First Take SA

The Public Servants Association is forging ahead with its strike for better wages after obtaining a strike certificate. The union will embark on industrial action from the 3rd of November if unions fail to reach a wage agreement with the government as the employer. The PSA has joined forces with Cosatu-affiliated unions in their rejection of the government's three-percent wage offer. For more on this, Elvis Presslin spoke to  Claude Naiker, Spokesperson of PublicServants Association

Time to take 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

President Cyril Ramaphosa will host the second presidential summit against gender-based violence and femicide, today and tomorrow. Under the theme: "Accountability, Acceleration, and Amplification, Now" ... the summit comes at a time when the country continues to record an increasing number of gender-based violence and femicide cases.  The first summit was held in 2018. For more on this, Elvis Presslin spoke to the Co-chair for media and communications on the Summit, Babalwa Mtengenya

 The Department of Basic Education says although contingency measures have been put in place to deal with Eskom's blackouts during matric exams, some situations can't be avoided. The department briefed the media on the state of readiness for the National Senior Certificate examinations starting today. Some practical exams have already been written. To discuss this further Elvis Presslin spoke to SADTU General Secretary, Mugwena Maluleke

Workers in the public service sector will today stage pickets across the country after public service negotiations collapsed. Employees belonging to unions including the largest public service union, the Public Service Association, healthcare workers union NEHAWU and police union POPCRU will take part in the demonstrations. The South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) has described as an insult - Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana's endorsement of the government's decision to unilaterally implement a three-percent wage increase for public servants during his Medium Term Budget Policy Statement in the National Assembly last week. For more on this, Elvis Presslin spoke to SAFTU Deputy President Thabo Matsose

 AfriForum says there is good history between the Zulu and Afrikaner communities and has called on the two groups to renew the relations that existed between them during King Dinizulu kaCetshwayo's reign. Afriforum leaders attended King Misuzulu's official certificate of recognition handover by President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban over the weekend. For more on this, Elvis Presslin spoke to Head of Intercultural Relations and Cooperation at AfriForum, Barend Uys 

Solidarity has welcomed the arrest of Matshela Koko, his wife Mosima, and his stepdaughter, Koketso Choma, due to alleged corruption at Eskom.  Solidarity filed criminal charges against Koko and others at the Brooklyn police station earlier this year. The fraud, corruption, and money laundering trial has been postponed to the 23rd of March next year at the Middelburg Specialised Crimes Court in Mpumalanga. Koko has been granted bail of R300 000. To further discuss this Elvis Presslin spoke to Solidarity Deputy CEO, Anton van der Bijl

Advocate Dali Mpofu and his team the legal representatives of suspended Public Protector Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane have withdrawn from her inquiry. Mkhwebane is currently facing a parliamentary inquiry into her competence to hold office. Mkhwebane told the committee it was not communicated to her by the legal team its intention to withdraw from the inquiry. To further discuss this Elvis Presslin spoke to Political Analyst, Dr. Ralph Mathekga

Gauteng motorists will no longer have to pay for E-Tolls after a decade of defiance against the tolling system. This is after Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced that the e-toll-related debt will be split between the national and provincial governments. Tabling his Medium Term Budget Policy Statement in the National Assembly yesterday Godongwana said the national government will cover 70% of SANRAL's debt while the Gauteng government will contribute 30% to the estimated R47 billion debt. For more on this, Elvis Presslin spoke to SANRAL's national spokesperson Mr. Vusi Mona.

The South African government says it currently does not have evidence to support claims by the U.S. Government that there could be a terror attack in Johannesburg. This after the US embassy in Pretoria issued an alert warning that it has received information that terrorists could conduct an attack, targeting large gatherings of people in the Sandton area this coming weekend. Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele, says South Africa currently does not have information substantiating these reports. For analysis, Elvis Presslin spoke to a Senior Researcher at the Institute for Security Studies, Martin Ewi