The Weekend View

 African leaders pressed Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday to move ahead with their plan to end the Ukraine conflict and to renew a deal crucial to Africa on the safe export of Ukrainian grain, which Moscow pulled out of last week. While not critical of Russia, the leaders appeared more concerted and forceful than they have voiced until now. That served as a reminder of the depth of African concern at the consequences of the war, especially rising food prices.

Speaking at the summit on Thursday, President Vladimir Putin said Russia was ready to supply six African countries with between 25,000 and 50,000 tons of grain free of charge. Unlike the previous Russia-Africa summit in 2019, attended by 43 African leaders, this time only 17 were in St Petersburg,  including President Cyril Ramaphosa, who last month led an "Africa Peace Mission" of leaders from the continent.

Despite many African countries' long-held desire to remain non-aligned in the Russia Ukraine conflict, they've been dragged into the fight by big powers who are exerting pressure on the continent to take sides in the war. To look at the outcomes of this summit we are joined on the line by Professor David Monyae, Director of  the Centre for Africa/China Studies at the University of Johannesburg AND Peter Fabricius, Foreign Affairs Journalist at The Daily Maverick... 

ANC veteran Dr Snuki Zikalala has been elected unopposed as the president of the ANC Veterans League. The ANC elders are holding  their conference in Boksburg, east of Johanesburg. Zikalala was nominated for president alongside three others, including former ANC treasurer-general and home affairs department director-general Mavuso Msimang, all of whom declined their presidential nominations. Msimang, however, accepted his nomination for the league's deputy president, and was elected unopposed. The elective conference is set to end later today with ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa scheduled to give the closing address. We spoke to Veterans League president Dr Snuki Zikalala 

South Africa's national rugby and netball teams had a good day at the office yesterday recording wins in the Rugby Championship and the Netball World Cup. The Springboks managed to grind out victory edging Argentina 22-21 in their final Rugby Championship fixture at Ellis Park Stadium in JHB. The trophy had however already been won by New Zealand earlier following a 38-7 victory over Australia, in Melbourne. And at the Netball World Cup, the Proteas romped to a commanding win over Sri Lanka. The Proteas made it two-in-two with a win in their Pool C encounter at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. Another sold-out crowd cheered the hosts on as South Africa secured a convincing 87-32 triumph to remain unbeaten so far in their World Cup campaign. The Proteas will face Jamaica TODAY. We spoke to Netball analyst, Sandisiwe Guzana ..

 The EFF turned 10 years old this week and today the party will hold it's final celebratory anniversary rally at the 95 thousand seater FNB stadium in Johannesburg.

EFF Commander-in-Chief, Julius Malema, is expected to address the gathering at noon. On 27 July 2013, the EFF National Assembly convened at Uncle Tom's Hall in Orlando West, Soweto. In it's decade of existence, the EFF has grown to become the country's third biggest political party after the ANC and DA. The EFF made an impressive debut in the 2014 elections, winning 6 percent of the national vote clinching 25 seats in the National Assembly.

The EFF continued to grow in popularity and gain support and in the 2019 elections, it took almost 11 percent of the national vote, which increased its number of seats in the National Assembly to 44.

The EFF has been using the month of July to mark it's 10th anniversary with various events around the country. Speaking at the EFF's anniversary gala dinner in Boksburg on Thursday night,  leader Julius Malema cautioned leaders in the party against conspiring behind his back warning that he has never lost an internal contest and can be ruthless. To chat to us about the evolution of the Red Berets and what the future holds for the party  we spoke to, Commissar Hlengiwe Mkhaliphi, Member of the EFF's Central Command Team 

The uncertainty of South Africa's economy and the risks attributed to the unstable performance of the Rand, as well as the current market volatility, has left a lot of consumers, savers, and investors feeling uneasy about what the rest of the year will look like for the financial planning goals they've set to achieve. Some South Africans can also remember the 2008 global financial crisis that resulted in high interest rates and inflation in South Africa and thus their current anxiety. For more on how to survive these current tough times and what the rest of year might look like, my colleague and Producer, Mabu Boloka spoke to Ester Ochse, Product Head at FNB Integrated Advice. She started by asking whether current consumer anxieties could be linked to the unsavory experience of the economic downturn in 2008

115 CEOs from many of South Africa's largest companies have signed a pledge to offer their skills to the government to help alleviate the many crises that the country faces. The CEOs committed to helping solve country's energy, logistics and security issues. The pledge was signed THIS WEEK  by CEOs from Standard Bank, FNB, Shell, Anglo American, Napsers, MTN, and over 100 other major companies. Cas Coovadia, CEO of Business Unity South Africa - BUSA 

Areas near the explosion site in central Johannesburg have been without power since Wednesday afternoon, following a gas leak explosion.The City of Johannesburg Manager, Floyd Brink, says electricity and water will be restored to areas that the recent blast in the city centre has affected. He has also confirmed the structural integrity of the buildings adjacent to where the blast took place on Lilian Ngoyi Street formerly known as Bree on Wednesday. Three of the 48 people who were injured are still in hospital. The blast ripped through a stretch of the street sending pedestrians and vehicles including taxis up in the air. Authorities say they are yet to determined the nature of the gas that caused the blast. For this conversation we are joined by Dr Phathutshedzo Khangale, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Chemical Enginereeing Technology at the University of Johannesburg AND Prof Felix Okonta is the Head of Geo-technical and pavement engineering research at the University of Johanesburg 

Nominations for the ANC Women's league's officials took place last night and results are expected today after over 3000 delegates have voted for their preferred candidates. Former ANC Women's league Secretary General, Sisisi Tolashe received 1564 nominations, whilst ANC MP, Thembeka Mchunu got 796, the leagues former president, Bathabile Dlamini bagged 258 nominations. A moment of silence was also observed for the late ANC MP Tina Joemat-Petterson who was vying for the position of deputy President and received 1061 nominations.  ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to close conference later today...There was drama at the conference earlier when  ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula warned Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan to move faster in dealing with Eskom and Transnet or risk removal.  The party then promptly issued a statement on Saturday evening backtracking on the threats saying the minister cannot resolve issues alone. SABC Political Editor Mzwai Mbeje

It's now just 5 days to go before the Netball World Cup 2023 is held in CapeTown, the first time on African soil.  A total of 16 netball teams will compete in the Mother City to lift this trophy and New Zealand are the defending champions. South Africa is competing in Group C against Wales, Sri Lanka, and Jamaica, with the Proteas' first game on Friday, July 28th, against Wales. We spoke to Netball South Africa CEO, Blanche de la Guerre, 

The ANC Women's League conference is expected to get under way at the NASREC Expo Centre, south of Johannesburg this morning after a slow start due to registration challenges yesterday. Last night the National Task Team Convenor Baleka Mbete delivered the league's political report in a session which was open to the media. Today will see the delivery of the league's organisational and financial report. Over three-thousand delegates will nominate and vote for their preferred candidates to lead the league. Delegates will also discuss socio-economic policy in their various commissions. Our Senior Political Reporter; Busi Chimombe, is covering this story.