The Daily Discourse

The City of Johannesburg has seen a surge in a large number of residential developments and influx of migrant workers in recent years. Does this rapid urbanization pose a threat on urban development challenges in and around the City of Johannesburg? Is the City capable of ensuring proper urban planning? This morning we will discuss the field of town and regional Planning, which includes land use planning, urban design, transport and infrastructure planning. Joining me for this discussion is...

GUEST: MMC for Development Planning, Reuben Masango

Are Internet Shutdowns in Africa countries stifling press and freedom of speech? When it comes to internet shutdowns, African nations are among the world's worst violators, from Ethiopia in the east to Algeria in the north, Cameroon in the center and Zimbabwe in the south, countries are regularly cutting off connectivity for extended periods than any other region globally. Gabon and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are the latest African countries to shut down internet and broadcasting services. Governments in this countries have cited incitements to violence, exam cheating and hate speech for disrupting internet connectivity. The internet is crucial as the platform to which citizens of different countries turn when they want to express dissent or criticize their governments. We will examine why such Internet shutdowns are on the rise, especially during elections and other moments of political tension, when access to information is critical for the public to make informed decisions.

GUEST: Siphumelele Zondi, Creator, Senior Producer and Anchor of Network, a Technology news programme on SABC, DSTV 404

UNISA has blamed a systematic error for the confusion in the suspension of some qualifications. Some students were left in disarray when it came to their attention that some programmes they applied for last year would no longer be offered at the institution this academic year. The South African Qualifications Authority is yet to approve a number of qualifications which include B.Com Finance, Education and Masters of Law. Last week the disgruntled Students' Representative Council (SRC) at Unisa has threatened to shut down one of the institution’s biggest campuses in Pretoria after their meeting with management collapsed.

Guest: Martin Ramotshela- UNISA spokesperson

Dr Carla Lever is a Research Fellow at the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, University of Cape Town says in her article published in The Conversation(The Conversation Africa is an independent source of news and views from the academic and research community, delivered direct to the public.) “It’s undoubtedly encouraging - more than that, exciting - to see UCT nail their colours to the mast in what feels like an embrace of structural transformation, she does though, express her reservations, that Sarah Baartman Hall is not named as an abstract Decolonial gesture. It’s not a simple symbolic reference to a closed chapter of history, chosen at random from hundreds of alumni submissions. It is so named explicitly because of the direct trauma that people of colour experienced from the on-going campus exhibition of an underclad statue of Baartman from 2000 to 2018 in the Science and Technology section of the main library.“

Guest: Dr Carla Lever – Research Fellow at the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, University of Cape Town. She is a cultural anthropologist interested in spectacle, place and embodied practice in a South African context.

Will former President Thabo Mbeki join President Cyril Ramaphosa's the Council of Elders? According to reports Thabo Mbeki has stalled Ramaphosa's invitation to join the Council of Elders after he allegedly learned that former President Jacob Zuma would also be part of the advisory panel. Is this proof that the ANC is divided? Or perhaps that there are still tensions between Zuma and Mbeki.

GUEST: ANC acting National Spokesperson, Dakota Legoete

This morning we are in conversation with Gift Igega, who worked for Joseph Kabila, a man who has spent more than a third of his life as president of the Democratic Republic of Congo. As many of you may know by now that Felix Tshisekedi, was named as the surprise, provisional winner of last month's much delayed presidential vote, to succeed Kabila. So what was it like to work for Joseph Kabila and what kind of a man was Kabila? To answer this we are joined by Igega, who worked for Kabila as his Journalist...

GUEST: Gift Igega, who works for Channel Africa’s French News service, she is also a former Journalist for former DRC president Joseph Kabila.

The ANC manifesto which was launched this weekend at Durban's Moses Mabhida stadium was dominated by the party's plans to grow the economy, create more jobs, education and land reform. This morning we are now in conversation with Business Leadership South Africa CEO, Bonang Mohale, to discuss if the ANC manifesto met their expectation as business

GUEST: Business Leadership South Africa CEO, Bonang Mohale

Time now for our regular Friday feature the Friday Wind Down. Today the spotlight is on Pietermaritzburg’s Noma Khumalo, winner of Idols season 12. She became the first female winner since season five in 2009, breaking the cycle of male-dominated wins.

GUEST : Idols season 12 winner, Noma Khumalo

Over the past years South Africa has been a country with a profound and widespread problem of gender based violence and gender disparities. The ANC Women's League has been criticized for not doing enough to address gender discrimination and the levels of violence against women. So has the ANCWL of lost its identity and character due to poor leadership? Does the Women's League instill confidence that they are leading on women's issues?

GUEST: Minister of Women in the Presidency Bathabile Dlamini...
Guest: Mbuyiselo Botha - Gender activist who has recently completed his 5 year term as a commissioner at the Commission for Gender Equality, a section 9 institution

It’s called France’s boldest attempt at affirmative action. The work contract is part of a subsidised program President Emmanuel Macron’s government is testing to combat job discrimination. The program is part of French President Macron’s broader attempt to bring down unemployment by shaking up the labour market. The gap between the haves and have-nots and the perception that the president doesn’t care has cost him during the “Yellow Vests” protests roiling Paris and other cities. While affirmative action is commonplace in the US, in France it’s known as “positive discrimination” and viewed with suspicion.

Guest: The Ambassador of France to South Africa, His Excellency Christophe Farnaud