Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng has defended his stance on the coronavirus vaccine debate. Mogoeng says people must be able to express themselve freely about the vaccine. He was responding to criticism of his controversial prayer against any COVID-19 vaccine that could be infused with the mark of the devil. Mogoeng was tabling the Judiciary Annual Report for the 2019/20 financial year at his office in Midrand. He says he will not beg for permission to pray

BlindSA is leading a march to the Union Building demanding that President Cyril Ramaphosa ratify the Copy Write Amendment Act that will allow them to convert books into brail or other accessible formats without the consent of the publishing houses. Ntshavheni Netshituni, president of BlindSA, says their demands are two fold. First they want to Copy Write Amendment Act discussed and adopted at the first parliamentary session next year and secondly they want South Africa to ratify the Marrakesh treaty. The Treaty makes the production and international transfer of specially-adapted books for people with blindness or visual impairments easier. It does this by establishing a set of limitations and exceptions to traditional copyright law. Netshituni, says the Copy Write Amendment Act will also allow print disabled people to convert books, handbooks and learning material without the permission of the publishing houses to give them access to the material. Netshinutni says they have been trying to get the Amended Bill passed for 7 years now. We spoke to our very own colleague Rhulani Baloyi...

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize says South Africa is officially in the second wave of the coronavirus. He says the country has breached the six-thousand mark in new cases in the last reporting period, for the first time since the pandemic began. The death toll has risen to 22-thousand-574 after COVID -19 related fatalities were recorded…To better understand where we are as country, we spoke to Professor Thumbi Ndung'u, Deputy Director at the African Health Research Institute

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize says South Africa is officially in the second wave of the coronavirus. He says the country has breached the six-thousand mark in new cases in the last reporting period, for the first time since the pandemic began. The death toll has risen to 22-thousand-574 after COVID -19 related fatalities were recorded…To better understand where we are as country, we spoke to Professor Thumbi Ndung'u, Deputy Director at the African Health Research Institute.

The controversial PPE tender awarded to Ledla Structural Development has been cancelled, in a ruling by the Special Tribunal of South Africa. The matter was brought to the tribunal by the Special Investigating Unit which also requested that the 38 million Rand paid out to the company and then distributed to six other entities, be frozen. The tender was clouded with allegations of nepotism and corruption earlier this year and cost Health MEC Bandile Masuku his job. Judge Billy Motlhe also upheld the application to freeze the pension payout of former Health Department Chief Financial Officer Mantsu Lehloenya. We spoke to Advocate Selby Makgatho, spokesperson for the Special Tribunal of South Africa.

The families of two businesswomen who were shot and killed execution style at the industrial site of Polokwane in Limpopo two months ago say they are happy with police evidence that has transpired at the local magistrate court so far. Police say 46 year old Makwena Mabisela Leshabane and her friend 35 year old Tebogo Mphuthi were followed from Gauteng by four hitmen who subsequently cornered them and shot them while sitting inside their car. Five suspects including the husband of Makwena, Stanley Leshabane were arrested and are applying for bail. Police say the shooting incident was positively captured in a syvilence camera, and cellphone and car trackor network evidence directly put the suspects at the scene of crime. The suspects also alleged confessed that they were hired by Stanley Leshabane (the husband of one of the deceased women) to commit the hit. Two of the suspects are taxi drivers, one is taxi queue marshal while one is an UBER driver in Germiston and Katlegong. We spoke to our reporter Rudzani Tshivhase.

A Hammanskraal businessman has appeared in the Pretoria Specialized Commercial Crimes court on allegations of fraud and bribery in connection with the Department of Labour's UIF Covid-19 relief fund amounting to R110-million rand. Thabo Simbini claimed to have terminated more than 6-thousand employees from their employment during lockdown. However, his company, Impossible Services , did not have any employees other than himself. Simbini allegedly fraudulently used people's IDs to claim for UIF and relief benefits without their knowledge. The company was paid more than R110-million based on the fraudulent claims. Meanwhile, Simbini's bank accounts had been frozen by the Assets Forfeiture Unit. The case has been postponed to January 29th. We spoke to our reporter Maluti Obuseng.

The civil rights organisation AfriForum today published a report: Serial Rape in South Africa, on the rape crisis in South Africa using news reports, available data, research performed by various institutions, court cases and other sources. The report identifies rape and sexual assault trends, the main motives and beliefs behind the high numbers, and lists the most prolific serial rapists in the country's history. Afroforum says the report unpacks how the South African justice system has dealt with the matter, highlighting in particular the justice system's failings in this regard. We spoke to Monique Taute, head of campains at Afriforum.

Teachers Union, SADTU, says it will head to court on today to seek an urgent interdict to challenge the Basic Education Department's decision that matric learners must rewrite the leaked exam papers. Minister Angie Motshekga announced on Friday that learners would rewrite Mathematics paper two and Physical Science paper two on December 15 and 17, respectively. We spoke to Tshegofatso Bathobotlhe, a matric learner at Golfview Park High in Mafikeng, she says the decision to have everyone rewrite maths and physical science papers is unfair on them as students who did not cheat the system; Vanishaa Gordhan, Project Manager at the South African Anxiety and Depression Group (SADAG) AND Professor Ahmed Bawa (CEO: Universities South Africa).

An explosion has occurred at the Engen Oil refinery at Merebank south of Durban. The cause of the explosion is unknown at this stage. Seven people have been injured. Emergency services say the seven sustained mild injuries and have been treated on the scene. Community members from Wentworth and surrounding areas are challenging the Engine Oil Refinery to upgrade infrastructure to ensure proper operations. We spoke to Frank Alexander, who is an activist with the South Durban Basin Community Development Trust.

Meanwhile Engen Oil Refinery says they will launch an investigation following this morning's explosion at their Wentworth plant south of Durban. We also spoke to Engen's Public Affairs Manager, Thandeka Cele…