The Alternative Breakfast

ON SOCIALS OceanEL: Ocean EL unpacks the week’s biggest trending conversations — from football rivalry drama and Mother’s Day memories to social media pressure, “soft life” culture, and the hilarious everyday signs that someone is secretly rich in South Africa

ON SCREENS – with Wenzile Albert takes a nostalgic look at iconic South African television and unpacks the excitement, memories and cultural significance surrounding the return of Top Billing.

ALTERNATIVE FAMILY MEETING: This Mother’s Day, the Alternative Family Meeting asks a deeply emotional question: “When did you start to realise that you didn’t know your mother as just a human being?” — opening up a conversation about the hidden lives, sacrifices, dreams, disappointments and identities of the women who raised us.

PARENTING: Parenting Part 2: Gareth Carter joins survivors Bruce and Khulu for a powerful conversation about addiction, recovery and the difficult realities of intervention — including when families turn to court interdicts, forced intervention processes and professional rehabilitation in desperate attempts to save a loved one’s life.

THOUGHTS: Political economist Siyabonga Hadebe joins The Alternative Breakfast to unpack how South Africa’s modern anti-immigrant tensions are deeply connected to centuries of labour exploitation, colonial extraction, and a global economic system that continues to divide vulnerable workers against one another. 

NEWS ROUND UP: NCO Dube joins The Alternative Breakfast to unpack the Constitutional Court’s explosive Phala Phala judgment and what it reveals about parliamentary accountability, presidential power, and the state of South Africa’s democracy

FEATURE: The Alternative Family Meeting - We open up a complex and deeply personal conversation about domestic workers in South Africa — exploring trust, power dynamics, labour rights, and whether households are truly treating the people who care for their homes and children with dignity and fairness

TRAVEL: Travel Content Creator, Pumeza Cingo, joins us to share three incredible local winter travel destinations — from the mountains of Lesotho to the forests of Hogsback and the wild beauty of Kruger National Park.

NEWS ROUND UP WITH NCO DUBE: A conversation with Nco Dube unpacking his argument that the ANC’s renewal project has effectively collapsed, using the Tolashe saga as a case study of failed accountability and deeper internal power struggles

PARENTING: A conversation with Gareth Carter, Certified Case Manager Interventionist and Director at Change Addiction Rehab, on how families can intervene when a loved one is struggling with drug use in a way that shows love, sets boundaries, and leads toward recovery