The Health Department is urging the public not to panic as three new Mpox cases have been detected. The cases have been confirmed in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng. One of the patients  recently travelled to the Ugandan capital Kampala. This increases the total cumulative number of positive cases from 25 to 28 cases, including three deaths since the outbreak in May last year. For an update on the health scare we are now joined on the line by Health Department spokesperson Foster Mohale 

The Institute for Security Studies says anti-corruption measures targeting traffic police, not just SAPS, are vital to improve safety in SA's major cities and that traffic cop corruption tarnishes all policing in South Africa. The ISS report further adds that soliciting bribes is deeply embedded in traffic policing in South Africa. Six of the nine national surveys conducted since 2003 that asked about bribery, identified traffic police as the government service most frequently linked to corruption. To unpack this Udo Carelse spoke to David Bruce, Independent Researcher and Consultant at the Institute for Security Studies 

Wildlife organisations, Ban Animal Trading - BAT  and the EMS Foundation are bracing for a fight to stop the sale of lion bones. This after the two organisations became aware that the South African Predator Association - SAPA - has instituted High Court action against the government in an effort to compel the Environment department to establish an annual quota for the sale of lion bones and derivatives. BAT and EMS have taken exception to the action by the lion bone farmers and maintain that the trade in lion bones is a major ethical, legal and administrative embarrassment for South Africa. To discuss this Udo Carelse spoke to  Michele Pickover,  Executive Director at  EMS Foundation 

The Indigenous Cinema Alliance  - ICA - recently announced its 2025 fellowship line-up with the addition of new members to its expanding global network that now includes a South African. Khoikhoi Cultural and Language Revivalist, Toroga Denver, has been added to the line-up of the international group that promotes indigenous film and television. Denver joins other indigenous film makers from as far afield as Canada, New Zealand, Greenland, Hawaii, Norway, Australia and Ecuador. The ICA advances and elevates indigenous cinema across continents and showcased works by different film makers at the European film Market in Berlin, Germany, 2 weeks ago. Toroga Denver has just returned from the film festival and spoke to Udo Carelse ...

Many South Africans have gone off the grid because of the country's challenge with electricity supply. This week Eskom implemented stage 6 , after a number of unit failures at the Camden, Majuba and Medupi power stations. The three days of loadshedding was more than enough to remind South Africa that the country is not out of the woods yet. Amid load shedding, South Africans have become victims of solar equipment fraud. The Consumer Goods and Services Ombud (CGSO) has previously issued an alert that it received a number of complaints about solar systems and generators and cautioned South Africans about falling for solar equipment scams amid the power outage. For more Udo Carelse spoke to Lee Soobrathi, Consumer Goods and Services Ombudsman.

Government says there will be no extension for spaza shops owners to register their businesses. YESTERDAY MARKED the final day for spaza shop operators and other food-handling outlets to register their businesses with local municipalities. Many are frustrated and uncertain about their business future ..  For reaction we are joined on the line by National Informal Traders Alliance of South Africa chairperson, Rosheda Muller. 

The late Namibian founding president Sam Nujoma, who died 3 weeks ago aged 95, will be laid to rest in a state funeral TODAY, which has been declared a national holiday.  Nujoma, a guerilla who headed the South West Africa People's Organisation - SWAPO - which led the liberation struggle, was the country's first president after it won independence from South Africa in 1990. He will be laid to rest at the National Heroes Acre in the capital Windhoek. Udo Carelse spoke to Namibian journalist, Isack Hamata in Namibia...

A meeting between US president Donald Trump and his Ukrainian Counterpart Volodomyr Zelensky has ended in an unprecedented diplomatic spat, in full view of the world's media…and Trump declaring that Zelensky is not ready for peace with Russia. Trump took to his social media platform Truth, after the meeting, to accuse Zelensky of disrespecting the oval office after an exchange of words which was sparked by Vice President JD Vance, suggesting that Ukraine is in a hopeless position without support of the United states, in its war with Russia. The furious exchange of words was sparked by Vance questioning why Ukraine needs to conscript troops… in order to sustain its military efforts against the enemy, Russia. For more Udo Carelse spoke to Let's now speak to Anthoni Van Nieuwkerk, Professor of International Relations at the Thabo Mbeki African School of Public and International Affairs 

The United Nations Security Council has entered the Eastern DRC fray. The Council has unanimously adopted a resolution calling on the M23 rebel group to immediately cease hostilities and withdraw from all controlled areas in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The text - supported by all 15 members of the Council -also called on the Rwanda Defence Forces to cease support to the M23 and to immediately withdraw from the DRC territory without preconditions. The draft further expresses a readiness to consider additional measures against those who contribute to the continuation of the conflict in the DRC. The UN resolution also warns that attacks against peacekeepers may constitute a war crime.

To discuss this issue in greater detail  Bongiwe Zwane spoke to Willem Els from the ENACT Programme at the Institute for Security Studies and Prof. Ntsikelelo Breakfast, Director for the Centre for Security, Peace, and Conflict Resolution at Nelson Mandela University.

Recent news of the recovery of R670-million by the liquidators of VBS Mutual Bank brought relief that verified creditors will be reimbursed monies deposited to the institution before it collapsed in 2018. The good news has however turned sour for individual depositors who have now learnt that they have been put at the back of the queue and may have wait a lot longer to recover their money. Many have been left wondering why municipalities, whose financial and political bosses corruptly deposited funds into the now defunct Limpopo based bank, will be first to be paid out while genuine depositors have been relegated to the back of the line. Bongiwe Zwane spoke to Madambi Muvhalawa , one of the unhappy VBS bank depositors