First Take SA

Free State artists have joined other provinces and embarked on a month-long sit-in protest at the offices of the Performing Arts Centre of the Free State, PACOFS, in Bloemfontein. They demand action against officials who have been implicated in a forensic report into allegations of corruption. Meanwhile Arts organisation ASSITEJ SA has launched legal action against the National Arts Council (NAC) over what it says is the maladministration of the government's promised stimulus fund.

Immediate technical deployment will be directed to Mozambique to aid it's fight against the insurgency in it's northern region of Cabo Delgado. This is a resolution for the SADC's Double Troika Summit held in Maputo, Mozambique, YESTERDAY. The meeting which was convened to discuss the ongoing security challenges also expressed concern on the impact the terrorism is having on the people of that region. Last month, dozens were killed where IS-linked miltants attacked a hotel in the coastal town of Palma.

The Southern African Development Community - SADC, will TODAY hold an extraordinary Troika Summit meeting in Maputo, Mozambique, to deliberate on measures to address terrorism in the host country. The meeting comes after insurgents attacked the strategic town of Palma late last month. The country has seen continued terrorist attacks in Cabo Delgado Province over the past few weeks, leaving many people dead or injured.

The Competition Commission says there is a lack of integration in the country's public transport system and this is worsened by the inequality between transport modes. The commission released its public transport market inquiry report YESTERDAY (Wednesday 7 April). Commissioner Tembinkosi Bonakele says they also received many complaints from the public about the sector

Former SABC Parliamentary journalist, Manelisi Dubase, says one of the stories he covered before he was retrenched was the very touching candlelight ceremony to commemorate the coronavirus victims that President Cyril Ramaphosa attended on New Year's eve last year. Dubase and another Parliamentary Journalist Mkhokeli Tanda are among the 621 employees who were affected by the SABC's Section 189 retrenchment process. The process was concluded a week ago.

The defence team in the trial of the former police officer charged with the murder of George Floyd is facing an uphill battle after a growing body of damning testimony against their client. This follows testimony from the emergency room doctor that sought to revive Floyd who had lost consciousness with Derek Chauvin's knee on his neck for over 9 minutes. This was followed by the Police Chief of the Minneapolis Police Department who again asserted that the police officer, whom he fired shortly after the May 2020 incident, violated policy and training by maintaining his knee on the victim's neck for minutes after he had stopped resisting.

There continues to be uncertainty as to when the local government elections will be held. This, after the EFF intensified its bid to have the polls pushed back -- lobbying other political parties and approaching the Electoral Commission to put the matter on the agenda. However, there are a number of hurdles it must still overcome, including a rejection of the proposal by some other parties.

The South African National Taxi Council has hinted that a possible increase in taxi fares may be on the cards as the price of fuel soared higher by one rand from THIS MORNING*. Motorists from inland provinces will now have to fork out over seventeen rands for a litre of 95 unleaded fuel while diesel has soared by a total of 65 cents. These latest price hikes are inclusive of the 27 cents that Finance Minister Tito Mboweni announced for the Road Accident Fund, bringing the total fuel levy to between 35-40 percent of the fuel price per litre. SANTANCO's national spokesperson, Thabisho Molelekwa says financial losses incurred by the industry during the peak of the covid-19 pandemic may necessitate a significant price hike in taxi fares.

More than 165 million Americans have received at least one dose of the Coronavirus vaccine as the country ramps up its daily doses to close on 3 million shots per day. While officials are lauding the fact the country with the highest death toll and accumulative caseload is outpacing much of the world in immunizing their population, they continue to raise alarm at rising case numbers while pointing to a seven-day average of deaths at slightly below 900 per day.

Limpopo Police and the SANDF have heightened their visibility in and around the Beitbridge Border Post. There's been a spike in robberies and attacks at the Musina crossing recently. A truck driver was airlifted to the Pietersburg Provincial Hospital in Polokwane last week. He was robbed while queuing at the port of entry.