The Daily Discourse

The 2017 Democracy Index ranked Mauritius as the only country with a full democracy in Africa, with South Africa ranking at number four. In 2018, it placed three African countries, Chad, Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo in the bottom 5 of its least democratic countries. Yesterday I spoke to Professor Steven Friedman, a political analyst and research professor at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), about this Democracy Index.

Guest: Professor Steven Friedman, a political analyst and research professor at the University of Johannesburg (UJ).

There continues to be widespread reaction and debate over Helen Zille's proposed tax revolt. The Western Cape premier tweeted over the weekend that she would advocate that people withhold paying their taxes if corrupt individuals are voted into power in the upcoming elections. The DA has however distanced itself from Zille's views and says her tweets are not party policy but merely an expression of her opinion. Yesterday we spoke to Dawie Roodt, a Director and Chief Economist at Efficient Group, who says there is already a tax revolt happening.

GUEST: Viwe Mlenzana, Acting Chief Enforcement Officer at SARS

Sudan protests against President Omar al-Bashir have intensified with calls for him to resign. Omar al-Bashir, who has ruled for 30 years, has presided over alleged crimes against humanity in Darfur, for which he is wanted by the International Criminal Court, as well as massive graft and mismanagement. Since the protests began, officials say that over 26 people have died so far, but rights groups say more than 40 have been killed. For the latest we are now joined on the line by...

GUEST: Sabir Ebrahim, a Representative of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, here in South Africa

Western Cape Premier Helen Zille has threatened a tax revolt should those implicated in the Zondo commission of inquiry are not jailed for corruption. The DA has however distanced itself from Zille's views, saying her tweets are not party policy but merely an expression of her opinion. Meanwhile Political analyst, Somadoda Fikeni, says Zille's threats to organise a tax revolt - is a sign of desperation in the lead-up to the May general elections.

GUEST: Dawie Roodt, Director and Chief Economist of Efficient Group

The University of Pretoria is doing away with Afrikaans as its Medium of Instruction. The Institution says a 50% drop in the students whose mother tongue is Afrikaans prompted the change. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni, in his personal capacity, came out against the decision. Mboweni says the country will be shooting itself in the foot by phasing out of Afrikaans as one of the mediums of teaching and will inevitably regret this decision in 30 years' time. The Afrikaans language is in most instances associated with apartheid rule and whiteness. This morning on The Talking Point we will discuss whether Afrikaners and the language itself are being marginalized.

GUEST: AfriForum's deputy CEO, Alana Bailey

Time now for our regular Friday feature the Friday Music Wind Down, this morning we profile Berita, a multi-award winning, gold selling Afro Soul sensation. Born Gugulethu Khumalo in Bulawayo Zimbabwe, Berita has worked with music with both music legends Oliver Mtukudzi and Hugh Masekela, who we paid tribute to earlier on. She now joins us in studio to speak about her new single "Ndicel' ikiss", which she is releasing today.

GUEST: Afro soul sensation, Berita

The Moral Regeneration Movement (MRM) recently launched the Charter of Election Ethics, which is aimed at encouraging ethical conduct during the campaigning for the 2019 general election. The Moral Regeneration Movement says politics is a form of warfare without a bloody conflict, the use of dirty tricks to win an election is morally reprehensible. MRM chairperson, Father Smangaliso Mkhatshwa, said during the launch that the organisation’s mission was to promote moral values to which all South Africans can aspire as a basis for nation building.

Guest: Father Smangaliso Mkhatswa – Chairperson for the Moral Regeneration Movement

In the lead up to the final voter registration weekend this weekend, Citizen Surveys have released their latest SACS data which shows that 4.5-million of the 37-million eligible voters don’t intend to even register. According to the South African Citizens Survey (SACS) by Citizen Surveys, there are 37-million South Africans aged 18 years and older who were eligible to vote in the fourth quarter of 2018. Of these eligible voters, 60% believe they are registered, 9% are uncertain, and 30% say they are not registered.

Guest: Reza Omar, Director: Research and Strategy at Citizen Surveys

The DA's head of policy Gwen Ngwenya has resigned from the post a month ahead of the party's manifesto launch. In her resignation letter Gwen Ngwenya says the party spends more money on billboards and marketing than on policy development.

GUEST: DA spokesperson, Solly Malatsi

As the shutdown, which has left 800-thousand federal workers without pay, hit its 35th day - Democratic leaders have floated the idea of giving Trump most or all of the money he seeks for security along the Mexican border, but for items other than the 70-billion-rand wall he wants. Today, about 800,000 federal workers will start to miss their second paychecks since the shutdown began last month. As Trump insists he will not give ground on the wall, although it seems has more to lose than Democratic leaders if the impasse continues to inflict harm on government workers and Americans who rely on services from housing and food assistance to airport security. Is there an end in sights?

Guest: Brooks Spector is the Associate Editor at Daily Maverick and a retired American diplomat.