The Weekend View

The Proteas are this morning expected to experience World Cup pressure in its raw form as India's 'Blue Army' will fill Kolkata's Eden Gardens for the 2023 Cricket World Cup fixture. The game starts at 10h30. With the hosts seen as one of the contenders for the title, some analysts say India opener Rohit Sharma and his South African counterpart Quinton de Kock could well decide the outcome of this much-awaited clash. Bongiwe Zwane spoke to cricket commentator, Neil Manthorp .....

The Springboks will this morning conclude their victory tour when they parade the Webb Ellis trophy in the streets of East London in the Eastern Cape. Today's parade wraps up the 4-day victory tour which started in Gauteng on Thursday before heading to Cape Town on Friday and Durban yesterday. Thousands of fervent supporters from all walks of life have gathered on the streets of the cities the Boks have visited to cheer and celebrate the 4-time world rugby champions. Bongiwe Zwane spoke to Atule Joka, Spokesperson of the Department of Arts, Culture and Sports in the Eastern Cape, Atule Joka...

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden has been named the best botanical garden in Africa. The garden, nestled at the eastern foot of Table Mountain in Cape Town, received the accolade from the World Luxury Travel Awards. It is one of 10 National Botanical Gardens administered by the South African National Biodiversity Institute. Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to Institute's Director of Marketing and Communication, Nontsikelelo Mpulo, 

Following this week's tabling of the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, there has been growing opposition to continued cuts to social service budgets. The Public Service Accountability Monitor  -PSAM - has put the blame for budget cuts squarely on the government's hands through its failure to curb the intentional erosion of public finances through fraud, corruption and dismal financial management, particularly at the provincial and municipal levels...The organisation is now calling on the Cabinet to give responses and justifications for their policy choices and budget adjustments that will have a direct impact on constitutional and human rights obligations. Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to PSAM Head of the South Africa Programme, Zukiswa Kota... 

A recent report released by the South African government paints a grim picture of the country's water resources and water infrastructure as well as the overall quality of its drinking water. Among the issues of biggest concern are a collapse of the country's waste-water treatment works and a sharp rise in the number of local authorities that are failing to meet minimum compliance standards. To combat these challenges, students from the University of Cape Town, created innovative solutions for sustainable water and sanitation management.  Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to Msa Mkhize a student from UCT's Team Amanzi Impilo 

Today is the last day of the  African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) forum hosted by the South African government, in partnership with the United States government. Business Unity South Africa (BUSA)  CEO Cas Coovadia says the expansion of the AGOA agreement which expires in 2025, is key in realising the meaningful contribution of the African continent to the global economy. The forum holds significance for the future of trade relations between 35 African countries and the United States. Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to Tshepo Matseba, an international relations expert and reputation manager from Reputation 1st... 

The Africa Century International African Writers' Conference is set to take place next Tuesday in Potchefstroom in the North West Province.  Ibrahima Aya, Timbuktu-born Malian author,  co-founder and director of the literary festival Rentrée littéraire du Mali, is set to deliver the International African Writers' Day Lecture under the theme: Decolonisation and Decoloniality. The South African Literary Awards  - SALA - will also have an awards handover ceremony for 32 shortlisted titles by local authors. Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to  Morakabe Seakhoa, Director of the South African Literary Awards... .

Emergency measures need to be accelerated to curb chicken shortages and price increases. That's the word from the Association of Meat Importers and Exporters of Southern Africa - AMIE... The organisation says speed is of the essence in rolling out emergency measures to mitigate the inevitable poultry shortages and price increases due to recent outbreaks of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza HPAI (bird flu) in the country. Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to AMIE CEO, Paul Mathew... 

The Springboks' victory tour heads to the streets of Durban this morning as the world rugby champions continue to parade the Webb Ellis Trophy to fans across the country. The Boks were in Cape Town yesterday and kicked off the tour on Thursday when drove around streets filled with supporters in Pretoria, Johannesburg and Soweto. Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to reporter Vusi Makhosini...

Some parts of South Africa are expected, from tonight into tomorrow, to experience an unseasonal dipping of temperatures and heavy rains with Johannesburg for instance forecast to reecord a maximum of below 10 degrees celcius . To tell us more about this we are joined on the line by  Lehlogonolo Thobela, a forecaster from the South African Weather Service .....