We continue our series on the G20 with Lerato Tsebe, looking at how South Africa uses this opportunity of being at the helm for 2025.

Guest: Lerato Tsebe - Independent African Researcher

We turn our attention to the residential property market. Despite the financial challenges facing most South Africans, 83.32% of tenants are in good standing as of the end Q1 2025. This is really good news given South Africa’s spiralling unemployment figures, and the exponential costs of living.

Residential rentals are growing - 40% of South Africans rent their homes.  This figure is likely to increase given the Reserve Bank’s recent decision to lower interest rates. However, the increase in households seeking rental accommodation has led to greater demand, making it far more difficult to find affordable accommodation. To unpack some of key findings and what these trends are telling us, we are joined by…

Guest: Waldo Marcus - Marketing Director at TPN from MRI Software

For our Citizens Corner this morning, we talk about the unemployment crisis in South Africa. Last week, Statistics South Africa announced that South Africa now possesses 8.4 million unemployed people. The number of unemployed people increased by 140 000 for the second quarter of 2025. A bigger concern is that 3.4 million discouraged job seekers who have stopped looking for economic opportunities in the labour market.

In this hour, we speak to guests who spend time unpacking what these statistics mean for vulnerable groups such as women and young people. We also unpack what this crisis means for those struggling to find opportunities and find themselves over the age of 35. To help us navigate this issue, we are joined by…

Guest: Buhle Magwaza - Project Lead at advocacy campaign Youth Capital 

Guest:  Phelisa Nkomo Development Economist & Board Chair of OXFAM South Africa

Guest : Dr Deonita Damons -  Director at the Boston City Campus

Guest: Ashley Benjamin - Deputy Secretary of the  Federation of Unions of South Africa (FEDUSA)

Personal Finance with Bryan Hirsch

Focus: As we commemorate Women’s Month, Bryan thought it would be valuable to highlight some key insights about women and their role in finance. To tell us more about this, we are joined by…

Guest: Bryan Hirsch, Chairperson of Bryan Hirsch, Colley & Associates (Pty) Limited (www.bhca.co.za)

We speak now to Professor Pumela Msweli who is the Executive Dean and CEO of the UNISA Graduate School of Business Leadership. She has launched a new book on the Intra-Africa trade where she asks whether the agreement can unleash Africa’s Development Potential? For those who are interested in the future of the continent, this book goes beyond theory and offers strategic insight into how Africa can build inclusive, equitable and sustainable trade systems that benefit more people in more countries. Professor Msweli now joins us to discuss the objectives of the book and her thoughts on how the Intra-Africa trade can turn the continent’s prospects around….   

Guest: Professor Pumela Msweli - Executive Dean and CEO of the UNISA Graduate School of Business Leadership

Our next guest has written a new report that monitors local coalitions for the period 2023-2025, and South Africa’s national and provincial coalitions for the period 2024-2025.

The MISTRA Coalitions Barometer II, 2023–2025 records and assesses a historic period in South Africa’s transition from three decades of majoritarian and liberation movement rule to an era of growing coalition governance. The Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection first released a Coalitions Barometer for the period 2021–2023 which researched the rapid expansion of coalition governments at the local level following the local elections of 2021. It noted the increasing likelihood of coalitions becoming South Africa’s next predominant mode of governance. The anticipated change became a reality with the advent of the national and provincial elections of 2024. The prominence of coalition government could be for a transitional or for an enduring period. To share their insights with us, we are joined by....

Guest (Telephone): Prof. Susan Booysen - Emeritus Professor at the University of Witwatersrand and research consultant. (She led the Barometer project for MISTRA in consultant capacity)

When officially launching the National Dialogue on Friday, President Cyril Ramaphosa said that the conversation will allow people to be honest about their challenges while proposing solutions. Some of the major issues he highlighted were GBV, service delivery and inequality to name a few. Let's take a listen…

Guest: Nonkululeko Mntambo – Member of the Convention Organising Committee  

Guest: Nomathamsanqa Masiko-Mpaka - South African Researcher for the African Division at Human Rights Watch 

Guest: Itumeleng Motlhabane - General Secretary at Equal Education and also attended on behalf of other civil society groups

We are coming to you live from the University of South Africa where the long-awaited National Dialogue is taking place. Just last week we saw how some of the legacy foundations walked out of it stating high budget and how the event is being rushed as one of the reasons. Over the weekend the Presidency announced that the budgetary processes regarding the convention are consistent with the Public Finance Management Act. We will be speaking to a variety of people who are in attendance to hear from them as to how we answer former President Thabo Mbeki’s national question. Let’s start off with…

 Guest: Professor Tshepo Madlingozi - Commissioner at the South African Human Rights Commission

We continue getting the thoughts of the various people who are in attendance at the National Dialogue. What are the various people bringing to the table and how do we navigate comments about why we need to have a conversation as a nation? Let’s speak now to…

Guest: Yolokazi Mfuto – Political Analyst

Guest: Prof Dirk Kotze – Political analyst

The Nkomazi Local Municipality is back in the news this time as workers are complaining about receiving half salaries. In June they took to the streets in protest as they say that they were told that the municipality is under severe financial constraint. Some of the other issues that have been raised by residents are to do with water and the state of roads. To talk about some of these issues and also what has been done so far to deal with the challenges, we are joined by…

Guest: Mbuso Male - Spokesperson for the Nkomazi Local Municipality 

Guest: Nkosinathi Mkhwanazi - Spokesperson for the Nkomazi Local Municipality

Guest: Abraham Gwebu - Resident under Nkomazi in Boschfontein