The Weekend View

SANRAL is calling on high school learners and university students to apply for bursaries and scholarships through their bursary programme. Although the agency’s focus is to develop civil engineering professionals for the national rail network, it has extended the opportunity to those who support the corporate structure including public relations, auditing, supply chain management, law, human resources and finance. Weekend View presenter, Udo Carelse spoke to SANRAL's Educational Programmes Coordinator, Gcina Sentletse.

Head of the SA Vaccination and Immunisation Centre (Savic) at Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University in Pretoria, Prof Hannelie Meyer says while it is possible that the protection of Covid-19 vaccines can diminish, they remain vital in the fight against the pandemic. Meyer says the benefits of the vaccines continue to outweigh the risks. He spoke to Udo Carelse.

Amnesty International says whistle blowers are not getting the protection they deserve. This comes after the murder of senior Gauteng Health Department official, Babita Deokaran. Deokaran was gunned down in Johannesburg after she became one of the witnesses in a Special Investigating Unit probe into multi-million-rand irregular PPE tender in the department. Udo Carelse spoke to Executive Director of  Amnesty International SA, Shenilla Mohamed

Gender-based violence interventions programme, People Opposing Women Abuse has called for funding from both the public and private sector as it feels the pinch in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic. This comes as the organisation has said that such programmes should be funded at a similar capacity as the Covid-19 pandemic. Udo Carelse spoke to  POWA Legal adviser, Disemelo Tlali.

Economist, Duma Gqubule says the high unemployment problem in South Africa is a national disgrace. This comes after Stats SA announced this week that the figures have skyrocketed to an all-time high of 34,4%. 

Limpopo Health MEC, Dr  Poppy Ramathuba says catchy campaign slogans such as "no vaccine certificate no dating"  are an innovative way to encourage young people to get vaccinated. This comes after many were up in arms following the launch of the campaign. Udo Carelse spoke to Poppy Ramathuba about the intention behind the campaign.

Jerome Touze, Ozow's Chief Operating Officer says cashless payment apps are on the rise in South Africa but only those who afford can access them. Udo Carelse spoke to him about what is influencing this trend

 U.S. Officials have warned that the risk of additional attacks targeting American forces in Afghanistan remain high after a suicide explosion claimed dozens of lives outside Afghanistan's Kabul Airport on Thursday. The Pentagon also clarified earlier that there was only one bombing, correcting initial information they provided on yesterday's attack. Some reports put the toll at over 100 including the deaths of 13 military personnel - the deadliest day for U.S forces since 2011 and their first casualties in 18months. An emotional U.S. President Joe Biden spoke at the White House late Thursday vowing to hunt down the perpetrators while confirming that evacuation operations would continue until a Taliban-agreed deadline of August 31st. Sherwin Bryce-Pease reports

A decision is expected soon on whether the October School holidays will be cancelled or not. The department of Basic Education says it needs as much teaching time as possible with all the days lost to Covid. Unions have says they remain opposed to the October holiday being axed. The tourism industry is also opposed to this. National Association of School Governing Bodies General Secretary and Education  Department Spokesperson explain their positions regarding the possible cancellation of the upcoming school holidays

Anti-vaccine protesters in Cape Town say they feel pressured to take the vaccine against Covid-19 through messaging via the mainstream media even though government says it is voluntary to do so. A group under the banner "no to mandatory vaccination" has held a rally outside Groote Schuur Hospital. The group says they stand in solidarity with Cape Town heart surgeon Dr Susan Vosloo's anti-vaccination message that surfaced on the internet last week. Vosloo is facing charges of disinformation after proclaiming her personal anti-vaccination beliefs around Covid-19.