The Best of Afternoon Drive with Bongani Bingwa

Stephen Grootes speaks to Redi about Finance minister Malusi Gigaba's cancelling his post-Moodys downgrade press conference. They also discussed the latest allegations against Gigaba regarding the Guptas naturalisation documents.

Redi speaks to Duduetsang Makuse, from the Save our SABC coalition, about the decision by the SABC board to fire Hlaudi Motsoaneng. She also touches on the cancellation of the TNA Business breakfasts.

The EFF held a press conference earlier today where they detailed information about graft and corruption within Transet. Julius Malema says the graft amounts to as much as R10-billion. Malema said Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba is at the centre of the alleged corruption. He also issued a warning to the Democratic Alliance that should its ‘white arrogance’ not stop, the EFF will be forced to withdraw its support in coalition governments.

Redi on the link between Bad weather and inequality

In the latest from a series of Gupta emails it has emerged that the family wanted to buy a range of media entities, including Independent Media, the Mail & Guardian, and Primedia.  The emails show that they hoped to build up a South African media empire. The key, as they saw it, was to win some of the lucrative government advertising their existing media assets have benefited from – through pro-government positioning.

The chair of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa Popo Molefe has confirmed that he and his board have been given seven days to explain why they should not be removed from their posts. He says they received a letter from Transport Minister Joe Maswanganyi saying that he wanted to dissolve the Prasa board.

The latest gross domestic product (GDP) data released by Stats SA shows that the South African economy declined by 0.7% in the first quarter of 2017, putting the country into a technical recession. In economic terms, a technical recession is described as two consecutive quarters of economic decline. The last quarter of 2016 showed a 0.3% decline; with the latest decline of 0.7%, South Africa fits the bill. According to Stats SA the largest negative contributor to growth in GDP in the first quarter was the trade, catering and accommodation industry, which decreased by 5.9% and contributed -0.8 of a percentage point to GDP growth. The manufacturing industry contracted by 3.7% and contributed -0.5 of a percentage point to GDP growth.

Former Eskom CEO, Brian Molefe, has turned to the courts to fight his dismissal, which he wants declared unlawful and void. Molefe lodged a notice of motion in the Labour Court at the weekend, notifying Eskom and Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown that he would lodge his application in the court today. The case did not go as planned, however, as the registrar said the hearing was not arranged with the court and it also appeared that the respondents in the matter‚ Eskom and the Minister of Public Enterprises‚ had not filed their responses to the urgent application.

Bongmusa Mthembu won the 2017 Comrades marathon ‘up run’ from Durban to Pietermaritzburg in a time of 5 hours, 35 minutes and 34 seconds. He is the first local runner to win the race twice since Bruce Fordyce. The KwaZulu-Natal-born runner won the race in 2014 after finishing third in 2016 and second in 2012. The women’s race was won by American Camille Herron in a time of 6 hours 27 minutes and 35 seconds.

Redi speaks to activist and writer Raymond Suttner about his book Inside Apartheid's Prison. The book details Suttner's experiences of being arrested several times and torchered by apartheid authorities during the liberation struggle. He also discusses his break with the ANC and SACP