First Take SA

Joburg Water is urging its customers to stock up water this weekend before Rand Water's planned interruption next week. The planned water shutdown will commence from the 11th to the 13th of July. Joburg Water Spokesperson, Nombuso Tshabalala spoke to our senior producer Ronald Phiri about the purpose of the shutdown.

The City of Tshwane says its planning to hold an urgent meeting with Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu on Rand Water's water challenges. Rand Water has been struggling to recover its systems due to a series of power outages in the city. The power failures have left residents in several parts of Tshwane without water. To further discuss this Elvis Presslin spoke to Tshwane MMC for Utility...

Calls are mounting for Deputy President Paul Mashatile's security detail to be brought to justice following an alleged assault on military trainees. In a now viral video, members of Mashatile's VIP protection unit were recorded assaulting a motorist and passengers on the N1 in Johannesburg, near Sandton at the weekend. Mashatile's office has promised to reach out to the victims of the N1 highway a...

The Ministry of Justice and Correctional Services has 30 days to pay a R5 million fine, for breaching the Protection of Personal Information Act, POPIA. This after the Department was issued a fine by the Information Regulator for failing to renew its anti-virus and IT security solutions licenses. In 2021, the Department suffered a security compromise on its IT systems, leading to all its informati...

The Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA) in Limpopo, says it is gravely disappointed by the provincial Health department's decision to terminate the contracts for over 700 nurses. The union says this will aggravate the shortage of nurses and other healthcare workers in various facilities across the province. For more on this Elvis Presslin spoke to DENOSA Provincial Chairperson...

The Durban High Court is expected to sentence brothers Dylan and Ned Govender for attempted murder of Mondli Majola during the 2021 civil unrest in Phoenix, KwaZulu-Natal. In May, the accused were found not guilty for the charge of murder. However they were found guilty on a charge of attempted murder and assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm. Majola was among at least 30 people who were...

City Power says it will take two months to restore electricity to Diepkloof hostels in Soweto. The City of Johannesburg's electricity distribution company, held a meeting with hostel indunas yesterday following a visit by Joburg Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda to the hostels last week. His visit followed a violent protest by residents last week, over electricity, water and basic sanitation. To further discu...

Opposition parties are expected to hold a convention in August in efforts to unseat the ANC in next year's election. The leaders of seven political parties who form part of the 'Moonshot Pact' will hold a National Convention to negotiate an agreement ahead of the 2024 national elections. The pact, proposed by the DA at its federal congress in April, envisages a coalition of all parties opposed to...

Police are searching for victims who were allegedly assaulted by members of the South African Police Service on a highway in Gauteng. In a viral video a VIP protection police unit can be seen assaulting a motorist and passengers on the N1 highway near Woodmead, north of Johannesburg. For more on this Elvis Presslin spoke to Police spokesperson brigadier Athlenda Mathe

The Gauteng High Court has set aside the Moti Group's gag order preventing amaBhungane investigative unit from continuing its exposés on the Group. The Moti Group approached the High Court to prevent amaBhungane from publishing further articles into alleged suspicious business dealings at the company. The Moti Group claimed amaBhungane was illegally in possession of its leaked documents and wanted...

NEHAWU's Zodwa Beke-Beke Branch in the Northern Cape together with aggrieved parents will be marching to the provincial department of education over the alleged concealment of rape cases of learners. The union says complaints lodged by parents in respect to the alleged rapes are largely ignored by the department which reportedly has access to the victim's police statements. For more on this Elvis...

Time to take 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 treatment of women in sports has once again come under a spotlight. Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Zizi Kodwa will today meet with the South African Football Players Union, SAFPU over the grievances raised by Banyana Banyana. The players recently boycotted their final home game with Botswana at the weekend before the FIFA World Cup - Citing salary disparities, mistreatment and discriminat...

The Governing ANC has welcomed the Acting Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka's report, exonerating President Cyril Ranaphosa on the Phala Phala Farm theft investigation. The Public Protector has cleared the president of violating the Executive Ethics Code, saying there was no conflict of interest between his constitutional obligations and his private interests arising from his alleged paid work at h...

amaZulu King, MisuZulu ka Zwelithini's head of Communications, Prince Africa Zulu has disputed claims that the King is unwell or receiving treatment in an eSwatini hospital.  The health claims were in a statement issued by the Traditional prime minister, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi. According to Buthelezi the recent and sudden passing of the Zulu monarch's senior Induna, Mr Xaba, has prompted susp...

The National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union, Nehawu has criticized President Cyril Ramaphosa's decision to sign off a three percent wage increase for all public office bearers. The below inflation wage increment also applies to members of the Independent Constitutional Institutions, Judges, Magistrates and Traditional Leaders for the financial year 2022/2023. It follows recommendation...

More than 2,000 people have been arrested in France after days of violent protests throughout the country following the death of 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk. The youth, of Algerian heritage was reportedly shot by police at point-blank range during a traffic stop in Paris. Nahel's death has raised questions about police discrimination against minoritized communities in France. For more on what is hap...

President Cyril Ramaphosa has suspended two Gauteng High Court Judges. This follows the recommendation by the Judicial Service Commission that Judge Tshifhiwa Maumela and Judge Nomonde Mngqibisa-Thusi be suspended for failure to deliver numerous reserved judgments in the stipulated timeframes. There are now currently 5 judges on suspension, which include Judge President Hlophe, Judge Mushtak Parke...

Home Affairs Minister Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi says he is studying a High Court judgement, which declared the termination of the Zimbabwean Exemption Permit, ZEP, invalid, unlawful and unconstitutional. The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria yesterday set aside Dr. Motsoaledi's decision last year to terminate the ZEPs saying the process was unfair and lacked adequate public consultation. The case was brou...

The Constitutional Court is expected to hand down judgment today in an application brought by a lesbian couple seeking to declare Section 40 of the Children's Act unconstitutional. As it stands, the Act excludes permanent life partners as the automatic recipients of parental rights. The couple is seeking to be recognised as equal parents of a child conceived through artificial insemination, withou...

Trade union Solidarity has reached a settlement with government on the Employment Equity Act. Solidarity launched a dispute against the minister and the Department of Employment and Labour with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), disputing the constitutionality of South Africa's new BEE and transformation laws. For more on this Elvis Presslin spoke to Solidarity Chief Executive, Dr. Dirk...

Seven expelled Mangaung ANC Councilors are expected to hold a media briefing on their expulsion today. The councilors are expected to speak about their political future and upcoming bi-elections. The Councilors were expelled following a disciplinary hearing by the Free State ANC Interim Regional Disciplinary Committee. The ousted councilors recently lost their bid to legally challenge their expuls...

Disgruntled and expelled members of the Congress of the People, COPE held a meeting last night following the expulsion of party deputy president Willie Madisha and elections secretary Mzwandile Hleko. The duo's membership were terminated at the party's national committee meeting over the weekend. Madisha, Hleko and COPE spokesperson Dennis Bloem have been accused of leading a faction pushing for t...

The Gauteng Department of Health has acknowledged that some of its health facilities have faced food supply challenges in the past few months. It has emerged that patients at 26 of the 34 public hospitals in the province have suffered from food shortages since the beginning of the year. The department says it is in the process of instituting a multi-vendor approach to ensure the stability of food...

The situation remains volatile in Diepkloof, Soweto following protests in the area. Yesterday Diepkloof hostel residents clashed with police during violent demonstrations over the lack of electricity, water, ablution facilities and other service delivery issues. Residents barricaded several roads with burning tyres and stoned vehicles belonging to different media groups. Three people have since be...