First Take SA

Elvis Presslin looks at the current top African economic stories with Victor Kgomoeswana, author of Africa Is Open For Business and Africa Bounces Back. Victor is also the Executive Director for Marketing and Communication at the University of Limpopo

The South African Federation of Trade Unions, SAFTU will host the BRICS Trade Union Forum Dialogue in Durban, KwaZulu Natal today. The annual conference which consists of union federations from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will discuss matters of global political and economic interest that affect workers. The BRICS Trade Union Forums follows the recent BRICS Summit in Sandton. The...

The Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) will be hosting a policy dialogue on "School Dropout of Adolescent Girls during Pregnancy and in the Postpartum Period Policy Dialogue". The dialogue is informed by CGE's recently published research report exploring reasons for school dropout by adolescent girls during pregnancy and in the postpartum period. The research study investigated the social, cultu...

Road Accident Fund CEO Collins Letsoalo says the fund cannot afford to pay out foreign nationals who suffer injuries during accidents on the country's roads. He says the government-funded scheme, which provides compensation to victims of motor vehicle accidents, cannot provide cover to foreign nationals as it is simply unsustainable. The Fund published a directive last year stating lump-sum paymen...

Land invasion in rural areas, crime, mining licenses and contracts are some of the issues that will be tackled today when a conference hosted by the Mpumalanga department of Co-operative Governance and the Provincial House of Traditional Leaders gets underway. The conference will also address the issuing of liquor licenses in outlets under traditional leadership. This comes amid the recent inciden...

Elvis Presslin takes a look at the current top African economic stories with Victor Kgomoeswana, author of Africa Is Open For Business and Africa Bounces Back. Victor is also the Executive Director for Marketing and Communication at the University of Limpopo

The South African Medical Research Council has been awarded a multi-million rand grant to test and develop a novel HIV vaccines in Africa. The U.S. Agency for International Development, USAID has invested approximately 867-million-Rand for a trial of a preventive HIV vaccine. The clinical trial has begun candidate enrollment in the United States and South Africa. The announcement comes at a time t...

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) is demanding that power utility Eskom must be given 70% allocation in the renewable energy space. NUMSA expressed concerns that workers will get left behind if they do not occupy all spaces of the debate.  The union says it also has questions, why government is rushing to implement the transition in South Africa, when the carbon emissions...

Parliament's Justice and Correctional Services Committee will go ahead with impeachment proceedings against Judge Nkola Motata and Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe. Both judges have been found guilty of gross misconduct by the Judicial Conduct Tribunal.  Motata, for a drunk driving case in 2007 and Hlophe for influencing two retired Constitutional court judges in 2008 in the matter involvi...

Gauteng police are investigating an incident where at least 90 learners were hospitalised after consuming muffins laced with dagga. The learners from Pulamadibogo Primary school in Soshanguve, North of Pretoria were rushed to various medical facilities after experiencing nausea, stomach cramps and vomiting after consuming the so-called space cookies. Police visited the school and subsequently, a s...

At least 55 villages in and around Giyani, Limpopo are still without reliable water supply, despite phase one of the Giyani Bulk Water Project being completed. This according to the Transformation Alliance, which has cited the turf war between Giyani Local Municipality and Mopani District Municipality for the water challenges. For more on this, Elvis Presslin spoke to Abel Tau, leader of the Trans...

The ANC in the Overberg region of the Western Cape says it is deeply concerned by the recent protest in Swellendam. Angry community members blockaded the N2 and torched a municipal building - Just a few weeks after another municipal office was set alight. The irate protesters are still unhappy about the application process for indigent benefits and service delivery in the area. For more on this, E...

The EFF's motion of no confidence against Free State premier Mxolisi Dukwana lacked support from other opposition parties in the Free State Legislature. The motion was rejected as the DA and Freedom Front Plus decided to abstain from the vote. It comes after a reply from Dukwana that more than R3-million was spent on the funeral of the late Education MEC Tate Makgoe in March this year. For more on...

The South African National Taxi Council, SANTACO in KwaZulu Natal is demanding a rank for its members at a newly established Oceans Mall in Umhlanga, Durban. Scores of taxi operators blockaded the entrances and exits to Mall, causing major traffic disruptions in the Umhlanga CBD. The taxi council says they were promised a rank when the mall was built where their previous rank was. For more on this...

South Africa could soon have a new gender-neutral parental leave policy. A case against the Minister of Employment and Labour recently heard at the Gauteng High Court, is seeking a gender-neutral parental policy that enables all employees to take parental leave regardless of their gender. This after a father was reportedly denied maternity leave by his employer who said maternity leave protection...

Postbank says all outstanding grants payments have been paid. This after thousands of pensioners and other social grant beneficiaries were left destitute after not receiving their monthly payout for September. Postbank cited a technical glitch for non-payment. For more on this Elvis Presslin spoke to Postbank Spokesperson, Dr. Bongani Diako

Residents of Kwa-Thema In Ekurhuleni say they will intensify their protest action until government attends to their grievances. The community says it has been abandoned by local government officials who have not prioritised the delivery of services in the area. They have been protesting since the weekend, demanding access to water and electricity. Rand Water, and Joburg water have urged consumers...

Johannesburg law enforcement officials will today continue its disconnection drive for non-paying customers in the City centre. Yesterday City Power embarked on a disconnection drive in Naturena, Johannesburg which owed millions to the municipality. The situation in Naturena became volatile with residents resisting City Power's cut-off operations - but ultimately resistance was futile. The City ha...

Two labour unions representing workers at the SABC, (CWU and BEMAWU) have met with the public broadcaster's management for their ongoing salary negotiations yesterday. According to the unions, SABC is offering a 4% salary increase effective from next month, with no increase to housing. The unions say management was expected to give further response on the demands they presented during their previo...

The Democratic Alliance, DA will today lodge a complaint against government for failure to pay social grants this month. The party approached the South African Human Rights Commission to lodge a complaint against Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu, her Department, the South African Social Security Agency, Sassa and Postbank. This after over half a million grant recipients were left financial...

The City of Tshwane is considering a private partnership to increase the functioning of the Rooiwal and Pretoria West Power Stations. City Mayor, Cilliers Brink says this will assist the city to generate at least a 1000 Mega Watts of electricity independent of ESKOM in the next three years. Brink says the city's energy master plan seeks to reduce Tshwane's dependence on Eskom and alleviate the bur...

Elvis Presslin in conversation with Victor Kgomoeswana, author of Africa Is Open For Business and Africa Bounces Back. Victor is also the Executive Director for Marketing and Communication at the University of Limpopo as he looks at the current top African economic stories  

The city of Durban has been selected as the host for the 19th World Water Conference taking place in 2025. A delegation from KwaZulu-Natal is attending the current water conference under way in the Chinese capital of Beijing. South Africa currently faces serious shortages and challenges with regards to water supply. For more on this Elvis Presslin spoke to Head of eThekwini Municipality Water and...

President Cyril Ramaphosa says the ANC and the IFP should reconcile despite the two parties' bitter rivalry. He was speaking at the special official funeral of founding IFP President, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, in Ulundi at the weekend. Mangosuthu Buthelezi died last week, aged 95. Before his passing Buthelezi wished for the ANC, IFP to reconcile. The IFP and ANC have been at loggerheads over th...

More than twenty people have been killed in a road cash involving a bus and a truck in Musina, Limpopo.  The bus was reportedly transporting mine workers to a local mine when it collided with a truck. For the latest Elvis Presslin spoke to Vongani Chauke, Spokesperson for Limpopo MEC for Transport and Community Safety, Florence Radzilani...