The Inauguration Ceremony of the newly elected Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Lesotho, the Right Honourable Samuel Ntsokoane Matekane, in Maseru is currently underway. The inauguration follows the National Assembly elections that took place in the Kingdom on 7 October 2022. Matekane, leader of the Revolution for Prosperity, won 56 out of the 79 contested constituencies. SABC International News Editor Sophie Mokoena is in Lesotho, and she joins us on the line… 

GUEST: Rapelang Radebe, SABC Correspondent based in Lesotho 

Organisers of the 33rd Johannesburg Pride March and Pride of Africa Celebrations say the event will go ahead as planned this coming weekend, as they have not been directly threatened. This despite yesterday’s security alert that was issued by the US Embassy, warning that terrorists were planning to conduct an attack, targeting large gatherings of people in the greater Sandton area.  

GUEST: Kaye Allie, Organiser of the Johannesburg Pride March and Pride of Africa Celebrations  

The rape charges against the 14 suspects who were arrested in connection with the gang rape of eight women in Krugersdorp have been withdrawn at the Krugersdorp Magistrates Court, and now face only charges of violating the Immigration Act. To tell us more about this is… 

GUEST: Phindi Mjonondwane - Gauteng National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson 

Following King Mswati’s confirmation that he will attend King Misuzulu’s coronation ceremony. The South African Communist Party in KwaZulu-Natal intends to stage a protest to highlight the plight of eSwatini citizens. However, the party has made it clear that their protest is not meant to disrupt the festivities, but was rather aimed at raising awareness about the living conditions of the population of eSwatini. 

GUEST: Bheki Mbatha, 2nd Provincial Secretary of the SACP in KwaZulu-Natal

Today, President Cyril Ramaphosa is hosting Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. The two leaders are expected to tackle a variety of challenges such as poverty, unemployment and inequality. According to President Ramaphosa, South Africa will also continue to engage on Spain’s Focus Africa 2023 plan and the specific cooperation programmes to foster peace, stability and sustainable development across the continent of Africa.

GUEST: Sophie Mokoena, SABC’s Foreign Editor 

The end of e-tolls has arrived. Finance Minister, Enoch Godongwana announced in his mid-term budget speech that national government will take 70% of the Sanral debt and the Gauteng province will take 30%. He says the province will maintain its roads either through toll plazas, new tolls or other investments. OUTA has called for the end of e-tolls since they were installed on Gauteng roads. We’re now joined by OUTA CEO, Wayne Duvenage. 

The issue of access to markets is viewed by many as the second biggest challenge to SMEs after funding. In fact a famous saying among business performance consultants is that a business has only 2 functions – sales and sales support. Old Mutual’s own research found SME owners cite that it is a perennial issue for small and medium businesses who face significant pressure to keep the sales pipeline going. Old Mutual SME has incorporated this issue into their turnkey SME solution. To furnish us with more details is….. 

GUEST: Nobesuthu Ndlovu, Director of SME for Old Mutual 

The US government has issued a security alert and warned its embassy staff that it has received information that terrorists may be planning to conduct an attack this coming Saturday, targeting large gatherings of people at an unspecified location in the greater Sandton area.  

Jasmine Opperman, Southern Africa consultant on extremism

We continue to get reaction to that mid-term budget speech by Finance Minister, Enoch Godongwana. He says one of government’s priorities is reducing unemployment and growing the economy, through leveraging investments into the country. He also welcomed the end of the workers’ strike at Transnet. We’re now joined by Cosatu Spokesperson, Sizwe Pamla

An update on the story we ran yesterday about a teacher from Mdingi Junior Secondary School in the Eastern Cape. The teacher was suspended following two cases of sexual assault against pupils. He allegedly compelled them to commit sexual acts. Well, he has been arrested and he appeared in court today. For more on that, we are now joined by police spokesperson, Warrant Officer Majola Nkohli.