The National Pulse

Today on Both Sides of the Story we ask - Can anyone define and explain what black man’s mentality is and all that is associated with it – is it regressive or progressive and how does it compare to the so called “white man’s mentality? But most importantly - how do we confront the powerful structural racism, relationships and everyday politics in a world that remains extremely unequal and violent...

Acting AbaThembu King, Azenathi Dalindyebo made a brief appearance at the Mthatha Magistrate court on allegations of assault - with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and pointing of a fire arm. This after allegations that he was part of a group that allegedly assaulted King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo's advisor, Lubabalo Phaphu. NPA regional spokesperson, Luxolo Tyali says the accused is out on war...

Western Cape Minister of Education Debbie Schafer says 13 schools in the province which have registered grade seven or twelve learners failed to reopen today. Eleven of the schools due to confirmed cases of Covid-19. Guest: Western Cape Education Department spokesperson, Bronagh Hammond

The South African Communist Party is calling for the SASSA R350 Covid-19 grant to be made permanent. You may recall that the grant was introduce in April and intendent to last for a duration of six months (which means it will stop in October this year) Guest: Dr Alex Mashilo, National spokesperson of the SACP

World News today: Can Joe Biden beat Trump in the upcoming US election? Aaccording to a new poll in the US, former Vice President Joe Biden has increased his lead over President Donald Trump to 12 percentage points in Michigan, where we are told voters are unhappy with Trump's response to the coronavirus pandemic. Guest on the line (UK) Professor Scott Lucas, Professor of US politics at the Univer...

Post last month’s launch of the Kindness Contagion – we speak to Beth Arendse about the objectives of this noble initiative. The campaign encourages Africans and the rest of the world to share the message of hope, kindness and solidarity across the globe Guest: Beth Arendse, Kindness Contagion Executive Producer and founder of the South African Creatives Industries Incubator

On Beyond Innovation - we ask you - Did you know that Sugar cane help treat chemotherapy side effects? Prof Monde Ntwasa is a Biochemist in Drug Discovery and Development - he led a team of researchers who observed that sugar has properties that could be used to reduce side effects of chemotherapy. This however is not a new phenomenon as it was observed in 1924 by Otto Warburg. Why have scientists...

Tomorrow - ANC struggle stalwart, anti-apartheid activist and former Robben Island prisoner Andrew Mlangeni turns 95. Isithwalandwe/Seaparankoe Tata Andrew Mlangeni is the last remaining Rivonia Trialists. Mlangeni served as an MP in the National Assembly until his retirement in 2014 Guest: Professor Hlengiwe Mkhize, Deputy Minister in the Presidency for Women Youth and Persons with Disabilities

The Covid-19 pandemic saw domestic and international flights around the world being grounded due to the virus. As South Africa is now in alert level 3, some domestic flights are set to resume. So what goes into restarting the engines of planes when they have been switched off for this long due to the lockdown? And do pilots need refresher courses before flying people? Guest: Captain Nigel Hopkins,...

SA Express workers are calling on government to force the State-owned Enterprise to pay outstanding salaries before its liquidated next week. Workers at the Airline have not been paid since February this year. Today, the workers marched from SAA Airways Park to the Union Buildings to hand over a list of their demands. Other workers staged a protest outside Parliament in Cape Town. Guest: Nthabisen...

We now tell you more about a sad story of Amahle Nkabinde who has been missing for 10 years. What is even more worrying about this story is that her mother has been given the run-around by the authorities, including the local police who have not been helpful on the matter. On top of that she has been treated with disdain every time she tries to get help. Guest: Zama Ngwenya, mother of Amahle

Prof Francis Petersen who is the Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Free State responds to claims that UFS students are not adequately equipped or supported to study remotely during the COVID-19 lockdown. Guest: Prof Francis Petersen, the Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Free State

Assessing SA’s state of readiness: As South Africa prepares for the reopening of schools on Monday - we hear from the National Teachers’ Union on what they think about the country’s state of readiness. You may recall that last week, many South Africans were taken aback when they were told by the ministry of basic education that some schools were not ready to resume classes; in some provinces for i...

Latest News, Trends, and light features for an afternoon commute- Business, Traffic, Weather and Sport

Is the cash strapped Pretoria Bar Council on the brink of collapse and possibly finding itself having to apply for provisional liquidation due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which has affected many other businesses financially. We now speak to Henru Kruger, sector head for professional services at Solidarity who says the Bar has a remarkable and exceptional history, surviving two world wars and politic...

The founder of The People's Dialogue, Herman Mashaba has written an open letter to Finance Minister Tito Mboweni, encouraging him to challenge the recent comments made by Ekurhuleni, Mayor Mzwandile Masina, advocating for the collapse of our economy in the wake of COVID-19. Masina had said he was prepared to resign if he is made to defend what he called 'White Monopoly Capital'. He aligned himself...

The South African Police Service says it has been vindicated by the ruling of the High Court in Pretoria that set aside the Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane's finding against Police Minister Bheki Cele. In a 2018 report, Public Protector, advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane found that Minister Cele along with SAPS failed to provide protection to two KwaZulu-Natal whistleblowers; Thabiso Zulu and Lesley...

On World News today we ask - what does the return of Laurent Gbagbo mean for the people of Ivory Coast? Gbagbo, the first head of state to stand trial in The Hague, and his deputy Charles Ble Goude, were both cleared of crimes against humanity in January last year and released the following month but there were still restrictions on their movement or return to Ivory Coast. But now, Mr Gbagbo can l...

Following Tuesday’s North Gauteng High Court ruling on lockdown regulations – Professor Thuli Madonsela joins us to share her thoughts on the ruling and its implications thereof. According to her, there would have been a lot to learn from the judgment if it were clearer, concise, accurate, professionally reasoned, and persuasive. Guest: Adv, Professor Thuli Madonsela, Law Trust Chair in Social Jus...

BSS The ANC says it will not hesitate to reprimand its members who speak against its policy positions regardless of their positions and says it’s Chair in Ekurhuleni, Mayor Mzwandile Masina must stop tweeting. Masina had said he was prepared to resign if he is made to defend what he called 'White Monopoly Capital'. He aligned himself with the EFF leader Julius Malema who had said the so called "wh...

What are the implications of yesterday’s High Court ruling on lockdown regulations? Yesterday, the Gauteng High court declared that the country’s alert level 3 and alert level 4 lockdown regulations are invalid and unconstitutional. In its ruling, the court specifically highlighted how the regulations did not pass the rationality test and have infringed on the Bill of Rights. What rights are those...

Government cannot force covid-19 patient into compulsory state quarantine. The North Gauteng High Court has issued a court order prohibiting government from forcing those who test positive for Covid-19 into state quarantine facilities if they are able to self-isolate. We now speak to Monique Taute, head of campaigns at AfriForum. The lobby group brought the application against Minister of Cooperat...

We assess President Donald Trump's announcement that the United States will terminate its relationship with the World Health Organization. Recently, Trump has been criticizing the UN’s health agency for failing to quickly sound the alarm when the novel coronavirus emerged and accused it of helping China cover up the threat it posed. Guest: Dr John Stremlau, Visiting Professor of International Rela...

We hear from the ANC Youth League national task team on why they want the government to reconsider the unbanning of alcohol sales under lockdown level 3. They are arguing that the sale of alcohol has the potential to put a strain on the health system unnecessarily. Guest: Sizophila Mkhize, Spokesperson of the ANC Youth League Task Team

BSS: South African Human Rights Commission says it is concerned that the opening of schools in the Western Cape will exclude learners in disadvantaged communities. The Commission has given the Western Cape Education Department until 2 o'clock this afternoon to confirm that no teaching and learning will take place at schools this week in line with a decision by the national Basic Education Departme...