The Weekend View

Gauteng residents have been complaining about experiencing too many flies in their homes, leaving many frustrated people searching for solutions. ..According to Pest control experts at Rentokil , flies such as fruit flies, drain flies and ever-present house flies can transmit a multitude of different pathogens.  They pose a health risk to humans, pets and livestock and can infest your homes and spread diseases like Salmonella and E-coli. For more Bongiwe Zwane spoke to Mario Pluke, Rentokil's Technical Manager for Sub-Saharan Africa

With just  a week before the 2025 academic year starts, the country's universities are at an advanced stage of preparedness following record applications that were, in some cases, reported to be 30 times higher than they can accommodate. Some reports say more than 100 000 recent matriculants cannot be placed at South Africa's public universities as the number of bachelor passes exceed the space available. The most sought-after universities, such as WITS, can only accommodate 6 000 first-year students, while UCT can only accommodate 4 500. This leaves a significant number of students who will not have access to the public higher education system. For more Bongiwe Zwane spoke to Universities SA CEO, Dr Phetiwe Matutu.

DA  leader John Steenhuisen says the party has invoked section 19-3 of the statement of intent of the Government of National Unity agreement that regulates the relations in the GNU amid differences over the Expropriation Act and other legislation. At a media briefing yesterday he added that the DA will not be reduced to being mere spectators and it will have to seriously consider their next steps. 

For analysis Bongiwe Zwane spoke to Professor Ntsikelelo Breakfast, political analyst and director of the Centre for Security, Peace, and Conflict Resolution at Nelson Mandela University.

While some political parties have welcomed the enactment of the Expropriation Bill, some including those in the GNU, have voiced strong opposition with the DA threatening legal action against the government it is a part of. This follows President Cyril Ramaphosa's signing of the contentious Expropriation Bill into law on Thursday. The DA's very own Dean Macpherson will be responsible for enforcing the Expropriation Act as minister of public works and infrastructure. Some legal experts and agricultural economists seem more relaxed about the bill than politicians who doubt whether the Act provides for adequate and fair compensation. While the law will be tested in court millions of South Africans, who have waited 30 years, will have to wait a little longer to see if the Act will redress land ownership.

To discuss whether the newly enacted Expropriation Bill will fundamentally overhaul land ownership in South Africa Bongiwe Zwane spoke to Nkanyiso Gumede,  Researcher at the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies and Siya Sithole,  Strategy Manager at the Association for Rural Advancement - AFRA - a land rights advocacy organisation working to support marginalised black rural people 

After going unrecognised for more than a century, hundreds of South African servicemen, mostly black, who died during World War One, have been honoured with a new memorial unveiled in Cape Town THIS WEEK. The 1,772 men worked in dangerous non-combatant roles in East Africa but until now, they had no known grave or commemoration. Individually engraved timber posts now bear each serviceman's name at the new memorial. For more Bongiwe Zwane spoke to Ben Mwasinga, Spokesperson for the South African Heritage Resources Agency

As South Africa continues to celebrate 2024's record-breaking matric results and starts the new school year, the Zero Dropout Campaign says the country still needs to interrogate the progress of the education system not just over the past year, but the past 30 years. Despite this improvement and South Africa's large investment in basic education, an estimated four in ten learners who enrol in Grade 1 still exit the schooling system before finishing matric. Zero Dropout Campaign conducted a survey to understand South Africa's Education and Dropout experiences  and found that financial strain, drugs and criminal behaviour are some of the reasons for the exodus among learners. It adds that many of these young people will remain stuck in poverty and unemployment for life. For more Bongiwe Zwane spoke to Colin Wardle, Communications Lead for the Zero Dropout Campaign. 

Mozambique's police chief Bernadino Rafael has been sacked, following allegations of brutality during October's disputed election and its aftermath. He has denied claims by prominent opposition figures that he had worked with criminal groups to kidnap and kill  close to 300 civilian protesters in recent months. The country's new President Daniel Chapo, who took office last week, announced Rafael's removal on Thursday. To get some reaction to this development Bongiwe Zwane spoke to David Fardo in Maputo, a Social and human right activist and President of Youth parliament of Mozambique..

The Furore over the 30 percent matric pass mark continued THIS WEEK with Build One South Africa - BOSA - leader Mmusi Maimane announcing that his party had joined hands with some of those who are calling on government to scrap the system. Maimane says  a 30% pass mark does not prepare learners to be ready for employment after school. He says he has received a petition signed by some parents and learners who are against the 30 percent pass mark.  A clip of Maimane in  Parliament on Thursday...For their reaction Bongiwe Zwane spoke to Basic Education Department spokesperson, Elijah Mhlanga....

A new year of lunar exploration kicked off THIS WEEK, when two robotic landers and a small rover began their journeys to the moon. A SpaceX rocket lifted off on Wednesday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, launching two separate, uncrewed missions to the lunar surface. One of the missions, Blue Ghost, was developed by a US -based company Firefly Aerospace while the other mission, Resilience, is run by a Japanese company called ispace. Both the US and Japanese craft will be operational for about two weeks after landing on the moon before being plunged into darkness and shutting down. For more on these latest private lunar expeditions, Bongiwe Zwane spoke  to Prof. Mike Kosch, Chief Scientist at the South African National Space Agency - SANSA.....

South Africa has been facing a severe unemployment crisis that affects millions, particularly the youth, for nearly a decade. And so it comes as no surprise that there is also a crippling shortage of medical professionals with experts in the field saying this is unacceptable.  The shortage results in a strained healthcare system. Dr Bulela Vava, Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity in South Africa, says the this issue was once thought to mainly affect unskilled workers. But now both skilled and unskilled workers, including healthcare professionals, are among the casualties. He also adds that  the narrative around this crisis has often been one-sided, focusing heavily on the negative effects on medical doctors while neglecting similar challenges faced by 'marginalised' professionals who are essential to maintaining the healthcare system. For more on this Bongiwe Zwane spoke to Dr. Bulela Vava, Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity in South Africa