The Weekend View

Political Parties in Parliament have expressed mixed views on whether the debate on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) should be reopened. We spoke to former TRC commissioner, Advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza and Doctor Marjorie Jobson of the Khulumani Support Group ....

This week's Person I am is the first Black woman to be awarded a doctorate in the Discipline of Town Planning at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Dr Hangwelani Hope Magidimisha. Born in Ngudza village in Limpopo, Dr Magidimisha says her biggest motivation as a child came from her uneducated parents who, despite not having had the opportunity themselves, encouraged her to be all she had the potential to be. She set her sights on town planning in her teens and has never looked back...

The Benchmarks Foundation has kicked off a rolling action campaign aimed at highlighting the lack of adherence by mining companies, to the fundamental principle of Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), which is endorsed by the World Bank and United Nations. This action is particularly directed at Australian-owned Mineral Resource Commodities (MRC) and Transworld Energy's (TEM) for their role in Xolobeni, situated in the Bizana Municipal area of South Africa's Eastern Cape, where over 300 households and residents living in the area affected by mining. We spoke to John Capel, executive director of Benchmarks Foundation...

Recent reports about the alleged collapse of suspected Ponzi scheme MMM have brought the issue of the over stretched middle class to the fore. This as the majority of the working class are reportedly investing in the scheme to supplement their income. A recent study by Momentum and the University of South Africa found that the real net wealth of South African households decreased in 2015. According to the study, if this situation is not reversed, a growing portion of the middle aged and middle class will turn towards government for assistance. However, the government is already overstretched given a lack of fiscal resources and not being able to even fully assist the low income groups. We spoke to Thobekile Ndaba who is a participant at MMM and says she began investing in the alleged Ponzi scheme in order to supplement her income as an accountant, engineering student and MMM representative in KZN, Halalisani Langa, Spokesperson Brigadier Hangwane Mulaudzi and researcher at the Department of Taxation, College of Accounting Sciences at Unisa, Prof Bernadene de Clercq...

The governing party officially kick starts its municipal elections campaign today with a launch of its election manifesto. The African National Congress is hoping to win back lost voters across the country and stay in control in the country's seven out of eight metros. At its October National General Council - the party was worried about the loss of the support from black middle class, especially in the metros. The launch also comes as it battles to project a united voice over the Constitutional court ruling that found president Jacob Zuma failed to protect, uphold and defend the constitution. We spoke to Political Lecturer at NMMU and Phd candidate, Thando Nomarwayi and Professor Raymond Parsins from the NWU school of Business and Governance...

The South Africa Revenue Service (Sars) has warned dishonest taxpayers that they will turn up the heat on those who try to cheat the system. This as SARS collected over a trillion rand for the 2015 / 2016 tax year. Despite this, there are some tax payers who have lodged complaints with the office of the Tax Ombudsman regarding discrapancies in how they have been taxed. Last year the office tabled the 2014/15 annual report which found that 75 percent of complaints lodged by taxpayers to the Ombud against SARS had been resolved in favour of taxpayers. We spoke to the CEO at office of Tax Ombud, Advocate Eric Mkhawane about the office's mandate....

Krivani Pillay, Safm executive producer and editor at the Star Newspaper, Kevin Ritchie discuss their top stories for the week with Stephen Kirker

The newly formed Zimbabwe political party, People First (PF), is organising a march in Pretoria demanding that diaspora-based nationals vote in their country's next elections in 2018. The party, formed by the Zimbabwe's former vice president, Joice Mujuru, has been drumming up support in the country in recent weeks. Its supporters will march to the Embassy offices in Pretoria on April 14 where they will deliver their petition. Last year the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) confirmed in its 2014 needs assessment report, entitled "Identification of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Gaps: The Road to 2018, its plans to enable Zimbabweans in the diaspora to vote in the next general elections. An estimated two million of Zimbabweans are residing in South Africa after fleeing their country that was plunged into an economic and political crisis over a decade ago. Stephen Kirker discussed this with ZPF spokesperson, Lawrence Mavhaire - a Zimbabwean living in SA, Sherpard Muganda and Zimbabwe's Ambassador to SA, Isaac Moyo

Logan Wort, executive secretary of the African Tax Administration Forum talks about the meeting between tax experts from Africa and the world in Boksburg, east of Johannesburg from Monday to discuss the Taxation of Extractive Industries...

In our consumer conversation this week, we look at the issue of the price of milk which is set to rise next month as milk producers face production shortages following an ongoing drought in the agricultural sector. Economists say this rise comes on the back of recent rises in the prices of white maize which is the staple crop for some lower-income households and that of yellow maize which is used for animal feed. Paul Makube, senior agricultural economist at First National Bank...