Afternoon Drive with John Maytham

Guest: Prof Neve Gordon

Israel is to hold its fourth elections in 2 years after the two main political parties in the coalition government failed to meet a deadline in a row over state budgets. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former rival, Defence Minister Benny Gantz, formed a unity government in May following 3 inconclusive elections since early 2019.

But the coalition has been teetering on the brink of collapse for weeks.

Netanyahu, who is on trial for alleged corruption, is hoping the polls to be held in March next year, will see him return to office for the sixth time.

We speak to Neve Gordon, professor of International Law and Human Rights at Queen Mary University of London who is a specialist on Israeli politics and the author of "Israel’s Occupation, the first complete history of Israeli rule of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem".

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We speak to Kirby Gordon, spokesperson for FlySafair, about the impact that Covid and the new earlier curfew has had on the airline's flights.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Guest: Bruce Mellado

There's been a surge in the number of Covid cases across South Africa in the last two weeks. The increases show clear signs of being the start of the second wave.  Gauteng has the highest cumulative caseload in the country and already at least 20 wards have been identified as developing hotspots.  Wits University's Institute for Collider Particle Physics, in collaboration with IBM, has developed a digital dashboard to flag these clusters.  We speak to Professor Bruce Mellado, Director of the ICPP, who is also a senior scientist at iThemba LABS.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Guest: Henning Grobler

We get an update on the Christmas weekend weather in Gauteng and the Western Cape from SA Weather Service's forecaster, Henning Grobler.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Guest: Bronwen Dyke-Beyer | Public Relations Manager at Golden Arrow Bus Services

We speak to Golden Arrow spokesperson, Bronwen Dyke-Beyer about the commuter who took over the driving of the bus after the panicked driver ran off while the passengers were being robbed at gunpoint by 2 men last week. After the robbery, Ashley Europa, who works as a cleaner for a company in the Waterfront, drove all the people on the bus to their respective stops and returned the bus to Golden Arrow.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Guest: US political commentator, Brooks Spector

US President Donald Trump, who is yet to acknowledge his resounding loss to Joe Biden, has announced a slew of presidential pardons, and issued a sudden demand for changes to a desperately needed $900 billion pandemic relief bill. Notably, he is asking for a big increase in the proposed $600  in direct payments to less well-off Americans, saying this should be increased to $2,000, which is the amount the Democrats requested in the first place.  We speak to US political commentator, Brooks Spector.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's the season for mosquitos.  We speak to Taneshka Kruger, Project manager at the University of Pretoria, Institute for Sustainable Malaria Control, about how to avoid being bitten.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Guest: Daniel Eloff | Attorney  at Hurter Spies

AfriForum and the Great Brak River Business Forum this morning lost their bid in the High Court in Pretoria to have government’s decision to close some of the country's beaches overturned.  The groups took the matter to court arguing the regulations will have a disastrous impact on businesses along the garden route.   We speak to lawyer Daniel Eloff from Hurter Spies who represented the Great Brak River Business Forum.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We speak to Khadija Jamaloodien, Director for Affordable Medicines in the National Department of Health about the fact that South Africa's Covax participation has been secured after the  Solidarity Fund concluded a down payment.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We speak to Western Cape Premier Alan Winde to get an update on the latest on the Covid-19 pandemic in the province.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.