Alleged parliament arsonist, Zandile Mafe snubbed the court yet again today. Pretrial proceedings have been postponed because he refused to leave his prison cell. Mafe was arrested just over a year ago following a fire that burnt down parts of parliament. It is not the first time he is refusing to appear in court.

Guest: SABC News Reporter, Atule Joka

Many of our listeners have been communicating frustration with coalition governance as we reported issues in different municipalities this week. Some even go as far as saying this is just a glimpse of the kind of instability we are likely to go through should South Africa go into coalition governance after the 2024 elections. The City of Johannesburg  elects a new mayor today after the ousting of Dr Mpho Phalatse through a motion of no confidence for a second time. The court reinstated her as mayor after it declared the first motion unlawful. Has Dr Phalatse even had time to implement anything considering the amount of time she has spent fighting to keep her position? We’re now joined by Dr Harlan Cloete, Governance Systems Expert and research fellow at the University of Free State. 

Farms in North West and the Free State have been placed under quarantine following an outbreak of African Swine Fever on a farm in Gauteng. As a result of this, the department of agriculture, land reform and rural development has reiterated its call to all pig farmers and pig keepers to only buy pigs directly from known healthy herds, and to prevent contact between their pigs and other pigs or wildlife. 

GUEST:  Dr mpho maja - director for animal health at the department of agriculture, land reform and rural development

Free State police have confirmed that a case of two counts of attempted murder are being investigated after the incident that occurred in November last year at a half build house in River Street, Bothaville – where two homeless men were attacked. Allegedly, a 32-year-old homeless man was burnt with inflammable liquid substance, while the second victim, a 41-year-old man was allegedly shot with rubber rounds.  

GUEST: Captain Stephen Thakeng, Free State Police spokesperson  

Yesterday, Israeli military raided the West Bank city of Jenin and killed at least nine Palestinians. The United Nations has condemned the raid, while the United Arab Emirates, France and China are calling for an urgent UN Security Council meeting to deal with the current situation. However, Israel says it conducted yesterday’s counterterrorism operation to prevent an imminent large-scale attack on its civilians. 

GUEST: Professor Haidar Eid, Associate Professor of Postcolonial and Postmodern Literature at Gaza’s Al-Aqsa University

THE INNERVIEW: Last Week Tuesday we spoke to leader of newly formed United Africans Transformation, Abel Tau about the formation of the party. We then touched on the sexual assault case he is facing that got him expelled from Action SA. He denied sexually assaulting the woman and insisted nothing happened. The family of the woman he assaulted reached out to us and asked to set the record straight on what he said, they say he lied. As a disclaimer before we do the interview, the woman has given permission for this conversation to happen. But before we speak to her husband, whom we shall call Mr. X to protect her identity, let’s listen to what Tau said on the sexual assault case last week. 

Following the ousting of Joburg Mayor, Dr Mpho Phalatse. We now speak to ActionSA’s national chairperson, Michael Beaumont. Earlier today, ActionSA announced that they will approach coalition partners to seek their support for the party's candidate for the position of Johannesburg mayor if Mpho Phalatse is ousted. Now that Phalatse has been ousted – what’s the next move for the party? 

GUEST: Michael Beaumont, Chairperson of ActionSA

Following a short-lived break, Metro FM Music Awards are back and are scheduled to take place in April this year. The event will be hosted by the City of Mbombela and will be broadcast live on SABC1 and supported by various SABC radio stations. Joining us to furnish us with more details about this year’s ceremony is…. 

GUEST: Kina Nhlengethwa, Metro FM Station Manager  

Power cuts are wreaking havoc in the chicken production industry. One of South Africa’s biggest chicken producers, Astral Foods Limited is warning its profits may plunge by 90% as production costs continue to rise due to load-shedding. The JSE listed poultry group says the cost of producing chicken exceeds the selling price by R2 per kilogram as it puts funds into alternative energy sources, however, it has not been able to pass the increase in production costs to consumers. It says this is the worst crisis it has seen in decades, spending R1 million per day on diesel to ensure enough chicken is being produced and sent to the market. We’re now joined by Astral Foods Limited COO, Gary Arnold

A police woman from Limpopo has been arrested and charged for sexually grooming and raping a young boy. The woman filmed herself in the video that has gone viral on social media. In the video, she is instructing the boy to perform sexual acts on her. The boy has been sent to a place of safety and her identity has not been revealed to protect the boy’s identity. It has been alleged the boy might be the police woman’s son. For more details on that,

Guest: Limpopo Police Spokesperson, Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo.