The department of education in Limpopo says a group of grade 12 learners at Sefogole Sepeke Secondary School in Tshehlwaneng village, allegedly damaged the school’s property, demanding a new agricultural sciences teacher. The matter has been reported to the police and investigations are currently underway to establish the facts.  

GUEST: Mike Maringa, Spokesperson for the department of education in Limpopo 

The IFP is calling on police minister, Bheki Cele to give clarity with regards to EFF leader, Julius Malema’s claims that he informed EFF Secretary General, Marshall Dlamini about a plan by IFP leaders to assassinate him after a fall-out with regards to coalition governance in KZN between the two political parties. The police refuted the claims, saying they do not discuss safety and security assessments of individuals, but the EFF insists Cele did make the call to Dlamini.

Guest: IFP national spokesperson, Mkhuleko Hlengwa

An Eastern Cape dairy farm may have to halt operations due to the impact of load-shedding on its production costs. The Ncora Dairy Trust Farm has about 4000 milking cows and employs about 100 people to produce milk products it supplies to supermarkets. In December alone, it recorded a production loss worth R2.7 million due to load-shedding. Some of its equipment has been damaged by power outages. It recently signed a contract worth R75 million to supply milk to a multinational company, however, all of that is now in jeopardy.

Guest: Mandla Sikhondo, farm manager at the Ncora Dairy Trust Farm. 

The Constitutional Court has ruled hat the COVID-19 Tourism Relief Fund that favoured black-owned businesses was unlawful. Afriforum and Solidarity had taken the department of Tourism to court to fight against the use of black economic empowerment as criteria for the allocation of funds in the tourism sector. The Department of Tourism  introduced the Tourism Equity Fund as an institution that would only grant loans and grants to businesses with at least 51% black ownership in 2020. 

Guest: Anton van der Bijl, Solidarity’s Deputy Chief Executive for Legal Matters. 

Some children are still not able to start their academic year in the Eastern Cape due to damaged infrastructure. Vandals wreaked havoc in some schools and stole equipment, making it impossible for them to reopen at the beginning of the year. SABC News reporter, Abongile Jantjies visited some schools in East London 

The Green Connection says South Africa does not need more fossil fuels – this as they are staging pickets in Cape Town and Nelson Mandela Bay today against TotalEnergies plans to launch operations in South Africa.  

GUEST: Lisa Makaula, from the Green Connection  

Tomorrow evening President Cyril Ramaphosa will deliver the State of the Nation Address. Making government work was one of the key commitments in last year’s SONA – but what made last year’s speech difficult was the ravaging effects of four Covid-19 waves on lives, livelihoods and the economy. So given the fact that the pace of economic reforms remains slow and the constant power cuts are having an adverse impact on the country – what can we expect the president to say tomorrow? 

GUEST: Mondli Gungubele, Minister in the Presidency  

The death toll from the devastating earthquake in Turkiye and Syria continues to rise as several reports suggest that at least 11 000 people have died. Earlier today, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan visited southern Turkey to see first-hand the destruction brought by a massive earthquake.

GUEST: Peroshni Govender, International journalist

The Public Servants Association of South Africa has been picketing outside the Prince Mshiyeni Hospital in Kwazulu-Natal. The hospital has been without water for two days after a water pipe that feeds into the hospital burst. The reservoirs it uses for water emergencies are also without water. Some patients are being diverted to neighbouring hospitals. We are now joined by Mlungisi Ndlovu, PSA General Manager in KwaZulu-Natal.

The South African police service has denied allegations by the EFF that it informed the party about an assassination plot on its Secretary General, Marshall Dlamini after a fall out with the IFP in KwaZulu-Natal. Following our interview with the police earlier, EFF Leader, Julius Malema has responded and says Dlamini got a call from Police Minister, Bheki Cele informing him about a threat on his life by the IFP leadership. We’re now joined by EFF spokesperson, Sinawo Tambo.