First Take SA

Administration of the Sisonke COVID-19 booster dose aimed at healthcare workers, which was delayed on Monday due to technical glitches, is expected to start today. Healthcare workers were the first group of people that were vaccinated in South Africa under the Sisonke Programme, which was a collaboration between the National Department of Health and other health professionals. The South African Medical Association - SAMA - maintains that the rollout of the vaccine booster shots to healthcare workers is of utmost importance. For more on this here is chairperson of SAMA, Dr. Angelique Coetzee...

ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa has admitted that it is difficult at this stage to put a time frame as to when load shedding will come to an end as problems engulfing ESKOM are complex. Ramaphosa was speaking at an ANC Thank You event in Soweto, Johannesburg, where he was thanking ANC members for their work during the recent local government elections. For more on some of those complexities that president Ramaphosa was alluding to, energy advisor at the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse Chris Yelland... 

The ANC says it has yet to enter into any coalition agreements with some of the political parties represented in the 66 hung municipalities countrywide. Meanwhile, ActionSA has been running a poll, asking its supporters to say which of the political parties they should enter into coalitions with. For some analysis of what these coalition talks and possible agreements could mean for the general public, author and political analyst, Sanusha Naidu discusses this...

ActionSA, the party formed by former Joburg mayor, Herman Mashaba, has been running a poll, which ended at midnight, asking its supporters to say which of the political parties they should enter into coalitions with. Party national chairperson, Michael Beaumont...

The ANC says it has yet to enter into any coalition agreements with some of the political parties represented in the 66 hung municipalities countrywide. Party deputy secretary, Jessie Duarte made the assertion at the Special ANC NEC meeting in Irene, Pretoria yesterday (Sunday). The special NEC meeting comes at the back of the local government elections which saw the party failing to secure enough votes to form governments in key municipalities which include six metros. The ANC has since formulated a coalition task team that is headed by the party's treasurer general, Paul Mashatile, together with the deputy secretary general, Jessie Duarte. For the latest on the weekend coalition talks SABC's senior political reporter, Ntebo Mokobo weighs in...

The Independent Electoral Commission released the final results of the 2021 Local Government Election at the Results Operations Center (ROC) in Pretoria. The results follow a challenging election campaign that saw political parties try to secure votes, amid a global pandemic and a shorter than usual time frame. Executive Chair of the Institute of Election Management Services in Africa, Terry Tselane

The Democratic Alliance has recorded a decline of about five percent in votes in the Eastern Cape province despite claiming control of the coastal towns within the Kouga Municipality. The party has also fallen short of its objective of claiming control of the closely contested Nelson Mandela Bay metro, drawing 38 seats out of the 61 seats needed for majority control of the council. One of the other shortfalls of the party in the province has been its removal as an opposition party from the Makana municipality in which it was replaced by the civic group, the Makana Citizens Front. For some reflection on the overall performance of the party, DA chairperson in the Eastern Cape, Andrew Whitfield

ActionSA in KwaZulu-Natal says it is elated by its performance at the polls in KwaDukuza Local Municipality where it gained five council seats. The party, led by former Johannesburg mayor, Herman Mashaba has also made inroads in Joburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni. The party has also made its presence felt in eThekwini municipality, gaining 4 seats thus minimizing the ANC's majority rule. 
Provincial chairperson of the party in KZN, Dr Makhosi Khoza says the party is humbled by the support it received in these elections.  ActionSA spokesperson in KwaZulu-Natal, Busi Radebe

For some analysis on the latest Local Government election results, here is Dr Kagiso Pooe from the School of Governance at Wits University....

Another new kid on the block during these Local Government Elections which has shown great potential in the City of Cape Town is the Cape Coloured Congress. For an assessment and reaction to how the party has performed thus far, Cape Coloured Congress president, Fadiel Adams...