The Weekend View

The EFF has threatened to take National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula to the Constitutional Court for allowing armed police into the chamber of parliament at the Cape Town City Hall, where President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered his State of the Nation Address. EFF President Julius Malema says Mapisa-Nqakula's actions were unconstitutional. At a media briefing in Parliament, Malema said only Parliament's protection services are allowed to remove members. Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to Angelo Fick, Director of Research at Auwal Socio-economic Research Institute.... 

The Credit Ombud says couples should carefully plan for their expenses on Valentine's Day. The ombud also warns that couples should not use credit to enjoy the lovers' day. Among tips that money-savvy and creative couples could consider are making their own gifts, cooking together at home rather than going out, and offering a bouquet of flowers from their own garden. Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to Credit Ombud's spokesperson, Kabelo Teme... 

Police have opened two murder cases after a famous South African Rapper, Kiernan 'AKA' Forbes, and another person was shot dead outside a restaurant in Durban, last night.  According to reports,  the rapper and his bodyguard were leaving Wish' restaurant on Florida road when two men on foot fired shots at them.  Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to Kwazulu-Natal police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda...

Today marks exactly seven years since the 2016 tragedy of the collapse of the Lily Mine container that trapped 3 workers, Yvonne Mnisi, Pretty Nkambule and Solomon Nyirenda. THIS MORNING prayer sessions and a site visit to the mine will be conducted as part of commemorations of the disaster. Labour unions and some political parties have been working over the years trying to assist the families of the workers to find answers and closure to the tragic event. Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to Harry Mazibuko, who speaks on behalf of the 3 affected families, Joseph Matunjwa, president of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union - AMCU - and Herman Mashaba, the leader of ActionSA...

Pope Francis is today winding up his visit to Africa and is expected to celebrate Mass in Juba, South Sudan, before flying back to Rome. The pope's visit to South Sudan is aimed in part at shoring up a 2018 peace deal that has reduced violence and stopped a return to full-scale war in the country. Before his arrival in Juba on Friday, Pope Francis was in the Democratic Republic of Congo from Tuesday. He is accompanied by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the Church of Scotland Moderator, Iain Greenshields, in what has been dubbed an unprecedented joint "pilgrimage of peace" by the three Christian leaders. Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to Father Rigobert, a Catholic Jesuit from Kinshasa who was among those who received the Pope in the DRC...

The ANC yesterday announced that it will seek leave to appeal the court ruling ordering it to hand over its cadre deployment records to the opposition DA. Last week lawyers for the DA argued that the ANC's deployment policy was unconstitutional and the court should declare it invalid as it is the root cause of problems in the delivery of basic services including electricity. But the ANC said the committee's recommendations relating to public service and SOE positions were not binding on government ministers, premiers or mayors. The court gave the ANC five days in which to provide the opposition party with the records which include committee meeting minutes, WhatsApp conversations, email threads and CVs. Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to Political analyst Sandile Swana

The highly contentious South African Tourism deal with English Premier League football club, Tottenham Hotspur deepens as 3 board members have reportedly resigned. Board members, Enver Duminy, Ravi Nadasen and Rosemary Anderson have tendered their resignation from the board of South African Tourism, effective immediately. Resulting of a difference of opinion, Nadasen and Duminy's resignation and Anderson's resignation were tendered to Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu and South African Tourism Board Chair Dr Aubrey Mhlongo.
This as South African Tourism on Thursday defended its proposed three-year sponsorship deal with English Premier League football club Tottenham Hotspur worth nearly R1bn rands. SA Tourism acting CEO Themba Khumalo said the proposed deal is aimed at attracting tourists to boost economic recovery and would yield 88 billion rands in international spending on the local economy. The deal has been severely criticised by several political parties and organisations. President Cyril Ramaphosa has described it as unjustified. Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to Marketing Strategist, Clive Simpkins 

Residents in several parts of Joburg and Tshwane were this week grappling with water outages. This was after Rand Water confirmed that there were problems with water supply to municipalities because of technical issues with the system caused by load shedding. Many residents complained that there was no notice or communication from authorities on what the problem is and when they could expect the problem to be resolved. The water crisis reached a boiling point on Wednesday when residents of Soshanguve, northeast of Pretoria, took to the streets and blockaded roads over the water shortages. Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to Rand Water spokesperson, Makenosi Marro

With load shedding not going anywhere anytime soon, consumers' continuous 'powerless' struggles are set to persist for the foreseeable future. Although load shedding is seen as an "uninsurable" risk under insurance policies, its effects of it can still be covered. A question that many consumers ask is if insurance policies will cover breakage or theft due to load shedding. Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to Andrew Kruger,  Head of Business Analytics at  BetterSure Financial Consultants...

While government health-care facilities across the country are operating on skeleton staff negatively impacting the quality of medical care provided to patients, many qualified medical doctors continue to sit at home without work. It is this untenable situation that led the South African Medical Association Trade Union - SAMATU -  to the streets on Thursday as they marched in four provinces to bring attention to the plight of unemployed doctors.For this conversation we are joined on the line by Dr Nkateko Mnisi, 1st Deputy President of Samatu, Dr Ntokozo Maphanga, an unemployed medical doctor AND Percy Mahlati,  Deputy Director General at the  National Department of Health ......