First Take SA

Time to take a look at the current top African economic stories..... Victor Kgomoesoana, author of  "Africa Is Open For Business" and "Africa Bounces Back", as well as the Executive Director for Marketing and Communication at the University of Limpopo....  

National Professional Teachers' Organisation of South Africa or NAPTOSA is calling for schools to return to full time learning in 2022. The organisation says, the damage caused by rotational and online schooling, particularly to learners in early development stages has been insurmountable. Elvis Presslin Spoke to the chairperson of the Federation of Association of Governing Bodies of South African...

ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa has assured supporters that the party is doing all it can to make sure that it emerges victorious from all the challenges it is currently facing. This on the back of the release of the first part of the State Capture Report, which fingered a number of senior ANC officials. Ramaphosa delivered the January 8th statement, as part of the ANC's 110th birthday celebrations...

Humanitarian organisation, Gift of the Givers is continuing with relief efforts in the Eastern Cape following devastating floods in the province. Six people were reported to have died in the floods which affected areas including Buffalo City, Nyandeni and Mhlonto. Residents have asked government to fast track the distribution of temporary shelter. Elvis Presslin spoke to Eastern Cape coordinator f...

Some opposition parties have different views on whether the State of the Nation Address should be held virtually or in Cape Town. This comes as Parliament is currently scrambling for accommodation to host SONA in February at a suitable event. The National Assembly Chamber from where the President addresses the Nation annually has collapsed after the fire destroyed the building. SONA is an annual a...

Security experts have warned that security measures must be tightened up in National Key Points. This comes days after a fire broke out in Parliament in Cape Town and another man was arrested for breaking the windows at the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg. Professor at the Wits School of Governance, Professor Anthoni van Nieuwkerk

The first part of the commission into state capture's report found that SAA chairperson Dudu Myeni ran the airline under a cloud of fear, intimidation, secrecy, and paranoia. The report, handed over to President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday, found that Myeni's arrival at the airline saw an increase in wasteful expenditure, corruption, and low staff morale, as well as growing tensions among board mem...

The first part of the State Capture report was officially handed over to President Cyril Ramaphosa by the Commission's Chair, Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo yesterday. Zondo announced that the second part of the report would be submitted to the President at the end of the month, while the final submission will be made at the end of February. The State Capture Commission was established in 2018...

The parliamentary precinct in Cape Town remains cordoned off as firefighters remain on-site to check for potential flare-ups. For more insights on the design and structure of the gutted buildings in parliament here is the original architect of the National Assembly, Jack Van Der Lecq

Deputy chief justice, Raymond Zondo is to hand over part 1 of the State Capture report to President Cyril Ramaphosa today. There have been calls that the report should be handed over to Deputy President David Mabuza instead. Democratic Alliance leader, John Steenhuisen gives his view on the report...

Non-governmental organization Democracy In Action has asked the Johannesburg High Court to prevent the handover of part 1 of the state capture commission report to president Cyril Ramaphosa. The NGO is arguing that Ramaphosa has been "implicated by many witnesses" and wants the report delivered to Deputy President David Mabuza instead. Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo is this afternoon expected...

We take a look at the current top African economic stories with Victor Kgomoesoana, 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..... * Morocco's High-Speed Train Goes Green * President Uhuru Kenyatta says Kenya Airways, South African Airways to merge * IT Engineer Igitego...

The devastating fire in Parliament has raised questions about whether parliamentarians will be able to resume work on time this year. Inkatha Freedom Party Chief Whip in Parliament, Nerend Singh

The National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union has called for heads to roll following a devasting fire in Parliment yesterday morning. NEHAWU says the withdrawal of security personnel from Parliament over weekends, may have contributed to the extensive damage caused by the blaze. Officials have called for people not to speculate as investigations into the cause of the fire continue. NEHA...

Firefighters have remained at the parliamentary building in Cape Town overnight as a fire ravaged the building in the early hours of yesterday morning. Cape Town Mayoral Member for Safety and Security, JP Smith

A man has been arrested following a fire that gutted parts of the parliament precinct on Sunday. President Cyril Ramaphosa called the incident a  "terrible and devastating event". But vowed parliament's work would continue. For an update here is our Parliamentary Correspondent Mercedes Besent

President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to formally receive the first part of the interim report into allegations of State Capture on Tuesday. This after Deputy Chief Justice, Raymond Zondo applied for yet another extension last month and sought to release the findings of the report in three parts. Zondo hopes to deliver the second part of the report at the end of January and part three at the end o...

The KwaZulu-Natal government yesterday commemorated the 1838 Battle of Blood river or the Ncome River battle in Nquthu north of the province.  The battle between the AmaZulu nation and the Voortrekkers on 16 December 1838, saw the Ncome River turn red with the blood of thousands of AmaZulu warriors. However, Premier Sihle Zikalala, expressed disappointment after it emerge that another group o...

Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (Contralesa) general secretary Zolani Mkhiva says those behind bogus initiation schools should be treated as human traffickers. This as the number of initiates that have died during the summer initiation season now stands at 23. The Eastern Cape government however says that the 23 young men occurred at both legal and unlawful schools. Dehydration see...

The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal has written to the party's highest decision-making body, the National Executive Committee, asking for permission to become friends of the court in former president Jacob Zuma's appeal over his re-incarceration. This follows the North Gauteng High Court ruling which ordered that Zuma should be sent back to prison to serve out his 15-month jail sentence for contempt of court...

It's now time to take a look at the current top African economic stories.....Victor Kgomoesoana, author of  "Africa Is Open For Business" and "Africa Bounces Back".

British Health Secretary Sajid Javid yesterday announced that London will remove all 11 Southern African countries from its COVID-19 travel red list from today because there is now community transmission of the Omicron variant. The British government added the southern African countries - including South Africa, to its red list in late November. Javid says Britain will maintain its temporary testi...

Eskom spokesperson, Sikonathi Mantshantsha says the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) is fully aware and is in support of the work to be done at Koeberg. Mantshantsha says the other unit of the plant will also undergo the same maintenance work, effectively meaning the Koeberg plan may run at half capacity for almost the entire year in 2022. Energy expert and advisor at the Organiza...

Power Utility, Eskom has confirmed that extensive maintenance work will be undertaken at the Koeberg Power Station from early January in order to extend the operating life of the plant by another 20 years. This has prompted the Koeberg Alert Alliance to embark on a planned protest march on Thursday at Bloubergstrand Beach, Cape Town. The Alert Alliance says the protest is in order to raise safety...

Women are still underrepresented in the judiciary. This is according to the Annual Judiciary Performance Report which covered the period from April 2020 to March 2021. Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo released the report virtually yesterday (14 December 2021) It states that 44 percent of judges and 49 percent of magistrates are women, despite the fact that women make up 53 percent of the country...