The Weekend View

 The Johannesburg Zoo is calling on city residents to donate food for their animals. The zoo recently sent out a request to anyone who may have spare leafy branches ranging from Sickle bush tree,Tamboti, Knob Tree and  Bush willow to name a few.  Zookeepers are said to be  struggling to provide food for the herbivores, especially during the winter months.We spoke to Jenny Moodley, Spokesperson for the Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo.

 The entire Banyana Banyana team has arrived in New Zealand ahead of the Women's Soccer World Cup which starts in 12 days. The first group of Banyana players departed on Wednesday evening. The second left on Thursday. The team travelled via Australia after a pay dispute with SAFA highlighting gender pay gaps in the country was resolved. The spat caused a renewed conversation around gender pay gaps in sports in the country. The squabble resulted in Banyana Banyana not playing a send-off match against Botswana in Johannesburg last Sunday. A hastily assembled team of South African lower league players lost 5-0. Australia and New Zealand are co-hosting the World Cup from July 20 and African champions South Africa, Morocco, Nigeria and Zambia are representing the continent.  We spoke to Mathews Mpete, SABC Sports analyst 

The Executive Ethics Code is yet again in the spotlight- this time it involves the Public Protector's finding into the theft of millions of US dollars in cash from his Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo in February 2020. The Acting Public Protector advocate Kholeka Gcaleka found that President Cyril Ramaposa did not violate the Executive Ethics Code in the Phala Phala matter. Ramapho was accused of breaching the Executive Ethics Code and being in a conflict of interest between his constitutional obligations and his private interests arising from his alleged paid work at Phala Phala. 

In 2022, the Constitutional Court upheld a Gauteng High Court judgment that found legislation in the Executive Ethics Code was unconstitutional and invalid as it did not require members of the executive to disclose "donations made to campaigns for their election to positions within political parties- this was about the donations that were made to Ramaphosa's "CR17" campaign for the ANC presidency... 

At the time, the now suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane found that the president was in breach of the Executive Ethics Code for not disclosing an R500 000 donation to his campaign for the ANC presidency in 2017 which was received from former Bosasa chief executive Gavin Watson.

Bongiwe Zwane spoke to the Director of Accountability Now, Advocate Paul Hoffman and Political Analyst, Sysman Motloung...

ANC MP Collen Malatji has been elected the new ANC Youth League (ANCYL) president under the "economic freedom or death" slate. This ends an eight-year period where the league has been without an elected leadership due to infighting and disbandment of the structure's leadership. Bongiwe Zwane spoke to Senior Politics reporter, Ntebo Mokobo...

President Cyril Ramaphosa has been cleared of violating the Executive Ethics Code in the Phala Phala matter. The President was being investigated by the office of the Public Protector for the theft of millions of US dollars in cash from his Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo in February 2020. He is accused of breaching the Executive Ethics Code and being in conflict of interest between his constitutional obligations and his private interests arising from his alleged paid work at Phala Phala. The report comes more than six months after the Independent Panel released a report last year that the president may have a case to answer by failing to report the crime. Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to Political Analyst, Sandile Swana on the issue.

A four-day week is due to be pilot in South Africa. According to a poll rom Robert Walters, which had 2,000 responses from working professionals- 46% of them said they would sacrifice work socials and relationships with colleagues for a 4-day workweek. For more on this, Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to Leila Moosa, Senior Associate in Employment Law practice at Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr (CDH).

The elective conference of the ANC Youth League is set to take place this weekend. This happens after the youth body has been leaderless in terms of elected leadership. The registration was characterised by chaos, and accusations that the ANC SG is meddling in the affairs of the league to ensure a particular outcome favouring him for the next elections is achieved.  This comes after the Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula removed Xola Nqola as the convener and member of the youth league ahead of the national conference. Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to Senior Politics reporter, Ntebo Mokobo

Parliament's Presiding Officers, Speaker of the National Assembly and the Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, have formally requested an urgent meeting with the Chief Justice of the Republic of South Africa, Raymond Zondo. The meeting is intended to address matters of concern following recent public statements made by the Chief Justice regarding Parliament's role in the implementation of recommendations of the Judicial Commission into State Capture. Zondo this week raised concern over the lack of action by Parliament to prevent another State Capture in the country. For this discussion we are joined on the line by Prof Sethugelo Matebesi, Sociologist at the University of Free State, AND UDM leader; General Bantu Holomisa...

The Amazon River Club development project in the Western Cape continues to be a major concern for a group of  Khoi and San activists and the Goringhaicona Khoi Khoin Traditional Indigenous Council. The R4.6 billion multi-purpose complex, which is set to house Amazon's new African headquarters, has been riddled with a number of legal disputes which were intended to put the project on hold.  Indigenous leaders in the Western Cape withdrew support for the River Club project allegedly over 'empty promises' but also to preserve what they have termed "sacred land" for the Khoi and San.  The leadership of the Goringhaicona Khoi Khoi Traditional Indigenous Council, which is opposed to the Amazon River Club development project, is also in dispute, making it challenging to deal with the real issues collectively. The continuing legal disputes are now headed to Supreme Court of Appeal... For more clarity we are joined on the line by Geronimo De Klerk, Youth Coordinator of the Goringhaicona Khoi Khoin Indegenous Ttraditional Council...

The union representing officers of the Tshwane Metro Police Department - TMPD - has expressed dismay at Tshwane council's decision to encourage members of the public to record their encounters with TMPD officers and to ask them for their appointment certificates.  Acting chief of the Tshwane Metro Police Department, Basil Nkwashu, THIS WEEK issued a directive empowering members of the public to ask for officers' appointment certificates, take their photos and vehicle number plates in a bid to curb corruption within the law-enforcement authority. This follows a series of allegations of corruption made against some Tshwane metro police officers implicated in bribery, armed robberies and assaulting motorists. Ngoako Mathabatha is SAMWU's Chairperson for Community Safety in Tshwane