Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov has visited the Republic of the Congo and Uganda on his second leg of an African tour. The bilateral visit is aimed at strengthening Moscow’s ties with a continent that has refused to join Western condemnation and sanctions over the Russian invasion of Ukraine. African countries have a tangled legacy of relations with the West and the former Soviet Union. Many import Russian grain and increasingly energy supply. The former Soviet Union has a long history with liberation movements on the continent due to the Cold War. However, they are also reliant on Ukrainian grain and benefit from Western trade ties.

Guest: Professor Anthoni van Nieuwkerk - Professor in International Relations and Security at the Thabo Mbeki African School of Public and International Affairs (UNISA)

Focus: Earlier this month, informal traders in the de Villiers trading precinct (Johannesburg CBD) were prohibited from selling their goods as JMPD officers were sent by the MMC of Economic Development to shut down operations indefinitely. This is despite the 2013 Constitutional Court ruling in which Operation “Clean Sweep” was in violation of the informal trader’s right to trade and make a livelihood. As a result, these traders approached our next guest to find a legal remedy and have since filed an urgent application before the Johannesburg High Court to uphold the apex court’s initial judgment. To help us unpack yesterday’s legal proceedings and the traders’ next steps,

Guest: Khululiwe Bhengu - Attorney at Socio-Economic Research Institute (representing informal traders)

South Africa will join the globe as it commemorates World Breastfeeding Week 2022 under the theme: “Step Up For Breastfeeding: Educate and Support”. Held in the first week of August, the Department of Health commemorates this week as part of its public health mandate to raise awareness of the value of breastfeeding to expecting and new mothers whilst also developing measures to safeguard breastfeeding. Whilst the rate of exclusive breastfeeding has improved in the democratic era, there are concerns surrounding whether South Africa will reach global targets by 2025 (WHO - 50%) and the decline of adequate breastfeeding support for families.

Guest: Dr Leslie Bamford - Child Health Specialist at the National Department of Health

#Trek4Mandela is an annual summit to Mount
Kilamanjaro to honour the legacy of the late former statesman,
Nelson Mandela. The milestone summit of Trek4Mandela is
taking place this morning and will be led by renowned South
African adventurer, Sibusiso Vilane. This year marks the 10th
anniversary of the initial climb up Mount Kilimanjaro. In the
past decade, 300 local and international climbers to have made
the trek. The climber’s contributions towards #Trek4Mandela
has raised 10 million sanitary towels and helped 1,5 million
girls in the SADC region. All proceeds are going to the Caring
For Girls programme.

Last week we received a call from a pastor in KZN explaining the difficulty they are facing as a community in digging for bodies under mud caused by the floods in April. He is describing a horrific situation where they’ve even found bodies of children. One of the other things he spoke about was lack of support from the government. To tell us more about this,

Guest: Mfundisi Shabane - Community Leader and First Respondent on the KZN floods (Inanda EMachobeni)

According to medical journals, cataracts is a medical condition whereby clouding takes the form of film and affects the possibility to see clearly through the lens of the eye. This diminishes the quality of vision and worsens as a person gets older. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has cited cataract surgeries as amongst the most cost-effective health interventions of our times. However, cataracts remain the leading cause of blindness in Africa due to accessibility to health facilities that can conduct the surgery. The WHO has forecast that by 2050, there could be 115 million people who are blind.

Guest: Dr. Zoran Aleksic - Ophthalmologist and Eye Surgeon

The Department of Higher Education Training (DHET) will host the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Colleges and Industry Partnerships Summit at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from 27 – 28 July 2022. The Ministerial summit provides an opportunity for the DHET and its partners in government, industry to share best practices on integrating the sector.

Guest: Dr. Blade Nzimande - Minister of Higher Education and Training

Gautrain has opened their Sandton to OR Tambo for fans that would like to welcome home Banyana Banyana after winning the Women's African Cup of Nations can get a free ride to the airport on the Gautrain. 

Guest: Tlago Ramalepa - Senior Manager for Reputation at the Gautrain Management Agency

There has been mixed reactions to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s address last night to the nation on solutions to deal with the current energy crisis. This follows his visit and consultations with relevant stakeholders and energy experts. He announced a range of measures aimed at turning the situation around. The SMME sector has welcomed the move and to get their reaction, we are joined on the line by…

Guest: Tebogo Khaas – President of the SMME Forum

Guest: Prof Mark Swilling – co-director of the Centre for Sustainability Transitions at the University of Stellenbosch

As Banyana Banyana return victorious into the country this morning, calls have intensified for them to be paid the same incentives as their male counterparts after their stunning win of the Women's Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Morocco. The team just landed this morning and to find out what the mood is like at the OR Tambo International Airport this morning, we are joined on the line by…

Guest: Thabiso Mosia – SAfm sports anchor