First Take SA

The Broadcasting, Electronic, Media and Allied Workers Union (BEMAWU) says it will request an urgent meeting with the SABC and the Communications Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams to discuss the current empasse around the financial crisis at the public broadcaster. Yesterday, Ndabeni-Abrahams told the Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Communications that National Treasury had rejected the SABC's turnaround strategy. The public broadcaster needs a three-point-two billion-rand government guarantee to get it out of its financial difficulties. However, it needs to meet specific requirements before it can be granted a bailout.

Professor Ivor Sarakinsky of the Wits school of governance says there are fears that some people that the ANC has sent to chair Parliament's portfolio committees might attempt to manipulate agendas. They include former ministers Faith Muthambi, Mosebenzi Zwane, Bongani Bongo, Tina Joemat-Pettersson and former North West premier, Supra Mahumapelo. The five were elected to chair Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Transport, Home Affairs, Police and Tourism Parliamentary portfolio committees respectively.

EFF leader Julius Malema has dropped a bomb-shell saying his party will no longer be voting with the DA or even the ANC across all municipalities. The EFF had given the DA in Tshwane Metro an ultimatum to make sure that they make way for an EFF person to be the mayor in the Metro by June

Equal Education says it welcomes the withdrawal of Zukisa Faku's nomination by the ANC Parliamentary caucus to be chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on basic education. The organisation had made a public demand for the withdrawal of Faku's nomination, citing her previous sentence to three years' house arrest on nine counts of fraud

The minister of police Bheki Cele is today expected to meet with various Community Policing Forums affected by gang violence in Cape Town, Western Cape. The CPF members have called on the minister to take immediate and proper action to address the violence that has terrorised their communities. This as police in the province search for suspects after two men were killed in a shootout believed to be gang-related in Groote Schuur over the weekend.

The South African Communist Party says no threat against it will reverse its call for parliament to institute an inquiry into the fitness of the Public protector, Busisiwe Mkhwebane. This after Mkhwebane's office released a statement demanding that the SACP's Deputy General Secretary Solly Mapaila, retracts and apologise for alleging that Mkhwebane, is a "hired gun of the fight back agenda that is used by rogue elements within the intelligence". Mkhwebane has also threatened to take legal action against the SACP but the party insists that its voice will not be silenced.

Director of Media Monitoring Africa William Bird, says they hope Lebashe has a plan to make the acquisition of Tiso Blackstar a success and create a sustainable media house.

Information Communication and Technology Union Thabang Mothelo, says the Tiso Blackstar Group was growing steadily and they don't understand why it was sold. The union has also lambasted the manner in which the sale was handled by the companies.

Cape Town's Mayco Member JP Smith, says yesterday's meeting in the Cape Flats gave them a clear picture that they have an extremely dire situation where almost ten people are killed a day.

The South African Municipal Workers' Union says it intends to take the Auditor General's reports to the Public Protector for investigation - after it was revealed that 239 out of 257 municipalities have not received clean audits. Auditor-General, Kimi Makwetu, addressed the media yesterday on the local government audits for the 2017/18 financial year - saying that pervasive control and monitoring failures are behind only 18 municipalities receiving clean audits. He says not a single municipality in the Free State, Limpopo and the North West received a clean audit - and that irregular expenditure among municipalities amounted to 25-billion-rand