The View Point

Songezo was in conversation with Zikhona Miso about her journey to the2019 Mandela Washington Fellowship in the United States

Zikhona is a seasoned broadcaster and founder of a monthly dialogue platform in Johannesburg - "INCOKO". She hosted a current affairs show at the SABC’s international platform "Channel Africa Radio”, which broadcasts to entire African continent. Zikhona is alumni of the Thabo Mbeki African Leaders' Institute. She studied Journalism at the Tshwane University of Technology and has trained with the Sol Plaatjie media institute and the U.K based Thomson Foundation among others. She was recently selected as part of 46 South African fellows to join the 2019 Cohort of the Mandela Washington Fellowship AND she joins us now from Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts.

Songezo Mabece spoke to Edward Kieswetter, Commissioner at SARS – about Tax Season 2019 and the significance of paying tax.

We find out about the Ins and OUTs of personal income tax (who should pay and how much). The rationale behind paying taxes and the prevalence of tax evasion in South Africa; Money laundering and corruption and how they create a despondency among tax payers. We’ll also talk about what is (or what should be) done with the revenue that is collected

Songezo Mabece was in conversation with prof Ben Turok, who was one of the contributors to the Freedom Charter

Today South Africa celebrates the 64th anniversary of the Freedom Charter. The Charter - a blueprint of the political, economic and social structure that the people of South Africa demanded - was adopted in an open field at the Congress of the People on the 26th of June 1955 in Kliptown. Does the Freedom Charter resonate with the current state of South Africa today? What was the rationale behind the Freedom Charter and is it still relevant?

Auditor General’s 2017/2018 Report on Municipalities

Songezo Mabece was in conversation with Mr Miyelani Holeni, Group Chief Advisor at Ntiyiso Consulting – he gave us an analysis of the Auditor General’s Report on SA Municipalities.

The results for the period of 01st July 2017 to 30th June 2018, revealed that only 18 of the 257 municipalities assesses received clean audits, half were unqualified. Twelve of the municipalities with clean audits were in the Western Cape, two in the Eastern Cape and one each in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, the Northern Cape, and Mpumalanga. Not a single municipality has a clean audit in the Free State, Limpopo, and the North West provinces.
Only 19% of municipalities could provide auditors with financial statements without material misstatements.

Songezo Mabece was in conversation in conversation with the General Secretary of the South African Federation of Trade Unions, Zwelinzima Vavi.

Talking about economic development in South Africa and how its attainment should not be at the expense of the workers. We also got his response to the comments made by Freedom Front Plus (or FF+) leader Pieter Groenewald [saying that the unions have been given too much power and that they are also crippling the economy].

Songezo Mabece spoke to Rev Teboho Klaas (Religion Programme Officer at The Other Foundation) and Prof Allann Boesak (Anti-apartheid leader, theologian and author about homophobia in African churches

BREAKING THROUGH THE BACKLASH: Transformative Encounters between LGBTI people and the churches in Africa conference – this is a conference hosted by The Other Foundation, the Durban Lesbian and Gay Centre and the Diakonia Council of Churches. The two conference is an Africa wide gathering of church leaders and activists to address social justice, homophobia and the churches in Africa. Last night, Prof Allan Boesak, lead a public discussion on the issue of the LGBTI community and their place in the church…

Sogezo Mabece spoke to Mpumelelo Mkhabela – A political analyst and columnist with News24 – about the rationale behind having SOEs and why they find themselves on life support.

SOEs are in queuing in Parliament requesting bail outs. Not months go by and we do not hear of an SOE that is either in a management or financial crisis. Or an SOE that is implementing a TURN AROUND STRATEGY! This on-going cycle begs the question, what is the rationale behind SOEs? SOEs are structured and organized in government. If they get bail outs, what guarantee do we have that they will improve? How many more turn around strategies should SOEs have before they start yielding the much desired result?

The Helen Joseph Breast Care Centre (HJBCC) was set up in 2005 by Dr Carol-Ann Benn to meet the need of improved direct access to specialist breast care in Johannesburg. The vision of the unit is to provide world-class breast care to the women of Johannesburg and South Africa, delivered in a provincial (government) hospital setting. The Clinic also works with local cancer charities and other organisations to raise awareness of the importance of breast health for individuals through media and government initiatives.

Songezo Mabece was in conversation with Mr Fikile Bili – CEO and Founder of Zandile Management Services, Mr Pitso Monyela – Chairperson of the Soweto Action Committee AND Mr Lucky Leseane – Provincial Executive Officer at SALGA in Gauteng

During his state of the nation address, President Ramaphosa urged South Africans to pay for water and electricity and he highlighted how boycotting to pay for services is crippling the economy. Residents (particularly in Soweto) have been refusing to pay for services for the longest of time and they say it is because the ANC promised them free water and electricity since back in 1994. What are the possibilities of changing the culture of non-payment, especially in short space of time? How does such a mind-set contribute towards the debt that municipalities find themselves in? Or are the tariffs so high thus making it justifiable for them not to pay?

Songezo Mabece was in conversation with Mr Mkhuleko Hlengwa – the chairperson of Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA)

The IFP nominated Mkhuleko Hlengwa to take up the post as SCOPA Chairperson because of his involvement as an active member of the committee over the past five years and also, because of the role he played in holding government departments to account. As a former member of Scopa, Hlengwa has been known to grill even the most senior of Cabinet ministers on wasteful and irregular spending. He tell us about his plan to root out corruption and how best he thinks we can save our SOEs