First Take SA

The South African State Theatre in Pretoria recently announced the appointment of its new CEO, Dr. Sibongiseni Mkhize. Mkhize is a heavyweight in the arts, culture and heritage sector. Not only is he the former CEO of the Market Theatre Foundation in Johannesburg and Chief Director of Cultural Affairs at the Gauteng Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation, he also spent five years as the CEO of the landmark Robben Island Museum before joining The State Theatre.

KwaZulu Natal officials are continuing to monitor the situation in Tugela Ferry after the area was hit by a storm last night. Two people have reportedly died while scores have been injured. Homes, schools and other buildings have also been damaged. The Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs in KwaZulu Natal has since deployed a disaster management team to assist those affected.

Chairperson of the Disciplinary Inquiry against SABC COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng, Advocate Willem Edeling, says he will make a decision later on whether the media may have access to audio recordings of the witnesses' testimonies. The media have been barred from attending the proceedings in line with an application by the SABC's lawyers. They argued that media coverage of employees testimony could be prejudicial to them. The first witness to testify was SABC Group Executive of Human Resources, Jabulani Mabaso, followed by Chief Audit Executive Lorraine Francois.

Oscar Pistorius was released on ten thousand rand bail, with strict conditions, pending his leave to appeal his murder conviction in the Constitutional Court. Pistorius re-applied for bail after his culpable murder conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court of Appeal, and changed to murder. Pistorius murdered his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentyn's Day 2013, by firing four shots through the toilet cubicle door of his luxury home in the Silverwoods Estate in Pretoria.

In our "Tech Talk" feature this week........We all know of Wi-Fi - a system that uses antennaes to transmit radio signals which are received by mobile devices, enabling digital world interaction from anywhere in the physical world. But instead of using radio waves, what if we could use something else to allow us to access the internet. Something like light?

Police have defused tensions during a DA protest at the ANC's Western Cape office in the Cape Town CBD. DA leaders organised the protests against what they said was the ANC's cosy relations with gangsters. Meanwhile, the ANC in the Western Cape says it will proceed with plans to try and remove Helen Zille as the premier of the province. ANC spokesperson Cobus Grobler, alleges that Zille has abused her position in office. He was referring to reports that Zille hired a private investigator to debug cellphones in her department. The ANC is accusing Zille of using taxpayers' money to spy on the opposition and her colleagues.

Nigerian Televangelist T.B Joshua is expected to appear at the Lagos High Court today to answer to charges over the collapse of his six story guest house in September 2014. 85 South Africans were killed during the incident which led to many calling for action against Joshua. The Synagogue Church of all Nations has denied responsibility for the tragedy, blaming the incident on sabotage.

The Tlokwe Municipality independent candidates and COPE in the North West say the role, responsibility and credibility of the IEC during elections should be in question. The Constitutional court has found that eight by-elections which took place within the Tlokwe municipality in 2013 were not free and fair.The Independent candidates have expressed happiness after the Constitutional Court ruled in their favour.

Pope Francis has arrived in Uganda on the second leg of his African tour. Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni and other dignitaries were at Kampala's international airport to welcoem the pontiff. Earlier, the head of the Catholic church wound up his tour of Kenya by addressing a packed Nairobi stadium. The Pope urged young Kenyan not to yield to the sweet lure of corruption, and urged them to help those tempted by fanatical ideologies. He also attacked tribalism, drugs and leaders who refuse to step down

The SABC says it will appeal the Western Cape High Court ruling that the permanent appointment of Hlaudi Motsoeneng as the company's COO be set aside. The DA challenged Motsoeneng's appointment as permanent COO after the public protector found that he had lied about his qualifications and purged senior staff among others.