First Take SA

The Railway Safety Regulator has just released its preliminary report into Friday's train accident in Booysens this afternoon. About 200 people were injured in that crash. The regulator has raised concern about the lack of maintance of ageing equipment. Metrorail is also expected to release details about it's investigation into the accident.

The City of Johannesburg's Emergency Services says striking fire-fighters are not affecting their services. The fire-fighters have vowed to continue clocking in at 8am and knocking off at 4pm, leaving stations understaffed for three hours until management takes their overtime grievances seriously. Joburg EMS's spokesperson, Robert Mulaudzi, says they are using reservists to cover the three hours per day during which their fire-fighters are striking.

Protesting residents of Vuwani in Limpopo have handed a memorandum of their demands to the MEC for Health Dr Phophi Ramathuba in the area today. Ramathuba received the memorandum on behalf of premier Stan Mathabatha. Residents blockaded main roads demanding that the Municipal Demarcation Board reverse its decision to merge their area with Malamulele to form a new municipality.Ramathuba promised that she will deliver the petition to Mathabatha and the demarcation board.

In our Arts and Culture section this week.....Number 43, Trelawney Park, a modest house in a suburb of Manzini, Swaziland, was for many years a vital base of operations for the ANC. Told in the first person, Elias Masilela's book puts a tragic, and in some ways nostalgic, human face life in exile during the apartheid years. The book tells the stories of the ANC and PAC cadres who passed through Number 43, revealing their hopes and fears, and highlighting the high price that was paid for liberation.Tsepiso Makwetla spoke to the Author, Elias Masilela and started by asking how the conception of the project came about..

Numsa says Cosatu unions opposed to the expulsion of Numsa and former general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi are meeting today to chart a way forward after suffering massive losses at the Cosatu special national congress currently underway in Midrand, north of Johannesburg. They failed to push for the agenda of congress to include debate on the expulsions

Negotiations are continuing between the embassies of South Africa and Britain and Chinese authorities over the arrests of 20 people - ten of them South Africans - in Inner Mongolia. Chinese authorities have accused them of having links to a terror organisation, but have since released eleven people. Five South Africans remain under arrest. According to the Gift of the Givers group the group was on a 47-day tour of ancient China when they were arrested.

COSATU president Sdumo Dlamini says expelled affiliate NUMSA wants to destroy the federation. Dlamini called on affiliates supporting NUMSA to come back to the Central Executive Committee - they have been boycotting since NUMSA was booted out in November last year. But disgruntled unions also hit back during the open debate

Cosatu's Special National Congress is expected go to vote on whether newly formed metalworkers union LIMUSA and Second Deputy President Zingiswa Losi stay in the Congress. It is understood that unions sympathetic to expelled NUMSA and general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi would not accept the credentials until LIMUSA and Losi are excluded. The Congress was discussing credentials behind closed doors after the media was asked to temporarily leave.

Deputy minister of Traditional Affairs Deputy Minister Obed Bapela in the Eastern Cape after a a young man lost his manhood and four others critically in hospital following a botched circumcision

COSATU says it has it on good authority that there are plans to disrupt the much awaited Special National Congress next week. However it says all is in place to ensure it goes ahead as planned. PM Live host Tšepiso Makwetla speaks to COSATU President, Sdumo Dlamini.