Today President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed a group of attendees at a dialogue by the Businesswomen's Association of South Africa (BWASA), in partnership with UN Women. This was a one-on-one engagement to explore some of the commitments the government has made in terms of the empowerment of professional women and women entrepreneurs, specifically how to improve women’s access to public and private procurement of goods and services.

Guest: Kunyala Maphisa- Businesswomen's Association of South Africa (BWASA) President and member of the advisory board

South Africa’s main opposition party (the Democratic Alliance) has asked Parliament's Joint Committee on Ethics and Members' Interests to probe conduct relating to Mantashe and claims that he bribed two journalists. They say that his actions are in violation of the Code of Ethical Conduct and Disclosure of Members' Interests of Parliament.

Guest: Kevin Mileham, DA’s Shadow Minister of Mineral Resources & Energy

Following revelations that Mineral Resources and Energy Minister, Gwede Mantashe allegedly bribed Sunday Word journalists to withhold publishing an article about his private life - Sanef will be writing a letter to retired Judge Kathleen Satchwell, who is chairing their independent Inquiry into Media Ethics and Credibility, asking her to investigate this further. They will also ask her to look into the prevalence of "brown envelope" journalism across the industry.

Guest: Mahlatse Mahlase – SANEF Chairperson

World News today: How problematic is the issue of child marriages across the globe? According to UNICEF figures, this year alone about 12 million of the world’s children will be married before they turn 18.

Guest: Luke Lamprecht, Advocacy Manager and Child Protection Specialist @ Women & Men Against Child Abuse

About two hours ago, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan released a policy paper explaining how Eskom would get back on track over the next few years. According to the policy paper, Eskom will look to cut its cost of coal and diesel, and is trying to renegotiate contracts it concluded with independent suppliers of renewable energy with the aim of getting them to lower their prices.

Guest: Andrew Kenny, Professional engineer with the interest in energy

The Foundation for the Smart Nation has created a revolutionary school backpack aimed at addressing societal and educational inequalities; in particular those brought on by the lack of reliable electricity.

Guest: Sibongile Nkuna, Operations Director at the Foundation for the Smart Nation

The Democratic Alliance, Shadow Minister of Justice advocate Glynnis Breytenbach, has stated that it is deeply concerned about the chronic vacancies present in South Africa’s court system, totalling over 1000 empty posts, some of which have been left unfilled for over 365 days. According to her this has severe implications for South Africans who are seeking justice for crimes committed against them. The justice department has however responded by saying that she conveniently, left out a significant part of the bigger picture.

Guests: Advocate Glynnis Breytenbach - Democratic Alliance, Shadow Minister of Justice

Guest: Chrispin Phiri- Spokesperson , Spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice and Correctional Services

Thabiso Zulu, who is a whistleblower and close friend of the late ANC Youth League (ANCYL) secretary-general Sindiso Magaqa has been released from hospital following a suspected assassination attempt this past weekend. Zulu is an informant on political killings in KwaZulu-Natal and is believed to have been receiving death threats after he revealed the corruption that exists in the Umzimkhulu Municipality. He also testified at the Moerane Commission of Inquiry into Political Killings in the province.

Guest: Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo - Police Spokesperson

Cosatu has called on Finance Minister Tito Mboweni to present what it calls a serious Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS). The union says it wants to see a mini budget that has targets and time-frames.

Guest: Matthew Parks - Cosatu Parliamentary Liaison Officer

Dr Randall Carolissen who is the administrator of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme – and he says the current issue of contention which is the performance management system is one of many legacy issues that have negatively affected the performance of the scheme.

Guest: Dr Randall Carolissen, Nsfas administrator