Inflation is expected to decline further after slowing to five-point-five percent in November 2023. This comes as Statistics South Africa prepares to release the consumer price inflation figure this week.  The Reserve Bank's Monetary Policy Committee is also expected to make a rates announcement later this week, while the producer price inflation numbers for December are also due out this week.  SABC reporter, Naledi Ngcobo has more.

Disgruntled scholar transport providers in Mpumalanga have halted their operations. They are accusing the Public Works Roads and Transport Department of failing to adhere to its commitment to increase their annual payment by 5%. The department is also accused of failing to pay some operators following an increase of the number of pupils they transport. SABC reporter, Mthobisi Mkhaliphi has more.

The Gauteng Department of Social Development has placed some officials on precautionary suspension following an investigation into a multimillion-rand grant. Last week an online publication GroundUp, revealed that over R114-million had been given to two skills development organisations in a year in which funding to other sectors including the elderly and community care has been cut. The two non-profit organisations are the Beauty Hub Academy and Daracorp. In April last year, the department proposed deep cuts in key funding. The money was to be redirected towards the department's research and development programme and its poverty alleviation initiatives. Sakina Kamwendo spoke to investigative journalist at GroundUp, Raymond Joseph and Director of Communications for the Gauteng Department of Social Development, Motsamai Motlhaolwa.

The cross examination of Brigadier Bongani Gininda has resumed as the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial continues. The trial resumed in the High court in Pretoria. It was adjourned last year after advocate Thulani Mngomezulu for accused 1 & 2 was unable to proceed due to ill health. Five men are currently on trial for the soccer star's 2014 murder. SABC reporter, Pearl Magubane filed this report.

Several people have been swindled of their money in online scams in Limpopo in recent months. Police say scammers use social media platforms to entice unsuspecting people by publishing bogus job and business opportunities. Mahlatse Phaladi filed this report. 

 A study by Stellenbosch University researchers has found that two out of three adolescents with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) experience breathing problems or lung abnormalities even after completing the treatment. The study, published in The Lancet, found that 76% of adolescents had abnormal lung function after treatment, and 65% still showed abnormal function at the second assessment. Sakina Kamwendo spoke to study lead, Dr Marieke van der Zalm, from Stellenbosch University's Desmond Tutu TB Centre. 

Johannesburg Mayor, Kabelo Gwamanda says the city is working with embassies in Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Tanzania to identify victims of a recent building fire and determine their eligibility for temporary housing. Gwamanda was briefing members of the media after two people lost their lives in a blaze in a residential building on the corner of Commissioner and Nugget Streets.More than 150 people were displaced and several injured in the two-storey building, which had been partitioned by shacks. It is alleged that a woman sprayed paraffin on one of the shacks and set it alight during domestic dispute. Sakina Kamwendo spoke to spokersperson for the Marshalltwon Justice Campaign, Mametlwe Sebei 

The Coal-Face with Martin Creamer, publishing editor of Engineering News and Mining Weekly.

1. Global mining gathered at the business conference in Davos has committed itself to being Nature-positive.

2. The Johannesburg Stock Exchange is ready to help with the raising of capital to fund the mining of critical minerals.

3. Mineworkers in the Northern Cape are going to have the benefit of wearing smartwatches to keep them safe.

The 2023 prison census by the Committee to Protect Journalists has revealed that the number of jailed journalists has increased. CPJ has documented 320 journalists behind bars since December 1st 2023- it says the number was the second-highest recorded by CPJ since the census began in 1992.  According to the report Israel has emerged as one of the world's leading jailers of journalists following the Israel-Gaza war. Israel is ranked sixth – tied with Iran – behind China, Myanmar, Belarus, Russia, and Vietnam. Sakina Kamwendo spoke to Muthoki Mumo,  Sub-Saharan Africa Representative of the Committee to Protect Journalists.  

KwaZulu-Natal is expected to get a breather from heavy rains that have been lashing the province since Christmas Eve, claiming scores of lives and causing damage to infrastructure, homes and businesses. As light rains continue in the eThekwini Municipality, residents remain concerned that the accumulation of consistent rainfall will further jeopardise their properties. Sakina Kamwendo spoke to Professor Anthony Turton from the Centre for Environmental Management, at the University of Free State