The SA Bone Marrow Registry is calling for on local donors to come forward. The registry has seen a drop in donor support since the start of the pandemic. Those with blood disorders and in need of stem cell transplants are in great danger. To educate us more on this why it’s important for donors to come forward, we are joined on the line by…
Guest: Jane Ward - Harvest Coordinator at South African Bone Marrow Registry

The emergence of Covid-19 and lockdown regulations have exposed the great need for skills upgrade in the workplace. The 4th Industrial Revolution is here and many are going to find themselves left out. All sectors of the economy have to adjust and upskill quickly. Executives and decision makers need to be convinced that the 4IR is here and digital transformation needs to happen now. But where do we start as a country?

Guest: Dr Janet Munakamwe – Seniour Labour Researcher and author

There’s no doubt that almost all industries have been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. We’ve been bringing you so many developments around the subject for almost half the year since the outbreak. But now we as the media are now becoming victims of pandemic ourselves. Media24 announcing the closure of some of their publications shook the already battling industry. Media Monitoring Africa's William Bird yesterday described the announcement as a sad day for media diversity in the country.

Guest: William Bird – Executive Director at Media Monitoring Africa

The world is currently going through a crisis, and what adds to peoples’ sense of panic and uncertainty is the fact that no one knows when the economy will fully recover. Some experts have even predicted that the country will be in some sort of locked down state until 2021. The environment continues to become challenging while people’s income has been partially or fully impacted. And at the same time some basic necessities are becoming expensive e.g. the petrol price increases. According to report from research firm Kantar entitled “Navigating Growth in a COVID-19 World”, 83% of South Africans are hugely concerned about the global economic situation, compared to the 79.5% global average, and 82% of household incomes have already, or are expected to be, impacted. What is the advice from Nedbank?

Guest: Sisandile Cikido

Ever since President Cyril Ramaphosa announced relief funds for the business sector, all we’ve hear was complaints from the SMME sector about the difficulties they faced in accessing the funds. We thought to invite experts in the field who are pointing out not only the need for the funds but where the problems lie and what happened to some of the business in this process and to give us an idea,

Guest: Samantha Pokroy - CEO of private equity firm, Sanari Capital

Yesterday many of you were horrified after a 12-year-old grade 7 learner was turned away because she was not wearing a mask. She was then raped on her way home to fetch the mask. Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga yesterday reacted with anger at the incident. But then let’s use this opportunity to find out where the responsibility of schools start and end under the current Covid-19 laws. Who is supposed to provide the masks and what is the role of the parent in all of this?

Guest: Elijah Mhlanga – Spokesperson for the Department of Basic Education

On our health feature today, we get to understand all things about allergies. What are they and how and when does one know if they have an allergy? Also with children, how easy is it to notice if a child is allergic to something? What happens to an allergy if it is not treated? Can one die from it? Well to answer our questions, we are joined on the line by….

GUEST: Dr Adrian Morris of the Cape Town and Joburg Allergy Clinic specializing in adult and children’s allergies

Those who are involved in the Early Childhood Development sector are painting a heart breaking picture of the impact the lockdown has been having on them. In most cases it is the poor who suffered the most as many depend on them for food. Workers and owners are hit hard as parents have not been paying. On Monday the Gauteng High Court ruled in favour of early childhood development centres reopening immediately. Let’s use this opportunity now to discuss the effects and importance of childhood development centres and the role they play in the country…

Guest: Conny Nxumalo – Deputy Director General: welfare Services

GUEST: Shirley van Vicht – Director of Bethany Educare

GUEST: Professor Eric Atmore - Founding director of the Centre for Early Childhood Development

GUEST: Terry Bell – Labour Analyst and columnist

The South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union (SACCAWU) says it has received a notice of intent to retrench workers at Game stores across the country. The Massmart Group has announced it plans to retrench one-thounsand-800 employees. Earlier in the day Media24 announced that it is considering closing five magazines and two newspapers as well as out-sourcing and reducing the frequency of its remaining monthly magazines which could leave Five-hundred-and-ten people unemployed. In Limpopo, more than 50 people have been laid off as Anglo Platinum's Twickenham mine closed some operations at its Mopetsi camp outside Burgersfort. These three announcements happened in one day adding to the high unemployment rate. Do these companies have a choice, if yes, what is a workable solution?
Guest: Advocate Tertius Wessels – Labour Specialist and Legal Director at Strata-g Labour Solutions

Today being Tuesday, we continue bringing you the UIF representative to field your questions and deal with your problems. Please remember to keep your questions very brief and listen on the radio for answers.

GUEST: Tshiamo Molema – Manager for Monitoring and Evaluation in the Commissioner’s Office