Latest data that was recently published by energy think tank Ember has revealed that exports of solar panels from China grew by 34% in the first quarter of this year, with South Africa importing 3.4 Gigawatts of solar panels from China in the first six months of 2023, an increase of 438% compared to the same period last year. To tell us more about the findings of their latest data and China's push for greater influence is......

GUEST: Sam Hawkins, Data Lead at global energy think tank Ember

Carl Niehaus helps us decipher the old political adage that says “There are no permanent friends or enemies in politics, but only permanent interests”. This as most of you are probably aware that a lot has happened in this country since the days of the ‘ANC Premier League Group’ that played the role of kingmakers within the ruling party. Some of the leaders who were allies at some point no longer see eye-to-eye, resulting in the formation of new political parties like Carl’s African Radical Economic Transformation (ARETA).

GUEST: Carl Niehaus, founder of the African Radical Economic Transformation (ARETA)

Eastern Cape Province has emerged as the winner of the third Safer South Africa Foundation’s (SSAF) annual national debating championship that is known as 'Youth for Safer SouthAfrica Debate' that took place in Boksburg recently. This type of competition was introduced three years ago and it is aimed at intensifying crime prevention programmes at schools. To tell us more about their victory, we are joined by....

GUEST: Claudette Van Zyl, Provincial Coordinator for Safer South Africa Foundation in the Eastern Cape

GUEST: Asekhona Yawa, student from Kusile Comphrehensive School (Eastern Cape)

Earlier today, the Ministers of Social Development, Ms Lindiwe Zulu and Communications and Digital Technologies, Mr Mondli Gungubele, held a media briefing to provide an overview of the causes of the system outage that led to the inaccessibility of SASSA grants for Postbank account users. This follows the technical glitch that resulted in delayed payments of social grants last week. The briefing also outlined how SASSA and Postbank would work together to prevent similar events from recurring in the future. We are joined by...

Guest: Mondli Gungubele - Minister of Communications and Digital Technology

As we observe Heritage Month. We tell you more about this somewhat interesting and controversial story of two fossils of ancient human relatives from South Africa who were recently sent into space under very questionable and controversial circumstances. Several archaelogists and scientists have slammed the move, calling it an irresponsible and unethical PR stunt, and a perfect example of neo-colonialism in science. This as they argue that the entire trip was not carried out for scientific reasons.

GUEST: Dr Robyn Pickering, from the Human Evolution Research Institute & Geologist at the University of Cape Town

Cabinet will be implementing austerity measures to address the budgetary shortfalls within national and provincial government departments. This comes weeks before Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwane tables his Medium-term budget policy statement. One of the key concerns experts have raised was that the government's attempt to address socio-economic issues through fiscal initiatives has resulted in the nation taking on more debt-driven financing. The most recent being the Just Energy Transition. As a result, these austerity measures being announced have more to do with servicing our rising debt levels at the expense of delivering public goods and services.

There have also been proposals made about increasing value-added tax despite the challenges the public has faced with inflation in the last two years. Consumers are seeing the value of the Rand giving them less buying power during fragile economic times. There has also been talk about scrapping social protection initiatives beyond March 2024. We wanted to unpack how these measures would affect ordinary South Africans and if government officials take the advice of the expert leaders not only managing the economic conditions but also finding meaningful ways to make the quality of economic life not compromised. We are joined by...   

Guest: Dr. Thabi Leoka (pronounced: Looka) - Economist

AfriForum says about 95% of farm attacks and murders remain unresolved in South Africa. They are also not happy that convictions have so far been made in only 66 cases.

GUEST: Jacques Broodryk, AfriForum’s spokesperson for Community Safety.

The national grid has collapsed in Nigeria, leaving almost the entire country in darkness. We understand that many households and businesses are currently generating their independent power at higher costs because of the high price of petrol and diesel. For more details on what has caused this problem, we are joined by......

GUEST: Eniola Daniel, Reporter with Guardian in Nigeria

At the heart of this year's conference is supporting the expansion of the Digital Economy. In order to do so, one has to look into Cyber Security and the role it plays when it comes to delivering services. This is particularly important given the headlines on cyber breaches to government departments in the past year. To tell us more about how the Department intends to strengthen digital security, we are joined by... 

Guest: Phillemon Mapulane - Deputy-Minister of Communication and Digital Technologies

With technology advancing at such a rapid rate, the elderly may struggle to keep pace. There is a crucial need for them to enhance their digital skills. Gogos With Vuma, a collaboration between goGoGogo and VUMA Telecommunications help develop and manage programmes aimed at enhancing life opportunities for Gogos and their children. Recently, 59 elderly individuals successfully graduated from a digital education programme, equipping them with fundamental digital skills.

 Guest: Patience Khumalo - Gogo