The Weekend View

Sixty-one years ago TODAY, 32 African nations came together in Ethiopia to establish the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which is now known as the African Union. Since 1963, Africa Day has been celebrated annually, on May 25, as a commemoration of this historical unification of African countries. But as we celebrate Africa Day, there is a loud crack of discord and disharmony across the continent from wars, poverty, displacement to ethnic and tribal conflicts. Some analysts say how Africans became strangers and enemies to each other in Africa is a colonial story of untold proportions. To help us explore what it will take to achieve the grand vision by the African Union for a united, peaceful, and thriving continent Bongiwe Zwane spoke to Kim Heller, a political analyst and author of 'No White Lies: Black Politics and White Power in South Africa 

With over 3500 registered voters, Canberra in Australia was the third largest overseas voting station after the UK and Netherlands. Udo Carelse spoke to who was among the thousands who cast their ballots there  YESTERDAY  

The election support organisation, Ground Work Collective, this weekend dispatched their independent election observers to voting stations in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and Switzerland. The election observation as part of its X_Change campaign and has seen thousands of South Africans volunteer to observe elections both at home and abroad. Udo Carelse spoke to Ground Work Collective founder Mbali Ntuli 

Over 1200 South Africans cast ballots at three polling stations in the United States, well below the more than 4200 eligible to cast ballots in the national poll in that country. 635 ballots were cast in New York, far less than the 1700 expected in the Big Apple. Only 226 votes were cast ballots in Los Angeles while Washington D.C. issued more than 400 ballots. Voters traveled from all over the region to vote at the IEC polling station in the  South African Consulate in Manhattan. Report by  Sherwin Bryce-Pease reports.. Meanwhile Udo Carelse spoke to  IEC Deputy Chief Electoral Officer, Masego Shiburi .

Search and rescue efforts are still continuing for 11 fishermen who went missing after their fishing trawler sank off the coast of Cape Town n Friday afternoon. The National Sea Rescue Institute, the NSRI, says it is still hopeful that the missing 11- fishermen will be found as a debris field where the fishing trawler went down has been located . For the latest Udo Carelse spoke to  The National Sea Rescue Institute, (NSRI) spokesperson Craig Lambinon

This week President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the country's biggest health policy overhaul into law. Civil society organisations and political parties are threatening legal action , saying Ramaphosa must return to the drawing board and work with various industry experts to design a workable, universal health care model.Last week he signed the  Electoral Matters Amendment Bill which sees a change in the political party funding formula, the Preventing and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill. These have also been met with concern. Another bill that awaits the President's assent is the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill (BELA Bill)..It is now exactly eleven days before the elections, some have raised concerns about the timing of the signing of the bills.  To unpack this Udo Carelse spoke to Professor Sethulego Matebesi , Sociologist from the University of the Free State  

Better the lives of the black majority. This was the message that came from the Umkhonto Wesizwe party during its manifesto launch at the Orlando Stadium in Soweto YESTERDAY. The party aimed to woo voters just 11 days before the country heads to the hotly contested May polls. It has made inroads in provinces like KwaZulu-Natal since its formation last year. However, it has not had the same effect in other parts of the country. In the recent by-elections in Limpopo and the North West, the party was only able to garner one-percent of the vote in both provinces. However, the almost 40-thousand capacity stadium was packed with supporters eagerly awaiting a message from party leader, Jacob Zuma. Zoleka Qodashe reports...

Voting in the 2024 national elections at international voting stations started YESTERDAY and will continue this weekend. Registered voters in mainly Middle Eastern countries cast their ballots yesterday and the rest of the world - some 102 countries - will vote TODAY. London, which has the largest number of eligible voters of any voting station with over 24 thousand registered voters, will also open TOMORROW.  The IEC said voting stations will be open from 7am to 7pm local time at most foreign missions, except for in London, Washington and New York, which will be open from 7am to 9pm.  To tell us how the vote went yesterday and what they are expecting today Udo Carelse spoke to  IEC Deputy Chief Electoral Officer, Masego Shiburi .

Meanwhile the Democratic Alliance, through it's DA ABROAD network has been actively galvanising South Africans based in different parts of the world to register and vote in this election. They also have agents monitoring the polling at various international voting stations. Udo Carelse spoke to Ludre Stevens, DA Abroad Global Chairperson 

The Special Investigative Unit conducted a search and seizure operation at the Desmond Tutu Refugee Centre in Marabastad in Pretoria YESTERDAY (FRIDAY). This after a whistleblower tipped off the Department of Home Affairs to unlawful activities occurring at the centre where officials are allegedly being bribed to issue fraudulent documents to unregistered foreign nationals. The department in partnership with the Special Investigative Unit and the Hawks acquired a search warrant to search the premises of five refugee centres including those in Cape Town, Durban, Musina, Port Elizabeth and Durban. electronic devices, like cellphones and laptops  were confiscated by authorities for further investigation. Lawyers  for Human Rights have welcomed this operation and for further reaction udo Carelse spoke to   the National Director, Wayne Ncube 

The South African Department of health forecasts supply challenges of insulin pen devices for diabetes management, and has advised health facilities to ration the distribution of insulin pens across the country. Reacting to this development, the global medical humanitarian organisation, Doctors Without Borders or MSF, is calling on Danish pharmaceutical corporation Novo Nordisk and other manufacturers of insulin pens to acknowledge their responsibility and take immediate action to ensure a continuous supply of insulin pens to South Africa. The country has 4.2 million people with diabetes. MSF held a two-part webinar to discuss ways to make access to insulin and newer diabetes medicines possible for all people with diabetes. For more Udo Carelse spoke to  Candice Sehoma, Campaign Advocacy Advisor at  Médecins Sans Frontières, also known as Doctors Without Borders