Afternoon Drive with John Maytham

To end off, we're speak to Juliet or Jules Harding of the band, GoodLuck, which released its first acoustic album, "Up Close", last month.

Earlier this week it was nominated for a SAMA for 'Best Engineered Album of the Year'. 'Together like Rum & Cola' was one of the first singles off the album.

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We speak to royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams about British princes William and Harry who have hit out at the BBC  and journalist Martin Bashir about the 'deceitful' way he obtained an interview with their late mother, Princess Diana.

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It's day 400 of the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture in Johannesburg. To find out what happened today, we speak to EWN's Nthakoana Ngatane.

  

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We speak to musician Francois Van Coke who will be sharing his favourite feel-good songs from the 80s and 90s on #AnHourWith on Cape Talk on Sunday morning.

He rose to fame as the frontman of the rock bands Fokofpolisiekar and Van Coke Kartel. 

In April 2015, he launched his self-titled debut solo album and kicked his solo career into gear with the release of – Toe Vind Ek Jou featuring Karen Zoid.

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The Western Cape government, in a bid to boost the country's ailing tourism sector, has called for the introduction of a removed working visa that will allow international tourists to stay here longer.

As many more people are working remotely because of Covid-19, it believes the move will make working vacations possible with their spending benefitting the local tourism trade.

To find out more, we speak to  Tim Harris who is the CEO of Wesgro, the official tourism, trade, and investment promotion agency for Cape Town and the Western Cape.

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On Wednesday, the Department of Basic Education announced that all contact sports at schools were to be suspended with immediate effect.

 It went on to say that non-contact sports training could continue provided that all social distancing, hygiene, and safety measures were observed and that there was no physical contact between participants.

 The department says the move was necessary because it appeared that, despite following safety protocols, contact sports events still contribute to the spread of the virus.

We speak to the Western Cape MEC for Basic Education, Debbie Schafer.

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A truce between Israel and Hamas which came into effect in the early hours of this morning after what has been the worst violence in years appears to be holding.

The Egyptian negotiated ceasefire came after 11  days of clashes which saw Israel bombard Gaza and Palestinian militant rocket attacks on Israel.

In Gaza, the death toll rose last night to 243, including 66 children, with more than 1,900 wounded and critical infrastructure damaged as well as thousands of homes.

The military in Israel says a soldier has been killed as well as 12 civilians, including several children, while hundreds of people have been treated for injuries.

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A study published today in the prestigious international medical journal, The Lancet, says it appears that Africa has a higher death rate among critically ill Covid-19 patients than any other region of the world.

Based on data from the cases of over 3,000 adults admitted to 64 hospitals in 10 countries between May and December 2020,  it suggests that this high mortality may be partly explained by a shortage of critical care resources and the underuse of those that are available.

Estimates suggest that the provision of dialysis is 7 times less, and the provision of a machine to oxygenate blood is 14 times lower than required to adequately treat the patients in this study.

The authors say the findings have important implications for managing severely ill patients in resource-limited settings where a shortage of functioning equipment and specialised staff must be taken into consideration.

To find out more, we're joined by one of the lead authors, Professor Bruce Biccard,  who is a professor in the department of anaesthesia and perioperative medicine at Groote Schuur Hospital and UCT.

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In a report published today, human rights organisation, Amnesty International, says an urgent humanitarian intervention is needed in Madagascar as millions face hunger due to a devastating famine in the south of the country.

The situation reportedly became critical in September last year at the start of the so-called 'lean season' during what is the worst drought the country has experienced in 40 years.  It says donors, foreign governments and regional leaders must ramp up aid efforts to avert a potential human rights crisis.

We speak to Amnesty's  Madagascar Programme Advisor, Tamara Léger.

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Today is International Tea Day, a celebration of what is believed to be one of the world's oldest beverages and the second most popular after water.

It's apparently held in the month of May because it is springtime in Darjeeling and Nepal which are known for some of the finest teas in the world. 

To find out more about the many different types of tea, we speak to Mingwei Tsai, the owner of Nigiro Tea Merchants and Nigiro Teacafe in Gabriel Road, Plumstead (previously O'Ways in Claremont). 

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