The Home Affairs ministry seeks to digitise 350 million inactive and active paper records consisting of birth, marriage, death and amendments. Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Njabulo Nzuza will deliver the keynote address this morning on the country’s path towards digitisation as part of the broader Modernisation Programme. The seminar will focus on the journey the Department has traversed in its quest to e-citizenship, provide an update on the project and the potential future outlook of the institution in a digitised world.

Guest: Hon. Njabulo Nzuza - Deputy Minister of Home Affairs

As focus slowly turns towards the 2024 election, the state of participation in our democratic processes is at an all time low. In the 2021 Local Government Elections, voter turnout dropped 10% compared to the 2016 edition. With confidence waning in politicians and political parties, the advancement of democracy may be stifled if this trend continues and the credibility of election outcomes may come under further scrutiny.

Our next guest will be delivering the keynote address in a workshop being hosted by the Rivonia Circle entitled: South Africa 2.0 - Mobilising People’s Electoral Power. Nsé Ufot’s career has been dedicated to working on various civil, human, and workers’ rights issues. She leads the New Georgia Project in its goal of strengthening the state’s democracy by registering to vote and engaging 700 000 unregistered African Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans. This organization was pivotal in getting more eligible voters to cast their vote in the 2020 U.S. election as the state of Georgia became a key swing state that determined the outcome.

Guest: Nse Ufot - Chief Executive Officer at the New Georgia Project

Drunk driving is one of the biggest threats to road safety in South Africa. Research indicates that 50% of people who die on the road have a blood alcohol concentration of above 0.05 gram per 100 millilitres. With these statistics, many organisations are spending a lot of money on anti-drinking and driving campaigns to combat it. However, the exercise is pointless if enforcement of the current drinking and driving laws are not enforced. Earlier this week, the Department of Transport kicked off Transport Month to raise awareness on the important role of transport in the economy and to encourage participation from civil society and business, including the provision of a safe and more affordable, accessible and reliable transport system in the country.

Guest: Rhys Evans - Managing Director at ALCO-Safe

Focus: The Bloemfontein High Court on Monday declared the Mangaung African Cultural Festival illegal. The festival is hosted every year in Bloemfontein. The case was brought by DS Consortium, which argued that the tender to host the annual cultural festival, awarded to C-Squared, was fraudulent. The tender is worth R16.8-million.To get an understand of what

actually happened and whether the festival will go ahead,

Guest: Mosa Likobo – Director at DS Consortium

Guest: Ben Moseme - CEO of C Squared

On Monday a story broke of a mother who abandoned her baby near a stream in Dawncrest, north of Durban. She left the baby with a the milk bottle and nappies. What stood out was the note she left which read: “Hi. You might be wondering why I dumped my baby. Don’t wonder, just help her if you can or call authorities don't judge me. I have spoken twice with social workers, they are delaying to assist. I know this looks bad but I had no other option. The system is fragile...”. Very sad story which paints a dire picture of some of the choices young mother have to make. So many questions are being asked from where is the father? Where is the family and could they not help? Also the notion of society coming in to help raise the child, how can we go back to that? How long shall we blame the young mothers while the young fathers are not carrying any blame. To help us navigate this issue, 

Guest: Bongani Luvalo – CEO of Cool Dads (he will talk about the absent fathers)

Guest: Dr Whitney Rosenberg - Co-founder of Baby Savers South Africa (She will speak on the family structure and abandoned babies)

Guest: Clarisa Vermaak – associate at Ulrich Roux and Associates (She will speak around the legalities of keeping or adopting a baby found under such circumstances)

Focus: As we begin Breast Cancer Month, we thought to revisit the issue as more men and women continue to be affected by it. The Breast Imaging Society of South Africa is calling on everybody to self-examine their breasts and not wait for a partner or doctor to find out for them. To talk more on this especially now that it also affects men,

Guest: Prof Jackie Smilig – Chair of the Breast Imaging Society of South Africa

Focus: This morning Lionel is helping understand the Road Accident Fund and what it is that you need to know about it. Also the fact that you no longer need a lawyer to claim. He now joins us in the studio…

Guest: Lionel Makokotlela - Founder of Financial Wise Corner

Last week workers at the Mogalakwena local municipality blocked entrances with construction vehicles. This was in protest of them calling on the municipal manager Morris Maluleke to coming to work. Last month the Limpopo high court found that Maluleke’s appointment was unlawful hence the unions are calling on him to vacate his position.

To find out what’s going on there and why Maluleke is still reporting for duty despite the court ruling and also the impact this has on the running of the municipality, 

Guest: Patrick Aphane – SAMWU’s Provincial Secretary in Limpopo

Guest: Ngoako Taueatsoala - Mayor of Mogalakwena Municipality

Guest: Charles Makhubela - SANCO

Guest: Jerry Mogotle - Councillor of Mogalakwena Local Municipality (African People's Convention)

 In this week’s newsletter, President Cyril Ramaphosa recognized a major milestone surpassed by the Presidential Employment Stimulus program as it reached over a million young people. One of the hallmarks of its success has been the teaching assistant programme which has employed over half a million young people across 22 000 schools.

However, this only tells one side of the story and does not reflect the challenges being faced within the public employment programme. Our next guest believes that less attention is being given to transferable skills, social connections and exit pathways that would lead to the retention of upskilled young workers in the labour market.

Guest: Kristal Duncan-Williams - Project Lead at Youth Capital

This morning, Bryan shares the benefits of having a retirement annuity…

Guest: Bryan Hirsch, Chairperson of Bryan Hirsch, Colley & Associates (Pty) Limited