The Weekend View

The National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola has confirmed that 18 suspected cash-in-transit have been killed in a shoot-out with police in Louis Trichardt, Limpopo. He says officers have been tracking the suspects for three days. Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to Police National Spokesperson, Brigadier Brigadier Athlenda Mathe...

City of Johannesburg's member of the mayoral committee (MMC) for Transport, Kenny Kunene says the city is in dire need of property investors as it faces housing shortages. However, this has become a challenge as developers find it difficult to evict squatters. Kunene's comments come in light of the fire that gutted a city of Johannesburg building killing over 70 illegal occupants. Sebenzile Nkambu...

With more than 60 million people living in South Africa, only 410,000 are registered organ donors. Lack of awareness and understanding of tissue and organ donation is believed to be a cause of the inaction. The Organ Donor Foundation is now urging more South Africans to register as organ donors and to share their decision to donate with their families and friends. Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to Saman...

The Inkatha Freedom Party - IFP - founder and President Emeritus, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi turns 95-year-old today. Buthelezi has been in hospital for weeks after he was admitted following back pain complications. In a statement released last week, Buthelezi's family said he is making steady progress under the supervision of his medical team and were happy with the state of his health. IFP spok...

Earlier this month the BRICS Young Scientist Forum highlighted artificial intelligence - AI -  machine learning and future skills as essential for advancing the goals of BRICS countries. At this week's BRICS Summit, the leaders of the bloc also pledged to secure fair artificial intelligence and announced plans to organize an "AI study group" to closely monitor AI technology's growth. It is against...

Zimbabwe's Elections Commission confirmed late last night that Emmerson Mnangagwa had won a second term as president. Mnangagwa received more than 52% of the vote, while Nelson Chamisa, the head of the opposition Citizens' Coalition for Change (CCC) party, received only 44%. The opposition has accused the elections of rigging and voter suppression due to delays. Election observers have also said t...

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy announced the discovery of gas reserves in Amersfoort, Mpumalanga province this past week. Welcoming the find the Department said Kinetiko Energy, an Australian gas explorer that focuses on commercialising advanced shallow conventional gas and coal bed methane projects, confirmed the discovery of 3.1 billion cubic feet of maiden gas reserves. Natural...

The Springboks last night laid down a marker ahead of the Rugby World Cup with a record win over New Zealand at Twickenham. In their final warm-up fixture before the tournament in France, the Boks capitalised on the All-Blacks' indiscipline thrashing the New Zealanders 35-7. The All Blacks open the World Cup against hosts France in Paris on Friday 8 September, while South Africa begin their campai...

With just two days left, all eyes are on South Africa, as the country hosts the 15th Summit of BRICS nations - Brazil, Russia, India and China, from 22-24 August 2023. The Summit's theme is "BRICS & AFRICA; Partnerships for mutually accelerated growth, sustainable development, and inclusive multilateralism." The summit's agenda is also expected to cover trade and investment facilitation, susta...

In an attempt to oust the African National Congress in the 2024 elections, - seven parties, including the Democratic Alliance (DA), ActionSA, Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and the Freedom Front Plus have signed a pre-elections agreement to work together should the ANC fail to reach a 50+1 majority at the general polls next year. Following a two-day meeting, earlier this week the charter announced a...

A group calling themselves the Professionals League under the African National Congress says it is time to start having a different conversation about the socio-economic challenges facing SA.  They are calling for what they have termed a CODESA-style convention which they say must look at land issues, white privilege among others to address South Africa's poverty issues. We spoke to the Secretary...

The latest crime statistics released yesterday reveal that while the overall murder rate has gone down, more women and children have been killed over the last quarter than over the same period last year. The newest figures from SAPS tabled in Parliament show that gender-based violence is still prevalent throughout the country despite a decline in rape and sexual assault. The statistics show murder...

With just 4 days to go before Zimbabwe's crucial national elections, questions are being raised whether the electoral process will be transparent and officials accountable. On Thursday the country's authorities deported four regional democracy activists on arrival at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport and barred journalists from several international media houses covering the poll. Ea...

Military chiefs from West Africa's main regional bloc - ECOWAS - have agreed an undisclosed "D-Day" for a possible direct armed intervention to restore democracy in Niger if diplomatic efforts fail. This is the conclusion of the two-day military meeting which ended in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, yesterday. No specific date has been given for the intervention and a diplomatic solution has not been...

Various political parties have taken an exception to the release of former president, Jacob Zuma on remission. This comes after, President Cyril Ramaphosa approved the release of about 9 488 inmates as part of the remission programme. However, many feel that this was a ploy to release Zuma from prison- after he handed himself over to finish his 15 months sentence for contempt. In a statement, rele...

Solly Msimanga yesterday retained his position as the Democratic Alliance's provincial leader in Gauteng, with Fred Nel winning the race of chairperson of the party. The provincial elections were held in  Boksburg on Gauteng's East Rand. Around one-thousand delegates cast their ballots in the two-horse race where Msimanga was challenged by Khuma Ramulifho. Bongiwe Zwane spoke to Democratic Allianc...

The Springboks will depart for Europe this afternoon (Saturday) for two warm-up matches, and the defence of their Rugby World Cup title in France. They are eager to become the first team to lift the Webb Ellis Cup for a fourth time. Our reporter, Liezl Olivier, spoke to former Springbok and now Cheetahs stalwart, Ruan Pienaar, about rugby's biggest showpiece, and South Africa's chances at the even...

The Human Sciences Research Council alongside the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation hosted a panel discussion on Zimbabwean ahead of the August 23 elections. The panel of experts looked at the pre-election environment in that country which has been characterised by violence. And they also looked at the prospects of free, fair and credible elections in Zimbabwe. Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to E...

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is hosting its Gauteng Provincial Congress where the party will elect new leadership ahead of the 2024 General Election. DA Federal Leader, John Steenhuisen, is expected to address delegates on the Moonshot Pact which he believes will usher in a new provincial government in Gauteng after next year's election. Incumbent Solly Msimanga is seeking a second term and he wil...

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni on Thursday insisted that his country will do with or without the support of the World Bank. He was responding to an announcement on Tuesday by the US-based global lender that it was suspending new loans to Uganda over what is considered among the world's harshest laws targeting LGBTQI communities enacted in May. Museveni said Uganda does not need pressure from a...

There is a collective sigh of relief after taxis started operating again in Cape Town yesterday following a weeklong stay away by SANTACO which turned violent leaving 5 people dead and thousands of commuters stranded. As the situation slowly returns to normal, it will be a lot longer for the tourism industry which suffered reputational damage after some countries issued travel alerts for the Mothe...

At yesterday's closing of the two-day National Dialogue on Coalition Governments at the University of the Western Cape, Deputy President Paul Mashatile called on the country to draw lessons from others and its own experiences on coalition governments. Mashatile gave examples of successful government coalitions when the  African National Congress (ANC) worked with the National Party at the national...

Banyana  Banyana has lost two-nil to the 2019 World Cup finalists, the Netherlands, in the crunch round of the 16-group fixture at the Sydney football stadium in Australia. Banyana is the first South African team, male or female, to get to the knockout stages of a world cup. Meanwhile, the curtain closes on the 2023 Netball World Cup in Cape Town today with the final match between England and Aust...

The Western Cape E-hailing Association (WCEA), which represents different e-hailing services, yesterday announced that they were joining the Cape Town taxi strike. In a statement, the association said all their vehicles will be parked and not engage in any normal business with immediate effect. On Thursday, chaos, sporadic stone-throwing, and violence erupted on major highways in Cape Town as taxi...

Political parties taking part in the national dialogues on the coalition government have proposed a number of changes in the law to prevent the collapse of coalition governments. Some of the suggestions include a limit to the number of motions of no confidence to avoid it being abused for political reasons. Meanwhile, there are also reports that the Department of cooperative governance and traditi...