First Take SA

The presidency says the state will continue to pay former president Jacob Zuma's legal fees until the matter is concluded or a court decides otherwise. Zuma faces charges of fraud and corruption. He has called on the state to pay his legal fees due to him being in the Presidency at the time. Elvis Preslin spoke to visiting associate professor at the Wits School of Law and practicing advocate James Grant

As part of our youth month feature, we continue to highlight the issue of drugs and substance abuse. There are many reasons why people become addicted to drugs, alcohol, smoking and even gambling. Several former drug addicts have spoken about the reasons for their addiction. Elvis Preslin spoe to a member of Narcotics Anonymous who does not want to be identified

Attacks and killing of civilians on the outskirts of Pemba and other towns in the Cabo Delgado province, north of Mozambique, has driven thousands of people out of their villages. And, some tourism businesses have closed down while international companies are evacuating their employees. This follows a spate of attacks where more than 39 civilians were beheaded and their houses torched, allegedly by a group calling itself Al Sunnah wa Jama'ah. Human and civil rights organisations have called on the Mozambique government and the African Union to intervene. Elvis Preslin spoke to

Labour unions at ESKOM are keeping mum about their formal response to the 4, 7 percent wage offer that was tabled by management on Tuesday. But there were signals that the two sides may have inched closer to a deal. The negotiations are set to continue on Thursday with Eskom expected to give its response to the counter-offer by the unions. Unions have maintained that the negotiations are not only about wages. Tshepo Mongoai reports...

An independent inquiry into the Ashwin Willemse saga at Supersport led by advocate Vincent Maleka has found that there was no racism aspect in the incident involving the former Springbok. Willemse walked out of the studio after a Super Rugby match between the Lions and the Brumbies last month while he was on air with Nick Malett and Naas Botha. Before walking out of the studio, Willemse said he was tired of being patronised by Mallet and Botha accussing them of labelling him a quota player and patronising him. Supersport announced today that the investigation has found that there was no racism on the day Willemse walked out, or prior to that day. Both Mallet and Botha will resume their duties at Supersport next month, while the door has been left open for Willemse to return. Willemse did not testify before advocate Maleka. Percy Nkatlo filed a report and Tsepiso Makwetla spoke to Willemse's lawyer, Nqobizitha Mlilo...

Eskom has revised its wage offer of no increase to a four-point -seven per cent increase. The unions staged protests last week against Eskom's announcement that it would not grant any pay increase this year. Tsepiso Makwetla spoke to National Union of Minewrkers chief negotiator Helen Diatile

Unions affiliated to Eskom are expected to meet with the parastatal in Cedarwood Park in Woodmead, Johannesburg on Tuesday to begin another round of wage negotiations following a deadlock. Eskom had previously said it could not afford to give salary increases, citing financial difficulties. However, this changed after Public Enterprises Minister, Pravin Gordhan, met with unions and Eskom last week. Tsepiso Makwetla spoke NUMSA's acting spokesperson, Phakamile Hlubi-Majola

Youth unemployment in South Africa still remains high. According to Stats SA, the unemployment rate among young people aged 15 to 34 was 38,2%. Recently, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the government has put youth unemployment at the top of its national agenda. Tsepiso Makwetla spoke to Professor Lauren Graham, Deputy Director and Associate Professor for the Centre for Social Development in Africa at the University of Johannesburg

South Africa has become the first country in the world to replace an inject-able drug with toxic side effects, with a new oral medicine in the standard multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis treatment. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has applauded the department of health following the announcement, saying this is a positive step aimed at making MDR-TB treatment more tolerable. Tsepiso Makwetla spoke to Doctors Without Borders' Dr. Anja Reuter, a DR-TB doctor in Khayelitsha in the Western Cape

Power utility, Eskom says its power system will take approximately ten days to recover from the effects of the recent industrial action. This is however dependent on whether not not all staff are back at workon Monday. Eskom spokesperson Khulu Phasiwe says during this recovery time the risk of stage one load-shedding remains high. Management and unions are however expected to meet only on Tuesday to try and find an agreement on wages as workers have rejected the power utility's zero percent increment offer. Tsepiso Makwetla spoke to Eskom spokesperson Khulu Phasiwe