First Take SA

The ANC's Regional Deputy Chairperson In Ekurhuleni, Jongizizwe Dlabathi says the step side rule seems to want to overshadow critical discussions around organizational renewal. This as the party's sixth Policy Conference will officially kick off today in Nasrec, Johannesburg. The conference is a prelude to the ruling party's 55th National Elective Conference, which will take place in December. Over 6 000 delegates from the ANC are expected to attend the Conference. For more on this, Elvis Presslin spoke to Mr. Jongizizwe Dlabathi.

Trade union NUMSA's Regional Secretary in the Western Cape, Vuyo Lufele, says the union's national congress which is being held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, should be declared null and void. This comes after the Labour Court in Johannesburg dismissed the union's application for leave to appeal against the court's decision which interdicted the congress from going ahead. For more on this Elvis Presslin spoke to NUMSA's Western Cape regional Secretary Vuyo Lufele 

Time to take a look at the current top African economic stories with Victor Kgomoesoana, 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

Action SA councilors in the KwaDukuza Municipality North of Durban have opened a case of assault and intimidation against the ANC in the council. This was after an altercation among some councilors that led to the collapse of the council meeting. The meeting was to debate a motion to remove the ANC mayor and speaker. Elvis Presslin spoke to ActionSA national chairperson, Michael Beaumont

Former SAA board chair, Dudu Myeni has been sentenced to five years by the Johannesburg Magistrate's court for defeating the administration of justice or pay a 120-thousand rand fine. Half of the fine has been suspended, provided she does not repeat the same offense within the next five years. Myeni pleaded guilty to defying an order by the Chairperson of the State Capture Commission, Raymond Zondo to not disclose the identity of a protected witness. Myeni mentioned the name of the witness, who was identified by Zondo as Mr. X, twice during her testimony in front of live television cameras last year. For some reaction, Elvis Presslin spoke to Right2know Campaign National Coordinator Verushka Memdutt

Afriforum has given ANC Gauteng chairperson Panyaza Lesufi until tomorrow to apologize or face a lawsuit of R500 000. The organization says the lawsuit stem from Lesufi's comments that Afriforum is a racist organization. The comments were allegedly made last month on SABC after his election as ANC Gauteng Chairperson. For more on this, Elvis Presslin spoke to Afriforum's Head of Policy and Action, Ernst Roets

Why are more communities seeking to become Independent from the state? Traditional royal families visited the Afrikaner-only town of Orania on a fact-finding mission to learn more about Orania's model of self-determination and self-sufficiency. Orania - Situated in the Northern Cape and established in 1991 to preserve the Afrikaner culture and its material Interests, has an independent and unique municipal system, which manages its own municipal affairs, Independent from the state. For more on this, Elvis Presslin spoke to Jooste Strydom, Head of the Orania Movement

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, Numsa, will officially commence its court-interdicted national congress in Cape Town today. This is after union members of the special Central Committee met yesterday and reached a consensus for the continuation of the congress despite the possibility of being in contempt of court. The Labour Court in Johannesburg at the weekend ruled that the congress could not take place until concerns regarding the suspension of 31 Numsa officials were addressed. For more on this, Elvis Presslin spoke to Numsa veteran Phutas Tseki

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) says the government is in a rush to facilitate the privatization of power utility Eskom. The union was responding to President Cyril Ramaphosa's address to the nation on Monday, where he announced some measures to address the energy crisis in the country. Ramaphosa announced some interventions, including the procurement of additional baseload capacity from renewables and gas and accelerating private sector involvement in energy generation.  For more on this, Elvis Presslin spoke to NUM Energy Sector Coordinator, Khangela Baloyi 

The Mogalakwena local municipality is set to terminate the appointment of more than 400 permanent workers who were allegedly irregularly appointed two years ago. The Limpopo Provincial Department of Co-operative governance has ordered that the termination of employment must be finalized before the end of August. To discuss this further Elvis Presslin spoke to Labour Expert Harry Masindi