Radio 2000 Mixes

Efforts to rescue the trapped illegal miners at a disused mine in Langlaagte, south of Johannesburg are underway. Last night the rescue teams were hard at work trying to locate an undisclosed number of illegal miners since who have been underground since last Thursday. To get the latest update, we are joined on the line by Chief Executive of Mines Rescue Services South Africa, Christo De Klerk.

Estate agent Penny Sparrow has made a tearful apology in the Scottburgh Magistrate's Court for her racist remarks on social network that sparked a public outcry. Commenting on a social network post about litter on KwaZulu-Natal beaches after New Year's Day, Sparrow called black people uneducated monkeys. The apology is part of a plea bargain with the state on a charge of crimen injuria. It comes after the Equality Court found her guilty of hate speech earlier this year. Dries Liebenberg reports . . .

Teachers' union SADTU in the Western Cape has called for a boycott of systemic evaluation testing at schools. Learners in grades 3,6 and 9 write the mathematics, numeracy and literacy tests annually in October to test their level of competency. SADTU Secretary Jonovan Rustin says they have on numerous occasions called on the education department to stop the testing. He was addressing a media briefing in Cape Town. Berenice Moss reports::

Former Deputy President, Kgalema Motlanthe says he is concerned by what he referred to as the deviation from the liberation promise by those in leadership positions in the country. Motlanthe was delivering a lecture on Value Based Leadership at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, last night. The lecture was organised by the university's business school in partnership with the Thabo Makgoba Development Trust. Yanga Funani reports..

Shannon Walbran - Psychic

Eastern Cape businesses have partnered in a bid to instil a reading culture in rural schools, particularly those in Transkei. The partnership saw ten schools in Butterworth and Ngqamakwe under Mnquma Municipality receiving learning and teaching material which includes books and sporting equipment. The business sector did this under the Rally to Read Campaign which targets primary school learners. Yanga Funani has more

Environmental minister, Edna Molewa, says almost more than 700 rhinos have been killed in the first half of 2016. That's a 100 less that last year. She was speaking at the official opening National Parks Week at Addo Elephant National Park, outside Port Elizabeth, at the weekend. We caught up with Minister Molewa for more details...

The eJozini local municipality remains without office beares more than a month after the August 03rd local government elections. The hung council has unsuccessfully tried four times to hold a successful sitting where a mayor and speaker were to be elected. Both the ANC and the IFP received an equal number of votes resulting in a stalemate. The ANC has called for a re-run of the election, while the IFP opted for the flipping of a coin to determine the next five-year executive council. We are now joined on the line by KZN Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Nomusa Dube-Ncube.

Mine rescue operations at the disused mine in Langlaagte, south of Johannesburg, have been called off to allow dangerous gases such as carbon monoxide to dissipate underground. Officials could not confirm claims that one of the illegal miners trapped underground has died. A fourth illegal miner to be rescued is said to have told mine rescue about the death. We caught with Basil Douglas who is a councilor for Ward 68 (which includes Langlaagte ) for more details...

Production in the mining sector has declined by 5 point 4 percent in July compared with a fall of 3 percent in June. Platinum was the biggest contributor to the total mining production figures coming in at these levels. Some economists say this is worrisome, as it could affect the next quarters GDP figures negatively. This week's GDP figures showed that the mining sector was the second biggest contributor to the positive growth numbers. Morafe Tabane reports