First Take SA

President Cyril Ramaphosa has left the trading of liquor at normal trading hours temporarily as he warned of an increase in positive covid-19 infections. Ramaphosa has urged people to get their jabs as soon as possible. Spokesperson of the National Liquor Traders Association, Lucky Mtimane on their call for the industry to not be prohibited from trading

President Cyril Ramaphosa has warned that the 4th wave of new COVID-19 infections is expected to hit the country by early December. He was updating the nation last night about the Omicron variant which is largely behind the latest increase in positive covid-19 infections. Ramaphosa urged people who qualify for vaccinations to get their jabs as soon as possible. For some reaction to these latest developments, here is Vice Chairperson of the South African Medical Association - SAMA -  Dr Mvuyisi Mzukwa

South African consumers have been warned to pay close attention to black Friday deals and avoid falling prey to clever advertising gimmicks offered by retailers. Thousands of South Africans are likely to flood shopping malls and supermarkets from today, aiming to get a slice of the black Friday pie. However, as experts warn - many deals being offered by retailers have been strategically packaged using intelligent marketing techniques to fool unsuspecting consumers, out to save a quick buck. For a look at the psychological factors that lead people to buy, often times excessively and irrationally, during Black Friday, Counseling Psychologist, Buyisile Mncina

Time to take a look at 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 ANC has retained control of the eThekwini metro with the help of a number of small parties with one or 2 seats each in the council. This after the city emerged from this month's municipal elections with a hung council. The ANC received only 42 percent of the vote and 96 of the 222 seats in the council. Four established opposition parties - the DA, EFF, IFP, and the ACDP - tried unsuccessfully to wrestle control of the city from the ANC. Professor of Political Science and Deputy Dean of Research at the University of the Western Cape, Professor Bheki Mngomezulu discusses the developments in the eThekwini municipality

The number of new Covid-19 cases in the country has been on the rise for the past few days with some parts of the Tshwane Metro displaying signs of hotspot areas. Daily new infections across the country are now around a thousand a day as the health department has added the rapid antigen tests to the latest rounds of COVID-19 statistics. The sharp rise in new infections has led to more concerns that the imminent forth-wave may be upon us by mid-December. This also comes as the number of daily vaccination rates is declining with the risk of some vaccines running out of their shelf life. Chief Director for Child Programme and Covid-19 team leader at the National Health Department, Dr Lesley Bamford

The National Credit Regulator has called on South Africans not to burn their pockets while taking advantage of Black Friday deals. This comes after the regulator revealed that just over 16 million of the 26 million credit active consumers, are in good standing, while the rest of the 10 million have impaired records. It has been a hard year for consumers and things seem not likely to ease after the Reserve Bank hiked the repo rate to 3.75%, placing the prime lending rate at 7.25%. With the biggest shopping day of the year just hours away, the regulator says consumers need to be financially wise. Senior Communications Officer at the National Credit Regulator, Jimmy Golele

NPO, Good Governance Africa, has published a paper calling for what it calls super coalitions among the leading political parties in the country. The NPO says such partnerships have benefited countries such as Austria, the Czech Republic, and Estonia. Author and Editor at Good Governance  Africa Governance, Richard  Jurgens

The newly elected City of Tshwane executive mayor Randall Williams says political parties should put their differences aside to adequately render services to the citizens. DA's Williams has retained his position as the executive mayor of the City of Tshwane. He was elected unopposed. The ANC did not submit any candidate for the mayoral position. Head of Elections from the Freedom Front Plus, Wouter Wessels gives us his reaction on the developments

Football fans remain on edge as they anxiously wait for FIFA's decision into the conduct of the Senegalese referee that officiated the World Cup qualifier game between Bafana Bafana and the Black Stars. This after the South African Football Association lodged an appeal with the Soccer World Body seeking an investigation into the inconsistencies by the match referee, Maguetee Ndiaye. Bafana Bafana was booted out of the qualifications race by Ghana after losing by one-nil following a dubious penalty decision by the referee. For some thoughts on what to expect from FIFA's Disciplinary Committee, here is retired FIFA referee who was also responsible for the independent report prepared for SAFA, Ace Ncobo.