The Weekend View

The embassy of Ivory Coast in South Africa is preparing to host the first ever International Francophonie Day. The cultural event is set to put under the spotlight Ivorian gastronomy with ATTIEKE a local dish that is served around the world and is on UNESCO's list of cultural heritage of humanity, in the limelight. To tell us more about this historic event, Bongiwe Zwane spoke to Pandora Mabai, Communications Consultant for the Ivorian embassy....

Calls for the introduction of lasting or enduring powers of attorney (LPA or EPA) into South African legislation from several quarters over many years have been falling on deaf ears. According to the Fiduciary Institute of Southern Africa this is an urgent matter. As things stand, the power of attorney extended to any other person lapses when the person who extended the power loses the legal capacity to act. This could be due to mental illness, advanced age, head injury or when the person enters a comatose condition. FISA says South Africans should be allowed to appoint someone who can look after their well-being and assets when they cannot do so themselves. To unpack this Bongiwe Zwane spoke to Louis van Vuren, CEO of the Fiduciary Institute of Southern Africa (Fisa) 

While Russian president Vladimir Putin says he agrees with the idea of a ceasefire in Ukraine, he has set out a number of tough conditions for peace. Responding to a plan for a 30-day ceasefire, which Ukraine agreed to earlier this week following talks with the US, Putin suggested that Ukraine should neither re-arm nor mobilise and that western military aid to Kyiv be halted during the ceasefire. He also wanted to know who would ensure that was verified. The other demands Russia has had throughout the war is that Ukraine should never be allowed into NATO, and that the bloc roll back its military footprint in Eastern and Central Europe. Putin's comments quickly drew condemnation from Kyiv, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accusing the Russian leader of "deliberately setting conditions that only complicate and drag out the process". To tell us more Bongiwe Zwane by Olesia Horiainova, co-founder of the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Center in Kiev 

The Independent Electoral Commission - IEC - YESTERDAY issued a notice to de-register the South African Communist Party - SACP - and a host of other inactive political parties. The affected political organisations have until the 24th of March to make submissions to the Electoral Commission detailing why they should not be de-registered. The IEC says the parties did not fulfill their obligations by failing to indicate their continued existence to the Commission. This development comes as the SACP's  recently made public it's decision to contest the 2026 polls independently. For their reaction Bongiwe Zwane spoke to SACP National spokesperson Alex Mashilo

The Southern African regional bloc has said it will conclude its troop deployment in the Democratic Republic of the Congo having decided on a phased withdrawal. Leaders from the 16-nation Southern African Development Community - SADC – that has lost more than a dozen soldiers in the eastern DRC since January – held a virtual summit on THURSDAY to discuss the ongoing conflict in an area that has seen three decades of unrest. In a statement released after the summit, the group said its mission in the DRC, also known as SAMIDRC,  would be terminated and the leaders directed the commencement of a phased withdrawal of SAMIDRC troops. The bulk of SAMIDRC troops come from South Africa together with Tanzania and Malawi. The mission was sent to the eastern DRC in December 2023 to help the government restore peace and security amid attacks by armed groups including M23. Bongiwe Zwane spoke to Ricardo Texeira, Defence Analyst at DefenceWeb 

In South Africa alone, one out of four people will be affected by cancer in their lifetime. The increase in the number of people diagnosed with cancer also leads to an increased number of people living with many kinds of consequences. Dineo Mokoka, is a 40-year-old single mother of three who was diagnosed with stage 4 breast and liver cancer in 2022, followed by a brain cancer diagnosis in 2024. Despite these challenges, she was determined to make a difference. This led her to establish The Infinity Journey, a cancer foundation set to launch in May. Bongiwe Zwane spoke to Dineo Mokoka

The United States THIS WEEK announced the termination of its membership of the Just Energy Transition Partnership - JETP - climate finance agreement with several developing countries, South Africa being one.  On Thursday, the Just Transition Project Management Unit in the Presidency issued a statement confirming the decision which also affects Indonesia and Vietnam. The US pullout means that associated financial pledges are also withdrawn and grant projects that were previously funded and in planning or implementation phases have been cancelled. The climate pact of which the US was part, is supposed to support South Africa transition from its current coal dominance to an energy system based increasingly on renewable energy. The US had planned to contribute about $1 billion in commercial loans to the deal, along with $56 million in grant funds. Energy experts say the electrification of South Africa's informal settlements which was part of an ambitious government plan for universal energy access by 2030 - will be among the first projects to be shelved.

....To look at the impact and broader implications of the US withdrawal from the Just Energy Transition Partnership on South Africa's electricity needs Bongiwe Zwane spoke to Prof. Mark Swilling from the Centre for Sustainability Transitions at Stellenbosch University and Khaya Sithole, an Economic Analyst ....

President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced the establishment of the Presidential Johannesburg Working Group to revitalise and rejuvenate Johannesburg and return it to its glory days. This came out during his meeting with the executive committee of the Johannesburg City Council at the Council Chamber in Braamfontein YESTERDAY. The meeting involved Members of the Mayoral Committees and their Executive Mayor Dada Morero. Several Cabinet Ministers and their deputies as well as some Directors General and Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi also attended. For  reaction to the situation in Johannesburg and Gauteng Bongiwe Zwane spoke to Yunus Chamda, from Joburg Crisis Alliance...

Community activist and a whistle blower in the Timothy Omotoso rape and trafficking case, Pamela Mabini, was shot dead in the driveway of her home in KwaZakhele in Gqeberha YESTERDAY morning. She was a regular attendee at the trial of the trial of Omotoso. Mabini played a pivotal role in supporting the witnesses in the Omotoso case. PamEla was also shot at by unknown gunmen in May 2018 after recieving threatening messages. Eastern Cape Police are investigating the murder .. For the latest Bongiwe Zwane spoke to SABC reporter Lerato Fekisi 

U.S. President Donald Trump YESTERDAY launched his latest salvo against South Africa, in a social media post directly offering South African farmers and their families safe refuge in the USA and an expedited pathway to citizenship. Trump posted to Truth Social that South Africa was being terrible to long time farmers in the country. He again erroneously stated that their land and farms were being confiscated pushing a misinformed narrative about the country's land expropriation laws. To look at this Bongiwe Zwane spoke to  Professor Andre Duvenage, political analyst from North West University .