Afternoon Drive with John Maytham

Guest: Penny Heyns

South African swimmers, Tatjana Schoenmaker and her teammate Kaylene Corbett have both made it into the finals of the women’s 200m breaststroke at the Tokyo Olympic Games.

100-metre silver medalist, Schoenmaker, finished as the fastest swimmer heading into the final, with Corbett the fourth fastest.

We speak to former swimmer and Olympic double gold winner, Penny Heyns, who is with the team in Tokyo.

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Guest: Dr Claire Spencer

Tunisia is facing its worst political crisis in a decade of democracy after President Kais Saied earlier this week ousted the government and suspended parliament with help from the army. This came after violent mass protests nationwide on Sunday as anger over the handling of a recent spike in Covid-19 cases, together with dissatisfaction about the country's economic and social turmoil boiled over. The move has been denounced as a coup by the country's main parties.

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Guest: Thabang  Rapuleng | Director in the Employment practice  at Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr

Following three months of talks with public sector employees, the government's has finally secured a wage agreement with unions after the Public Servants Association said it was on board, taking the deal over the required 50% threshold.

The agreement gives workers a below-inflation 1.5% pay hike and a monthly cash allowance of over R1,000 for a year.

However, two of the sector's largest unions, the National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu), and POPCRU, the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union, have rejected the deal and say they hope to block its implementation.

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Guest: We speak to cybersecurity expert and CEO at J2 Software, John McLoughlin, about how we can maintain tight security for all our devices.

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Guest: Fatima Hassan | Founder at Health Justice Initiative (HJI)

The World Trade Organization has again failed to agree to a proposed waiver of intellectual property rights on Covid-19 vaccines in order to boost production and increase access for poor nations.

 

South Africa, together with India, has been pushing for a temporary suspension of some IP rights which could allow local manufacturers to produce the jabs.

WTO states held talks yesterday at the its headquarters in Geneva but failed to reach a consensus.

We get comment from Fatima Hassan, director of the Health Justice Initiative and a human rights lawyer.

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Guest: Dr Catherine Egbe

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Guest: Michael Robotham

We speak to Australian author, Michael Robotham, about his latest book, When You are Mine, heart-pounding psychological thriller about friendship and obsession.

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Guest: Mark Anderson

Bird Life South Africa will be hosting its annual African Bird Fair this coming weekend which gathers together birders from across the continent.

After a very successful virtual event last year which saw a record number of attendees, it will be held online again.

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Guest: Helmoed Heitman | Military and Defence Analyst

President Cyril Ramaphosa has confirmed that it will cost South Africa just over R984 million to deploy some 1,500 SANDF members to help Mozambique fight terrorism.

 

He says he has authorised the deployment of the soldiers who will be helping Maputo to combat acts of terrorism and violent extremists in the Caba Delgado province.

 

The peace-keeping force will be stationed in Mozambique until 15 October.

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Guest: Sindiswa Busuku

Two South Africans, both of them University of Cape Town graduates, have been long-listed for the prestigious Booker Prize.

They are twice shortlisted Damon Galgut for his book, "The Promise", a story about a white family that has  failed to keep a promise to the black woman who has worked for them her whole life.

 And Karen Jennings for "The Island", which follows the tale of an old lighthouse keeper who finds the unconscious body of a refugee on his beach.

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