The Best of the Breakfast Show with Xolani Gwala

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa says that state resources are being used to discredit him. According to the Sunday Independent, Ramaphosa has had a number of extra-marital affairs. The newspaper says it has copies of Ramaphosa’s emails to back this up.  Ramaphosa says that he had an affair, but he told his wife about it and ended the affair eight years ago. This situation brings about two issues which need to be discussed - the use of state resources to settle political scores, and also whether we should care about the personal conduct of the country's leaders. Should we care? Breakfast host Bongani Bingwa, standing in for Xolani Gwala spoke to Bishop Malusi Mpumlwana, Secretary-General at the South African Council of Churches and Huffington Post’s Ferial haffajee

Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) says it’s decided to embark on a nationwide strike this month because the government is moving at a slow pace in acting against corruption and protecting workers. The trade union federation has criticised the African National Congress (ANC) and party leaders for state capture and corruption allegations as well the ties with the Guptas. 702 Host Bongani Bingwa spoke to Cosatu General Secretary Bheki Ntshalintshali who says the strike will affect all sectors.

National Treasury has come under attack for a R1 billion Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS) that was never implemented. Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) heard this week that R1 billion was spent in the first phase of the project and R1.2 billion in the second phase. National Treasury Director-General Dondo Mogajane  spoke to 702 Host Stephen Grootes who says the project actually dates back to 2002, with then finance minister Pravin Gordhan at the helm. Mogajane says it was important to note that integration was very critical at the time.

Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown has given the Eskom board 48 hours to give her an explanation of its payments to Trillian Capital Partners.This follows reports that Eskom lied in June, when it said that consulting firm Oliver Wyman found payments of R1.6 billion to Trillian and McKinsey were above board. 702 Host Stephen Grootes spoke to EE Publishers Managing Director and energy expert Chris Yelland who says Eskom suffers from terrible governance.

Nelson Mandela Bay deputy mayor Mongameli Bobani is not a saint or an angel but proper procedure wasn’t followed in removing him from his post,  this is what United Democratic Movement (UDM) leader Bantu Holomisa  said when speaking to 702 Host, Stephen Grootes this morning. The UDM leader made the comments while discussing the upcoming court case to force the Democratic Alliance-led coalition government in the metro to reinstate him.

In between general and municipal elections, you would also hear and participate in by-elections. The process of organising elections is then not a process which just happens every five years. Recently, there have been by-elections in parts of the country. There have also been issues in the public agenda which affect political parties at the electorate, such as party funding. Terry Tselane, the Vice-Chairperson of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) speaks to Stephen Grootes.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Parliament revealed that government may give South African Airways (SAA) another bailout to the tune of R10 billion. The claim was made on Wednesday when SAA's leadership appeared before Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) to discuss their irregular expenditure and financial difficulties. Stephen Grootes spoke to Scopa chair Themba Godi who says yesterday's proceedings is only the beginning in tackling the problems facing the airline.

Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) released a report that South Africans living in poverty in the year 2015 were worse off than they were in 2011. The report shows that 30.4 million South Africans are living in poverty. Stephen Grootes, 702 host, spoke to National Planning Commissioner Dr Miriam Altman about these stats and what they mean for the country. Altman says the report is an excellent review of information.

Vodacom has apologised to its customers following numerous complaints of disappearing data and airtime. In a series of tweets, the cellphone network says that there was a technical error on Monday night which made customers unable to use data bundles. Affected Vodacom users vented their frustration on social media after receiving depletion notifications. Vodacom’s Byron Kennedy spoke to Breakfast show host Xolani Gwala this morning. He says they have started the process of paying customers back.

International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane was 'honest' in her approach of the Grace Mugabe immunity saga,  this is according to Professor Christopher Landsberg, Chair of African Diplomacy & foreign Policy at the University of Johannesburg.  Mugabe was facing criminal charges after she allegedly attacked 20-year-old Gabriella Engles with an electric cord at a Sandton hotel last week Sunday. She was on Sunday granted diplomatic immunity by the South African government and left the country. Professor Landsberg,  says They [the SA government] were caught between a rock and a hard place and in the end, they went for a political decision.