The Weekend View

Justice minister Mmamoloko Kubayi has called on National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) boss Adv Shamila Batohi to deliver a detailed report following the scathing judgment that acquitted Nigerian televangelist pastor Timothy Omotoso and his two co-accused earlier THIS WEEK. This after the outrage following the acquittal of Omotoso and his co-accused, Lusanda Sulani and Zukiswa Sitho, who were facing 32 charges including rape, sexual assault and human trafficking. In a scathing judgement, Gqeberha high court judge Irma Schoeman heavily criticised the prosecution team and the NPA management of the case, saying they had failed to prove that the charges were true and beyond doubt. Some political parties have asked the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice to summon the NDPP Shamila Batohi to account for the handling of the case. Bongiwe Zwane to Oscar Mathafa, ANC Whip in the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development .

A bill to sanction senior South African government and ANC officials who support  what they call their "adversaries" was introduced in the US Congress THIS WEEK. The US-South Africa Bilateral Relations Review Act of 2025 mandates a comprehensive review to identify South African government officials and leaders of the ANC who may be subject to sanctions for their alleged support of American adversaries such as China, Russia and Iran. Introducing the bill Congressman Ronny Jackson accused South Africa of abandoning its relationship with the United States to align with Beijing, Moscow and Tehran.
Following hot on the heels of this bill was the unveiling by Republican Texas Congressman Troy Nehls of the Asylum for Farmers and Refugees in Crisis and Necessary Emigration Resettlement Act, dubbed the "Afrikaner Act" meant to legislatively support President Trump's Executive Order granting Afrikaners refugee status in the USA. The act  says it will 'target residents of South Africa who are members of the Afrikaner ethnic minority that have suffered persecution or have fear of persecution on account of their race, ethnicity or ancestry". President Cyril Ramaphosa has vehemently denied the accusations and says he remains confident the relationship with the US can still be salvaged, and insists engagements with the Trump administration will continue. To discuss this I'm now joined on the line by Prof. Bheki Mngomezulu, Director of the Centre for the Advancement of Non-Racialism and Democracy at Nelson Mandela University ...

The latest report from Statista, a global data and business intelligence platform,  has revealed South Africa's continues to struggle with human trafficking. The report suggests that improvements have been observed as the country has been upgraded from its position on the tier two level watch list to level tier two in 2024. The country has been reported as a hub for human trafficking as it is not only a host for human trafficking, but also facilitates sourcing victims and transferring them to other countries. This week, the University of Johannesburg in collaboration with ACT Africa and partners hosted a screening of 8 Days, a film that exposes the harrowing realities of human trafficking.  The screening aimed to raise awareness about the dangers of human trafficking and spark meaningful discussions on how to combat this global crisis. For more Bongiwe Zwane spoke to one of the participants and survivor of human trafficking, Justine Debrah 

The two day National Water and Sanitation Indaba held in Midrand, north of Johannesburg, ended on Friday with government committing to work closely with municipalities across the country to speed up water infrastructure development. The indaba was convened at a time when South Africa is battling a water crisis due to ageing infrastructure, vandalism and corruption. In order to turn around the water sector, the delegates called for the establishment of a new state owned enterprise - The National Water Resource Infrastructure Agency, increase investment to ensure the financial viability of the water sector, and to come up with an infrastructure security strategy and plan to combat corruption, vandalism and theft of water and sanitation infrastructure within 6 months. To help dissect some of these issues Bongiwe Zwane spoke to Dr Sean Phillips - Director General, with the Department of  Water and Sanitation and Prof. Richard Meissner, a water security expert from UNISA 

From Tuesday, 1st April 2025, South Africans will see the implementation of the increased earnings threshold that will affect all employees earning more than R261,700 per year, which is around R21 800 per month. The earnings threshold impacts the application of provisions of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, the Labour Relations Act and the Employment Equity Act. In terms of the new regulations, employees earning more than the earnings threshold are excluded from the provisions which regulate ordinary hours of work, overtime, Sunday pay, pay for night work and pay for work on public holidays among others. For more Bongiwe Zwane spoke to  Malesela Letwaba, Associate in Employment Law at legal firm, Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr - CDH...

Zimbabwe is bracing for what has been dubbed an 'uprising' as liberation war veterans are rallying ordinary Zimbabweans to join TOMORROW's protests in their push to oust President Emmerson Mnangagwa. The former freedom fighters, who are backing Mnagagwa's deputy, Constantino Chiwenga to take over, feel that the president has reneged on his promises and presided over a struggling economy characterised by massive corruption, nepotism, cronyism and organised looting of the fiscus. With only three years before the expiry of his last constitutional term of office, Mnangagwa's loyalists are also campaigning for the Zanu-PF leader to remain in office beyond 2028. Riled by this campaigning, ex-combatants led by Blessed Geza – a former MP, have called for the countrywide uprising. The events are echoing a repeat of 2017 that led to the ousting of Robert Mugabe, led by Chiwenga, who was then the country's military chief. To discuss this Bongiwe Zwane spoke to Ricky Mukonza, Associate Professor of Public Affairs at Tshwane University of Technology

President Cyril Ramaphosa has officially signed the General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill, ushering in major reforms to South Africa's intelligence services. The new law dissolves the State Security Agency, replacing it with two entities: the Foreign Intelligence Service (FIS) and the Domestic Intelligence Agency (DIA). It also re-establishes the National Academy of Intelligence and tightens oversight mechanisms. The Presidency says these amendments align with recommendations from the 2018 High-Level Review Panel and the Zondo Commission.  But what does this all mean for you? Bongiwe Zwane spoke to Prof. Anthon Harber, Director at the Campaign for Free Expression.....

Relations between Pretoria and Washington have been under stress since Donald Trump entered the White House 2 months ago and indications are they could turn for the worse. On 7 February 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order specifically aimed at South Africa's domestic and international policies. The decision by the US government to declare South Africa's former ambassador Ebrahim Rasool persona non grata  and expel him was the latest spat in a relationship that has become more abrasive. Trump's nomination of Brent Bozell III, a conservative media commentator, as the new US ambassador to South Africa and the City of Johannesburg's push to rename Sandton Drive to Leila Khaled Drive are set to take relations on a rougher ride. President Cyril Ramaphosa has previously slammed the visit by Afrikaner community lobby groups Afriforum and Solidarity to Washington for raising tensions with the Trump administration.  Bongiwe Zwane spoke to Chris Hattingh, Executive Director of the Centre for Risk Analysis who has returned from Washington DC where he was accessing the temperature of US/SA relations 

Nedbank is the latest bank highlighting a growing trend of fraudsters pretending to be police officers to scam unsuspecting South Africans. The bank released a fraud alert to customers   that fraudsters use vishing calls to scam customers out of their money. Vishing is short for "voice phishing- a type of cybercrime where fraudsters use phone calls or voice messages to trick victims into revealing sensitive information. Scammers pose as bank employees from the bank fraud department or police officers. They call victims to inform them that they are linked to a fraud case before advising them to transfer money from their accounts.. To unpack this Bongiwe Zwane spoke to Lucas Venter , Nedbank's Group Head of Fraud Detection

Afrikaner lobby group AfriForum has criticised South African judges for ruling that the "Kill the Boer" chant is not hate speech, accusing them of being ideologically biased. This after the apex court THIS WEEK refused AfriForum's bid for leave to appeal the "Kill the boer" judgment, which found that the chant did not constitute Hate Speech and dismissed the application saying it bears no reasonable prospects of success. In August, 2022 – the Equality Court ruled in favour of the Economic Freedom Fighters, stating that the song did not constitute Hate Speech. The "Kill the boer, Kill the farmer" chant, which EFF leader Julius Malema continues to sing, was used by Elon Musk to justify US accusations that South Africa is allegedly violating the human rights of some groups in the country. The opposition DA has also weighed in the debate saying the chant has no place in SA society, regardless of any legal ruling on its constitutionality. To weigh in on the matter Bongiwe Zwane spoke to political analyst, Sandile Swana.