The Daily Discourse

North Korean leader Kim Jong Unsaid yesterday that he is ready to meet U.S. President Donald Trump anytime to achieve their common goal of denuclearising the Korean Peninsula, but warned he may have to take an alternative path if U.S. sanctions and pressure against the country continued.
In his New Year address, Kim said denuclearisation is his "firm will" and suggested for the first time that North Korea would no longer produce nuclear weapons. He also urged Washington to take unspecified corresponding action to speed up the stalled diplomatic process.

Guest: Sanusha Naidu, Senior research associate at the Institute of Global Dialogue

Guest: Patrick Bond is a professor of political economy at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. His most recent book, coedited with Ana Garcia, is BRICS: An Anti-Capitalist Critique (Haymarket Books, 2015).

guest: Thembinkosi Ngcobo - Head of Parks at the recreation and Ethekwini municipality an agreement between Ethekwini municipality and Former President Jacob Zuma to record struggle songs

Political analyst Protas Madlala says the ANC has itself to blame for the killing of its members. During the Moerane Commission, looking into political killings in KwaZulu Natal, almost all political parties had testified that the killings in the province were due to internal party conflicts. Protas Madlala says the question we should be asking is why such killings are not happening in other political parties.

GUEST: Political analyst, Protas Madlala

The right to worship should not violate the rights of others or degenerate into a cacophony of noise that disturbs peace, this according to Lucas Ledwaba, an author and editor of Mukurukuru Media, who is calling for the closure of pop-up churches. He says "people need to learn to practise their religion without imposing it on others".

GUEST: Lucas Ledwaba - Who is an author and editor of Mukurukuru Media

The department of home affairs has reiterated that the requirement for an unabridged birth certificate for children travelling with their parents no longer applies, but the parents must still carry it anyway. There have been some concerns raised by travelers on social media, in the case of customs officials allegedly asking to see it at ports of entry. This morning we get clarity about when travel documents apply, and exactly which documents apply when.

Guest: Siya Qoza – Spokesperson for the Minister of Home Affairs

A recent SA-TIED (Southern Africa – Towards Inclusive Economic Development) research study estimates that South Africa loses about R7 billion a year due to profit shifting by multinational corporations; amounting to about 4% of total current corporate income tax receipts. The key finding suggests that 98% of the tax loss is associated with profit-shifting by the biggest 10% of multinational corporations. Head of the now-terminated Davis Tax Committee, Judge Dennis Davis, believes further investigation is required into base erosion and profit shifting, which is estimated to be robbing the fiscus of at least R7bn annually.

Guest: Judge Dennis Davis - Head of the now-terminated Davis Tax Committee

As per usual on a Friday we end off with music, on our regular the Friday Wind down. This morning we are in conversation with Afro-Soul sensation, Philisiwe Mavukela, a multi-talented musician from Katlehong, a township east of Johannesburg.

GUEST : Afro-Soul sensation, Writer and Singer, Philisiwe Mavukela

Ever wondered how safe your luggage really is on its journey between the plane and the airport? Is there a link between flight delays and baggage tampering? We now speak to Consumer journalist and writer, Wendy Knowler who has written an article on Times Live about bag tampering and the theft of valuable items from travellers at airports, which FlySafair says needs urgent intervention. The aviation company is even willing to put R100,000 on the table for any party that can come forward and curb such criminal activities at airports.

Guest: Wendy Knowler - Who is a Consumer Journalist and writer and also a consumer columnist for Times Live

Finance minister Tito Mboweni has described the state of the streets in Johannesburg's CBD as "filthy and embarrassing". In a recent tweet minister Mboweni compared the city's roads to those in Kigali, Rwanda, which he says are "clean and beautiful" in contrast. Last year in August, the executive mayor of the City of Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba, launched the A Re Sebetseng campaign, which was focused at cleaning the city. Meanwhile Wits emeritus professor of Sociology, Roger Southall says “Littering in protest is indicative of a discordant society, and a culture of littering can tell us a lot about a society’s ethos”. On the Talking Point this morning we are asking you how can we keep our towns, cities and the countryside clean and habitable?

GUEST: Roger Southall, emeritus Professor of Sociology, University of the Witwatersrand