First Take SA

Trade union federation Cosatu in the Free State has endorsed the continuation of the shutdown over chronic water shortage in Maluti-A-Phofung municipality in Qwaqwa. Majority of the workers have called for the continuation of the shutdown which started last Monday and suspended on Wednesday after a government delegation met with community leaders. The Union leaders held a meeting with workers YESTERDAY (Sunday) to discuss the water crisis in the area.

Trade Union, NUMSA, says they are expected to meet with Autopax stakeholders tomorrow to map a way forward - after the Translux and City to City buses operator announced that its not able to pay its employees their full salaries for January. Autopax - a subsidiary of the Passenger Rail agency of South Africa (PRASA) - has been placed under administration following claims of corruption and maladministration.

The Communications Worker's Union has vowed to take up the fight against the retrenchment of three-thousand employees at the fixed-line operator, Telkom. This as the union together with Telkom enter into consultations in order to curb the loss of jobs which CWU actually puts at six-thousand workers. CWU's Secretary General, Aubrey Tshabalala says the upskilling of workers should not be over-shadowed by greedy and selfish executives who put profits ahead of worker interests. Telkom's spokesperson, Noma Faku has however hit back by saying the modernisation of technology will unfortunately result in the loss of jobs.

The founder of the People's Dialogue and former Joburg mayor, Herman Mashaba says their future political fortunes with Mmusi Maimane are not linked. He was speaking during a joint media briefing with the victim families of the Lily Mine disaster in Johannesburg yesterday ( Wednesday). Earlier Mashaba vowed to form his political party within the next two months. Former DA leader, Maimane said he still wants to consult with ordinary South Africans on the nature and form of his envisaged political formation.

South Africa has a health crisis with overcrowded public healthcare facilities. The Treatment Action Campaign wants government to inject more money into building clinics and hospitals to reduce the overcrowding, improve infrastructure and ultimately stop deaths. This comes after 10 babies died of klebsiella at the Tembisa Hospital on the East Rand. Seven other babies are still critical.

The editor of SA Flyer Magazine, Guy Leitch, has warned that South African Airways could suffer a loss of public confidence in the long-term. This after the airline cancelled at least 30 domestic flights between Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban and ten return flights to the city of Munich in Germany. The airline says it cannot rule out further flight cancellations. SAA, which was placed under voluntary business rescue, is battling to stay afloat - ahead of the arrival of a two-billion-rand cash injection from government.

Corruption in the Kwa-Zulu Natal Police service came under the spotlight again at the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture on MONDAY . This emerged in the testimony of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Forensic Auditor, Trevor White. White highlighted how politically connected businessman, Toshan Panday, allegedly paid off KZN-police staff in supply -chain management with gifts and bribes.

Seven babies are still fighting for their lives in an isolated ward at the Tembisa Provincial Hospital on Gauteng's east rand. This follows the death of ten newborn babies at the hospital's neonatal ward in the past two months after an outbreak of klebsiella pneumonia. Overcrowding and a shortage of staff have been highlighted as the main reasons behind the infection.

The South African Cabin Crew Association (SACCA) together with the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) say government should urgently release the funds needed to save South African Airways. The airline is in urgent need of a two-billion rand government bailout in order to keep its aircrafts in the air. The airline has already exhausted two billion rands from private lenders. SAA's business rescue practitioner Les Matuson has been in meetings with public enterprises, trade and industry and treasury officials this past weekend to discuss the airline's funding crisis. Sacca's president, Zazi Nsibanyoni-Anyiam says government needs to act with speed.

Fifty two years after his assassination.. Dr. Martin Luther King's family says his legacy still lives. This amid a chapter of divisive American politics and undercurrents of racism. Today is Dr Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the United States. It's held annually on the third Monday of January. The late American civil rights leader championed justice and equality for black Americans from the 1950's, until his death in 1968. In this SABC News exclusive, reporter Chriselda Lewis speaks to Dr Bernice King, the daughter of the civil rights icon