The Weekend View

Desperately needed humanitarian aid may start moving into Gaza, through an Israeli crossing- for the first time since the October the seventh attack by Hamas. The Israeli Prime Minister's office yesterday announced that this would be permitted via the Kerem Shalom crossing- near the border with Egypt. Trucks laden with aid from the Africa Muslim Agency South Africa are also hoping to make the crossing. This comes as the U.N. refugee agency on Friday said that a new refugee crisis from Gaza must be prevented, referring to the possibility that hundreds of thousands of people already uprooted by the Israel-Hamas conflict could flee into Egypt.
JIHAN KAISI is the Africa Muslim Agency coordinator based in Lebanon and also a UN representative for Middle-Eastern refugees. She spoke to Bongiwe Zwane from Cairo.

The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) recently released a list of hazardous hotspots on the roads of South Africa as motorists travel to and from their December holiday destinations. These include the Moloto Road in Mpumalanga, the N2 in the Eastern Cape and the R71 in Limpopo  The RTMC has some advice for long distance motorists this festive season. We are joined by Simon Zwane who is the spokesperson for The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC)

A bleak festive season looms for workers of some municipalities in the Free State. Several municipalities in the province  (about 6 municipalities) are allegedly failing to pay workers their December salaries. These municipalities are said to be some of the most dysfunctional and worst-run councils that are nearing total collapse after years of alleged corruption and mismanagement. Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to Monyatso Mahlatsi, Cosatu's Provincial Secretary in the Free State Province.

TODAY is National Day of Reconciliation. The day seeks to promote national unity, social cohesion, constitutional democracy, human rights, and equality. It also serves as a call to action to individuals to take responsibility to fight racism, discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. President Cyril Ramaphosa will later TODAY officiate at the National Day of Reconciliation celebrations at Thohoyandou Stadium in Limpopo. Earlier THIS WEEK, the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation released it's Reconciliation Barometer survey which revealed , among other things, that after nearly 30 years of democracy, public confidence in political leaders and public institutions is at an all time low. To help us understand the state of reconciliation in the country, Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to Melissa Steyn, Research Chair at the Wits Centre for Diversity Studies.

A South African delegation from the Africa Muslims Agency is in Egypt with humanitarian aid for Gaza. The agency will help load the relief aid into trucks that will depart from Cairo to the Rafah-border crossing where the convoy will wait for the Israelis to open the border and allow the movement of humanitarian assistance. Hassan Choonara is with the Africa Muslims Agency and he and he spoke to Sebenzile Nkambule.

Former President, Jacob Zuma is expected to make a big announcement on his political future later today. According to a press release with no political name or logo, Zuma will make the big reveal at the Ipelegeng Community Centre in Jababvu, Soweto. The statement says the revelation will be the beginning of a new chapter in politics as a new South Africa and the beginning of a great future is crafted. Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to SABC Politics Editor, Mzwandile Mbeje. 

Calibre of African leaders on the spotlight   

The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM)  will from today until Thursday hold various events to mark it's 20 years of existence. Established in 2003, the APRM - an arm of the African Union - is mandated to promote democracy, good governance, human rights and the rule of law in Africa. The mechanism serves as a platform for African countries and leaders for self-assessment, peer-learning, and experience sharing in democracy and good governance. There are currently 40 member states who voluntarily acceded to the self-monitoring mechanism and South Africa is one of them.

The commemoration comes amid accusations that African leaders and governments use the principle of non-interference and territorial integrity to abdicate their responsibility to protect human rights as well as to avoid accountability for bad governance.

In our Sunday Morning Discussion we want to explore whether Africa has produced what the APRM promised - a new breed of democratic and accountable leaders. We spoke to Prof. Eddy Maloka, CEO of the African Peer Review Mechanism  and Prof. Chris Landsberg, Director of the Centre for African Diplomacy and Leadership at the University of Johannesburg.

There is confusion over the status of the NFP's elective conference with one group claiming it will take place this coming Thursday and another saying there is no such thing. There is a section of the party that is saying the elective conference will take place in Durban from the 14 of December  to Sunday, the 17th of December. Others within the party are singing a different tune saying there is no elective conference as leadership issues are still before the courts and have accused the others of attempting to convene an unlawful conference. The party's national elective conference was touted to take place this December to replace the late NFP president, Zanele kaMagwaza Msibi. We spoke  to eThekwini Deputy Mayor and NFP presidential candidate, Zandile Myeni, who says that the conference is going ahead this coming week. We also spoke to Shaik Imam, NFP National Treasurer and parliamentary leader, who maintains that no elective conference is taking place

Today is International Human Rights Day, the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The core ambition of the Declaration has been to infuse societies with equality, fundamental freedoms and justice. In Africa, wars, political instability, repression and climate change continue to deny many the continent's population their basic human rights. To discuss this we spoke to Advocate Sipho Mantula from the Thabo Mbeki African School of Public and International Affairs....

The South African Police Services (SAPS)  in Gauteng has allegedly introduced restrictions on the movement of police vehicles per shift. It is alleged that police officers are now not allowed to exceed 300 km per 8 or 12 hour shift in order to manage expenditure. It is reported that if an official police vehicle exceeds the stipulated kilometers per shift without a valid explanation, consequence management will then apply. Questions are now being raised whether this instruction will affect police visibility  and crime fighting during the festive season. We attempted to get more clarity from the SAPS but our interview requests were declined. We spoke Anti Crime Activst; Yussuf Abramjee who brought this matter to our attention....