Guest: Rev. Thulasizwe buthelezi: KZN Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC

Guest: Prof. Alakendra Roychoudhury: specialist in environmental and marine geochemistry in the Department of Earth Sciences at Stellenbosch University 

Guest: Tshepo Mongoai: Business Journalist & SABC Economics Editor

Guest: Professor Keith Engelt: CEO South African Institute of taxation

Guest: Reuben Maleka: General Manager,The Public Service Association’s (PSA)

Guest: Raymond Parsons: Business School economist: North West University

20 February 2025

1. DR Congo- Chad

DR Congo seeks Chad’s support to combat M23 rebels

The Democratic Republic of Congo has requested military support from Chad to combat the M23 rebels, according to latest media reports.

Didier Mazenga, a special envoy from Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi, visited Chad on Tuesday to meet with President Mahamat Idriss Deby.

1. Kenya- DR Congo

Congolese church leaders push for peace talks between DRC government, M23 rebels

The church-led diplomacy is the latest push for a resolution as anxiety rises in the capital Kinshasa, with some officials seeking to leave amid fear of a coup.

The two churches, Catholic and Protestant, are trying to get the whole world around one table, Monsignor Donatien Nshole, secretary-general of the influential Catholic bishops conference (CENCO), has met with President William Ruto to discuss how to combine regional mediation efforts with national ones.

1. Uganda - Kampala

Frail Ugandan opposition figure back in jail after brief court appearance

Ugandan opposition figure Kizza Besigye appeared briefly in a civilian court Wednesday as attorneys tried to secure his freedom, but a judge said he was too unwell to follow proceedings.

Besigye’s wife, UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima, says her husband is being framed and is deeply concerned about his continued detention.

“I am devastated. But I am not surprised. Besigye is a captive. He was kidnapped. He is in captivity as we all are. (President Yoweri) Museveni has put all of us in captivity,” she said.

4.Mali- Bamako

Malian filmmaker Souleymane Cissé, a pioneer of African cinema with a career spanning 50 years, has died at age 84, Malian television announced yesterday.

Born in Bamako, Souleymane Cissé studied in Mali, Senegal and Moscow. He was President of the Union of Creators and Entrepreneurs of Cinema and Audiovisuals of West Africa.

Tributes poured in for Cisse, whose trailblazing work on the silver screen across more than half a century was marked by a commitment to African storytelling, deep humanism and political engagement.

The cause of Cissé's death was not announced. The Malian government said Cissé “had just held a press conference to present two trophies as a prelude to the 29th edition of Fespaco, the Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO), which will open this next weekend in the capital of Burkina Faso.”

5.In our historical archives, it was on this day 20 February 1925 when a South Afrikan prolific writer, member of the SACP, leader of the South African Coloured People's Organisation (SACPO), defendant in the 1956 Treason Trial and the then chief representative of the African National Congress in the Caribbean, Justin Alexander (Alex) La Guma was born in District Six, Western Cape.

His father, Jimmy La Guma was of Cuban descent, which made him mixed race in South Africa and was classified as Coloured. La Guma’s father was involved in anti-apartheid activism, a path that he would also follow.

La Guma was also a talented writer and wrote several books, most of them depicting the plight of black people under apartheid.

Guest: John Steenhuisen: Leader of the Democratic Alliance

Guest: Babongile Mhlongo: Director of Environmental Health, Malaria and CDC in the KZN Department of Health 

Guest: Laduma Ngxokolo: Fashion Designer and founder of MaXhosa