First Take SA

Elvis Presslin spoke to Independent Economic and Energy Expert, Tshepo Kgadima on President Cyril Ramaphosa's range of additional measures to respond to the energy crisis in South Africa...

President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced a range of additional measures to respond to the energy crisis in South Africa. His address last night on the country's energy scarcity follows a number of consultations with government, energy experts, and other stakeholders for collective solutions. For more on this, Elvis Presslin spoke to the DA's Shadow Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Kevin Mileham

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

Disgruntled ANC staff members held a picket outside the party's headquarters in Luthuli House, Johannesburg yesterday, over unpaid salaries yet again. The staffers say they have been without salaries for two months. For more on this, Elvis Presslin  spoke to ANC staff representative, Mvusi Mdala.

ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa officially closed the party's KwaZulu-Natal elective conference in Durban last night, following some resistance and booing from the delegates. Newly elected Provincial Chairperson, Siboniso Duma, had to intervene, appealing to the party members to allow the president to speak. During his address, Ramaphosa explained the reasons why there was uncertainty on whether or not he will be able to attend the conference, saying his availability was dependent on his tight schedule for the day. The ANC had earlier confirmed that Ramaphosa would not officially close the conference, saying he had other commitments. For some analysis, Elvis Presslin spoke to Political analyst Professor Bheki Mngomezulu

The nomination of additional members of the Provincial Executive Committee of the ANC in Kwazulu-Natal was concluded yesterday with an address by party President Cyril Ramaphosa. All the party leaders who were contesting for positions including the former ANC provincial chairperson Sihle Zikalala and the former secretary Mdumiseni Ntuli accepted their nominations. To further discuss this Elvis Presslin spoke to newly elected ANC Kwazulu-Natal Provincial Secretary Bheki Mtolo

Homeowners, credit card holders, and people with other personal debts will have to dig deeper into their pockets to service their loans. This is after the South African Reserve Bank announced hikes in the repo rate by 75 basis points to 5.5%. The prime lending rate at banks which comes into effect today is now 9%. The hike in the interest rate comes just after Statistics South Africa announced the highest rate of consumer inflation South Africa recorded in 13 years. For more on this, Elvis Presslin spoke to Tertia Jacobs, a Treasury Economist at Investec

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

The Reserve Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is expected to make an announcement on the interest rates later today. This is as South Africa's Consumer Price Inflation surged to the highest level in 13 years. Data released by Statistics South Africa shows that the consumer price inflation increased to 7.4% percent in June, from 6.5% in May this year. For more on this, Elvis Presslin spoke to Chief Economist at Alexander Forbes, Mr. Isaah Mhlanga

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has accepted an offer from trade union Solidarity to assist in supplying Eskom with people who have the necessary technical skills to help the government address the power crisis. Gordhan informed the union that Eskom required power station engineers - including mechanical, nuclear, and electrical, among others. MEANWHILE, Solidarity has described Eskom's latest application submitted to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) as absurd, irrational, and unlawful, stating that if accepted, Solidarity would oppose the proposal with all the legal recourse at its disposal. Eskom has requested among other things that a tariff of over R900 per month be levied on consumers who are generating power themselves. For more on this, Elvis Presslin spoke to Solidarity Research Institute Head Connie Mulder