The Department of Basic Education says it is ready for the reopening of schools across the country today. Minister Angie Motshekga and Director-General in the Department Matanzima Mweli addressed the media in Pretoria yesterday. Motshekga says the Department will continue to seek a balance between ensuring that learners are safe while addressing gaps in the curriculum. Motshekga also says the pandemic has had a negative impact on the schooling system.

CLIP MOTSHEKGA FEES

LINK: Are you confident that all is in order as schools reopen today? Does your child attend a public school, what have you observed this morning? Let’s also talk now about your role as a parent. Are you hands on regarding matters pertaining to your child’s schooling? What challenges are you facing? We are joined on the line by…

Guest: Mahlomola Kekana-Chairperson of the National Association for Parents in School Governance

Tomorrow marks World Radio Day which comes amid many technological advances in the broadcasting industry. The changes have had an impact on how people are consuming radio content around the world. So, how is the SABC and other key stakeholders adapting to these technological advances in order to improve the listener experience? How does the future of radio look like? To get more insight into this we are joined on the line by various role players in the broadcast industry and we start with…

Guest: Nada Wotshela-Group Executive-SABC Radio

Guest: Marius Venter- Acting Chief Technology and Information Officer at Sentech
Guest: Gary Whitaker-CEO Broadcast Research Council of South Africa

Guest: Franz Kruger- Adjunct Professor and Head of Wits Journalism and Director at Wits Radio Academy

Guest: Jonathan James Lyamgohn-Multimedia journalist and Broadcast Manager

Human Rights Watch has revealed that some governments around the world are using the Covid-19 pandemic to supress freedom of speech and political activity. The organisation says it has identified more than 80 countries which it says are guilty of this practise. Some of the countries are China, Egypt and Russia. To find out more about this we are joined on the line by….

Guest: Gerry Simpson-Associate Director at Human Rights Watch’s Crisis and Conflict Division in Geneva

President Cyril Ramaphosa says Eskom is making substantial progress with its maintenance and operational excellence programmes. He was delivering his State of the Nation Address in Parliament last night. The comment comes in the week where the power utility has been implementing load shedding across the country. Economists have raised concern about the impact that the power outages are having on an already struggling economy. But Ramaphosa says government has put in place measures to support Eskom…

Guest: Kagiso Pooe-Political analyst and Senior Lecturer at the Wits School of Governance

Guest: Ann Bernstein- Executive Director at the Centre for Development Enterprise

Guest: Kristal Duncan-William-Project Leader at Youth Capital
Guest: Nompumelelo Runji-Political analyst as well as Founder and CEO of the organisation Critical Thinkar

Let’s remind you now about the Children’s Amendment Bill that has been rushed through parliament and put on hold by opposition from lobby groups. They say that the Bill proposed that Section 249 and Regulation 107 be removed. This according to interest groups would likely result in the process of adoption facing even more logistical hurdles.

Guest: Jeevie Pillay - Adoption Specialist and a registered member of the South African Association for Social Workers in Private Practice

Now that we are somehow starting to understand how the Covid-19 process in the workplace works where employees are required to stay home for a few days in self isolation so not to infect others, experts are now warning us of “long Covid” or “long-haul Covid”. This one apparently lingers on for longer which affects productivity at work as the person will then have to stay home more than two week. To explain how it works and what employers and employees should know about it, we are joined on the line by…

Guest: Anton Englebrecht - Senior Health Risk Consultant at Alexander Forbes

We speak now to someone who is in the business of magazines. Mosa Malebo is the founder of a lifestyle magazine called Laurian. She’s talks to us now about her journey and what lead her to magazines seeing how the media industry is taking a beating….
Guest: Mosa Malebo – Founder of Laurian Magazine

This year's State of the Nation Address will be quite subdued and even a solemn affair. And it will be held at a fraction of the cost of previous years. South Africans are hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic as many have lost their jobs and are hoping for some good news from the President this evening. Let’s listen to what they had to say…..
CLIP-EXPECTATIONS
LINK: For a perspective on what we should expect and also looking at Cyril Ramaphosa’s presidency, we are joined on the line by….
Guest: Mighti Jamie – Political and social commentator
Guest: Prof Lesiba Tefo – Political Analyst at Unisa

On our health feature today we focus on the importance of vaccines and the value they add against outbreak, viruses and so on. This stems from the worries people have regarding vaccinating against Covid-19. We speak now to an expert in the field to educate us about the importance of taking the vaccine…

Guest: Professor Jeffrey Mphahlele – Vice President for Research at the South African Medical Research Council

We speak now to Tshepo Matseba - MD of Reputation 1st about an article he penned asking what happened to Steinhoff. He feels that our justice system is not balanced as it focuses on chasing people with minor offences while ignoring the corruption at Steinhoff.

Guest: Tshepo Matseba - MD of Reputation 1st and a seasoned Marketing and Communication Director