist of this year’s Nedbank and Old Mutual Budget Speech Competition, Mahfouz Raffee whose excellent essay focused on “Land Expropriation” in South Africa. The Nedbank and Old Mutual Budget Speech Competition recognise and highlights the depth of talent, intellect and insight that exists within the ranks of South Africa’s future economic leaders. Guest: Mahfouz Raffee, Undergr...

The South African alcohol industry has welcomed government’s decision to partially lift the ban on the sale of alcohol but at the same time, they are worried about the industry’s long-term sustainability. They say the reinstatement of the alcohol ban for the third time has led to job losses, a rise in illicit trade and a significant decline in its economic contributions. Guest: Maryna Calow, Wines...

Last night, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the South African government will nominate the Cuban Medical Brigade for the Nobel Peace Prize following its assistance in the fight against the spread of COVID-19. The president went on to praise Cuba for deploying 3 700 medical professionals throughout the world. However this announcement has been met with mixed emotions with some arguing that...

How will the first phase of vaccinations work? Now that the country's first batch of Covid19 vaccine doses has arrived – we examine the country’s state of readiness in terms of how vaccination rollout plan will be carried out and we also establish as to whether the training of health workers who would be responsible for administering the vaccines has been completed. Guest: MUSA MOSHABELA, ACTING V...

The SABC says although the past few months have been difficult for the organisation, the public broadcaster's Sales team managed to perform well. For more on this, we're joined by SABC Group Executive for Commercial Sales, Reginald Nxumalo who is relatively new to the position about how the team managed to bring revenue to the SABC despite the challenges the entity faced... GUEST: Reginald Nxumalo...

The ANC in the North West will initiate a disciplinary process for Premier Job Mokgoro and four other ANC members of the provincial legislature. Mokgoro and the four members are accused of colluding with opposition parties in the election of a new Chair of Chairs. The party says this was against the mandate of its caucus. We now speak to North West based political analyst, Andre Duvenage about the...