Good Morning Cape Town with Lester Kiewit

Long queues, confusion, and frustration - Sassa's transition from gold to black Postbank cards has left many grant beneficiaries in the Western Cape struggling to access their funds. John Maytham speaks to Western Cape MEC for Social Development, Jaco Londt, about the challenges pensioners and vulnerable residents are facing, and what needs to be done to resolve the crisis before the March deadline.

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John Maytham speaks to Prof Zwelinzima Ndevu, Director of the School of Public Leadership at Stellenbosch University, about the postponement of the annual Budget speech, by the finance minister, the message it sends both locally and abroad, and what it reveals about the state of the Government of National Unity

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In South Africa, we spend over R8billion on our pets annually, and it is projected that the global pet industry is set to be valued at US$500 billion by 2030. Kirsty Bisset, MD of HaveYouHeard Marketing, shares with John Maytham some of the insane luxury services and products geared towards pets (or rather at pet owners).

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What can one do if one sees a person driving dangerously or without regard for traffic rules, and there isn’t a traffic officer around? John Maytham speaks to Stan Bezuidenhout, a Transport Risk and Accident Specialist with IBF Investigations, to find out the course of action which you will need to take.

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Africa Melane speaks to Dr Suleman Lazarus,  a visiting fellow at the  Mannheim Centre for Criminology, London School of Economics and Political Science, who he has been studying the cases of people who had been convicted of online romance scams, building up a profile of who the typical scammer is, their likely targets, and the motivating factor that drove them to commit fraud against vulnerable victims in search of love.

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Deep talks on Ukraine but Russia has advantage; Indian Ocean Isle of Mayotte devastated by terrible storm; Mark Hamill’s trouser mishap at BAFTAs. Adam Gilchrist shares details on these stories with Africa Melane.

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Ahead of the 2025 Budget Speech from Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, Africa Melane speaks to Dominic Brown, economist &  economic justice programme manager at the Alternative Information & Development Centre, to discuss why austerity measures should be done away with.

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Africa Melane speaks to Advocate Sandra Makoasha, a commissioner at the SA Human Rights, Commissioner about the ongoing inquiry into the impact of load reduction. This week the Minister of Electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa testified that the need for load reduction was caused by 2million consumers who do not pay for electricity, costing Eskom R3billion a month. They also discuss the SAHRC’s condemning of the execution style murder of openly gay Imam Muhsin Hendricks.

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Postbank says it is working on switching two million grant beneficiaries to the new card before the deadline; UCT’s Vice -Chancellor Mosa Moshabela has promised to address students’ concerns over financial exclusion; Cape Town’s Homecoming Centre tells story of life in Palestine. Africa Melane speaks to Barbara October, Deputy Editor at GroundUp.

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Did you know that you can opt to have the SASSA grant paid directly into the grant recipient’s bank account? This might be a useful option to consider given the current issues being experienced by those who are trying to swap their SASSA Gold cards for the Postbank Black cards. Africa Melane speaks to Paseka Letsatsi, head of communications at SASSA to find out how one can choose this option.

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