The illicit alcohol industry is booming in South Africa, and consumers need to be especially careful when buying liquor since they could end up with an illegal product without even realising it. This is according to Angela Russell, CEO of the Drinks Federation of South Africa [DF-SA] 

Guest: Angela Russell, CEO of the Drinks Federation of South Africa [DF-SA] 

Guest: Sophie Mokoena: SABC International news editor  

Guest: Makoro John Mpe - Polokwane municipality Mayor  

In response to escalating challenges within the township economy, a powerful new coalition, Together in Defence of the Township Economy (TITE), has been established. This independent, multi-party organisation unites key groups, including the Operation Dudula, Patriotic Alliance (PA), uMkhonto WeSizwe Liberation War Veterans (MKLWV), Azanian People’s Liberation Army (APLA), and the Ekasi Business Federation, among others, to defend local businesses and safeguard community health standards. 

Guest: Zandile Dabula, President of Operation Dudula 

South African Revenue Service (Sars) Commissioner Edward Kieswetter has warned of lower-than-expected tax revenue collections, which were anticipated earlier this year during the February budget speech. Kieswetter was responding to Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) in a special sitting in Parliament on Wednesday. 

Guest: Professor Keith Engel - SA Institute of Taxation CEO 

This follows a recent confrontation in Mpumalanga where taxi association patrollers allegedly drove off with a motorist’s car, demanding R2 500 to release it, after he offered to give his neighbour a lift. 

Guest: Rebecca Phala – Santaco National Spokesperson 

The executive mayor of the Nelson Mandela Bay metro, Gary van Niekerk, has resigned. The deputy executive mayor, Babalwa Lobishe, has also tendered her resignation. It is understood that there is an agreement that they will be voted into each other’s jobs. 

Guest: Ongama Mtimka Political Analyst 

Flash floods have killed more than 90 people across eastern Spain, according to the Spanish authorities, after a deluge of rain — in some places, several months’ worth — fell in less than a day. The flooding, which began with heavy rain on Monday, were some of the country’s deadliest in decades. 

Guest: Prof Kaitano Dube - Faculty of Human Science Research Professor at the Vaal University of Technology 

THE R350 social relief of distress (SRD) grant will come to an end in March next year as the government has no plans to extend it. This emerged from the 2024 Medium-term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) tabled in Parliament by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana on Wednesday. 

Guest: Siyanda Baduza - Institute for Economic Justice Basic Income Researcher 

Ukraine says nine injured in Russia's 19th air attack on Kyiv in October. Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, on Monday said his country was ready to hold peace talks with Russia but believed President Vladimir Putin still camped on his untenable demand for Ukrainian surrender. 

Guest: Steven Gruzd, head of the Africa-Russia Project at the South African Institute of International Affairs