First Take SA

Five men have been summoned to appear in the Jagersfontein Magistrates Court in September following the 2022 Jagersfontein dam wall collapse. The disaster claimed three lives and caused significant property damage. After an extensive investigation, the National Prosecuting Authority has charged the suspects; employees of an engineering firm, a compliance officer and an operations manager with murd...

The 27th INTERPOL African Regional Conference enters its second day in South Africa today. Law enforcement says the summit highlights the country's dedication to tackling transnational organised crime, terrorism and emerging security threats through regional and international cooperation. The conference, running until Friday, is set to produce agreements to bolster regional responses and foster th...

Businessman Collen Mashawana will today face off in court against the Daily Maverick and journalist Pieter-Louis Myburgh. Mashawana is seeking an urgent gag order to halt the outlet's reports on alleged corruption tied to him and his foundation. He claims the Daily Maverick's articles are defamatory and aimed at publicly shaming him. The hearing is set to take place in the Gauteng High Court this...

The Democratic Alliance, DA will today picket outside Premier Panyaza Lesufi's Johannesburg office over the escalating crime crisis in Gauteng. The DA claims South African Police Service stations are severely under-resourced and understaffed, despite Lesufi's pledge to prioritize crime-fighting. For the latest on today's demonstrations Elvis Presslin spoke to DA Gauteng Leader & Leader of the...

The Public Servants Association, PSA has slammed the ongoing service disruptions at the Mbombela and White River Driving Licence Testing Centres. The PSA says endless refurbishments, financial year-end closures and persistent system failures are causing chaos, leaving residents unable to renew licences or secure vehicle permits. Elvis Presslin spoke to Labour Relations Officer of the Public Servan...

The Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Mamoloko Kubayi, has suspended Director General Advocate Doctor Mashabane and Deputy Director General Jabu Hlatshwayo of the ICT division. The suspensions follow their failure to ensure the Madlanga Commission could start as scheduled on 1 September 2025. The commission has been postponed indefinitely due to delays in procuring essential infr...

The South African Prisoners Organisation for Human Rights, SAPOHR, has expressed strong support for the Department of Correctional Services' decision to reintroduce electronic tagging for parolees. The initiative aims to monitor the movements and whereabouts of ex-offenders serving the remainder of their sentences outside prison. Elvis Presslin spoke to Golden Miles Bhudu, President of the South A...

The Cape Forum has strongly condemned a video circulating on social media showing a young coloured girl using a racist slur against black learners at Knysna High School in the Southern Cape. Chairperson Heindrich Wyngaard says we cannot excuse or justify any act of disrespect or racism, regardless of who commits it. Elvis Presslin spoke to Heindrich Wyngaard, Cape Forum Executive Chairperson

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 National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa has slammed Macsteel management for sparking an indefinite strike that began on Friday. The union claims Macsteel forcibly retrenched workers and pressured them into accepting voluntary severance packages of just 40,000 rand, based on one week's pay per year of service. NUMSA calls this far below industry standards, which typically offer three to...

Five men have been shot and killed at an open-cast chrome mine in Tlhatlaganyane, near Sun City in the North West. The area is known for small-scale mining, with several licenses issued for chrome extraction. For more details, Elvis Presslin spoke to North West Police Spokesperson, Brigadier Sabata Mokgwabone

The Afrikaner-only community of Kleinfontein has accused the City of Tshwane of political bias after receiving an ultimatum to reapply for township status or face demolition. The community, which first applied for formalisation in 2013, was told their application is outdated due to new legislation. The City of Tshwane served court papers, threatening demolition if the community does not comply. Kl...

RISE Mzansi says it is deeply concerned about a surge in violent crimes across South Africa. Multiple shootings and a stabbing have led to the loss of young lives in several parts of the country. Three people were shot, one fatally, outside the Mithcells Plain SAPS in Cape Town. This occurred while the Western Cape Provincial Commissioner was speaking at an imbizo nearby. In the same province, At...

In Mpumalanga, women in the construction industry have revealed a dark side to their work, telling Premier Mandla Ndlovu about construction mafias demanding sexual favours to avoid project disruptions. The revelations came during a women in construction dialogue at the Ehlanzeni Disaster Management Centre in Mbombela. What was meant to celebrate women's progress in the male-dominated sector turned...

A R65 million lawsuit has been filed in the High Court nearly two years after the devastating Boksburg tanker explosion that killed 41 people. LHL Attorneys, representing 67 victims, is seeking compensation for losses, injuries and trauma caused by the December 2022 tragedy. The suit targets Infinite Fleet Transport, Innovative Staffing Solutions and the City of Ekurhuleni accusing the trio of neg...

The Independent Financial Advisors Forum, IFAF, is demanding the immediate withdrawal of a medical aid brokerage tender by the City of Tshwane, calling it irregular and unlawful. IFAF, a non-profit representing mostly black-owned small and medium-sized brokerages says the tender which grants medical aid members the right to choose their own brokers violates regulation of the Medical Schemes Act. E...

The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) is warning young South African women not to fall for unverified foreign job offers. This after suspicious employment opportunities were advertised by social media influencers on Tik Tok, Instagram and other social media platforms. DIRCO says human trafficking syndicates are luring people into all sorts of illegal activities under sl...

ActionSA has condemned what it says is the intimidation of Ms. Luyanda, a South African spaza shop owner in Dobsonville, Soweto. The party says during a routine bread delivery, Ms. Luyanda was threatened by a neighboring Pakistani shop owner, who demanded she shut down her business or face consequences. ActionSA calls this unacceptable, highlighting a pattern of such incidents with no action taken...

The South African Democratic Teachers Union, SADTU has welcomed the Education Labour Relations Council's appointment to investigate claims of ghost workers in public schools. The nationwide inquiry, backed by five teacher unions, the Department of Basic Education and all nine provincial education departments, aims to tackle corruption and rebuild trust in the education payroll system. Elvis Pressl...

Patriotic Alliance leader and Minister of Sports, Arts, and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, has accused the South African Human Rights Commission of defamation. The Commission found prima facie evidence of hate speech in McKenzie's past social media posts, which were flagged as offensive. McKenzie called the findings premature and politically motivated, saying they harm his reputation. Elvis Presslin sp...

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 Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse, OUTA, has welcomed the government's decision to place three Sector Education and Training Authorities, CETA, Services SETA, and LGSETA under administration. However, the watchdog warns this step alone won't address years of corruption, wasteful spending, and leadership failures. OUTA is questioning why INSETA was excluded from the intervention despite its own go...

The Department of International Relations and Cooperation, DIRCO has dismissed allegations of racially motivated attacks in rural and farming communities, as stated in the 2024 US Human Rights Report. DIRCO calls the claims inaccurate, citing South African police data from January to March 2025, which recorded six murders in farming areas, involving farm workers, dwellers and farmers, with no evid...

The Portfolio Committee on Tourism has raised concerns over the recent dissolution of the South African Tourism Board by Minister of Tourism, Patricia de Lille. Reports indicate the Minister acted after the Board overstepped its authority by appointing a member to perform duties of the former Chairperson, Professor Gregory Davids, who resigned in July. The Board also reportedly violated its own ch...

The Federation of Unions of South Africa, FEDUSA has welcomed the Department of Employment and Labour's move to reinstate powers for labour inspectors to enforce pension fund payments. FEDUSA says this tackles widespread theft of workers' retirement savings by dishonest employers in industries like cleaning, security and local government, where unpaid contributions have ballooned into billions, le...