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Despite not securing the environmental green light for its gas-to-power ships to operate in three of the country's major industrial ports, Karpowership South Africa says it remains fully committed to South African projects. The company says it strongly disagrees with the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE)'s decision not to approve its projects and will take appropriate recourse. We spoke to the spokesperson for Karpowership South Africa, Kay Sexwale.

The Basic Education Department says those who plan to disrupt the vaccine rollout which kicks off today, will face the full might of the law. Over the weekend, Minister Angie Motshekga announced that all employees of the department, across the country, including teachers, admin staff and cleaners will receive the Johnson and Johnson single-dose jab, over the next two weeks. Motshekga and Gauteng Education MEC, Panyaza Lesufi, earlier launched the programme at the Rabasotho Community Hall in Tembisa, in Johannesburg's East Rand...with the latest update; we are now joined on the line by our reporters in different provinces

The financial state of municipalities in South Africa has continued to deteriorate as a lack of accountability and poor governance continues to dog the country at a local government level. Presenting to parliament's standing committee on public accounts yesterday, auditor-general Tsakani Maluleke said that the country was effectively facing two main issues: there is not much money going around and yet the right hands are not at the till. We spoke to Chairman of the standing committee on the Auditor-General, Sakhumzi Somyo & Zukiswa Kota, head of monitoring and advocacy @ the Public Service Accountability Monitor (PSAM)

The family of Leigh Matthews, who was killed in July 2004 held a press conference in Johannesburg earlier today after allegations that her killer; Donovan Moodley may be eligible for parole consideration. The family says it was called by Correctional Services for mediation ahead of a parole hearing with a possibility of an early release for Donovan Moodley. The Department of Correctional Services says there will be no parole hearing today to determine if Leigh Matthews' murderer can be released. We spoke to Leigh Mathews' father Rob Mathews…

Gift of the Givers says it's overwhelmed with calls for oxygen concertrators in Gauteng hospitals. It says Covid-19 infections are ripping through the population at an unprecedented rate. The NGO says it is inundated with calls of desperation from medical professionals, families and patients for oxygen concentrators, oxygen cylinders and oxygen, or bed availability at hospitals. Both private and public hospitals are filled to capacity.We spoke to the Founder of Gif of the Givers Foundation, Dr Imtiaz Sooliman.

The Minister of Mineral Resources, Gwede Mantashe, has raised concern about the impact of illegal mining on communities. He says it is an attack on the country's economy and must be dealt with decisively. Mantashe was speaking during his visit to the China Africa Precious Metals (CAPM) mine in Orkney in the North West. This follows the discovery of 20 bodies believed to be those of illegal miners. The badly burned and decomposed bodies were found in grain bags on the surface near the mine. ..we spoke to our reporter Mpho Lepedi and David van Wyk, Chief Researcher at Bench Marks Foundation.

The City of Joburg is facing a deepening power crisis, with electricity problems leading to more blackouts that take days to repair. The problems extend beyond just outages, with delayed maintenance, tampering and illegal connections now putting lives at risk. Newlyweds Zaheer Sarang and Nabeela Khanwere buried in a joint funeral on Monday after being electrocuted in their Crosby, Johannesburg, over the weekend. The couple's family says last week they experienced slight shocks when they used the taps and reported the problem to City Power several times. We spoke to City Power's spokesperson Isaac Mangena..

The Gauteng government wants stricter restrictions imposed on the province to curb the rising number of Covid-19 cases. Some hospitals have had to divert patients to other facilities due to constrained bed capacity. One Gauteng public hospital say it may have to re-purpose more wards for Covid-19 patients to accommodate the rising number of admissions. Nurses are also feeling the pressure due to the increased workload. Tshepo Phagane visited Kalafong hospital in Pretoria and filed this report...

The CCMA has issued Public Servants Association (PSA) with non-resolution certificates. This means the union could embark on a protected strike after giving an employer 48-hours notice. The PSA, representing more than 235 000 public-sector employees, says despite having declared a dispute, it had made every effort to engage with Government as the employer during the conciliation process regarding the salary proposal tabled to other unions. We spoke to Astrid Al-Anani , Manager Labour Relations: Collective Bargaining at Public Servants Association…

The Southern African Alcohol Policy Alliance (Saapa) says the introduction of stronger alcohol laws in South Africa will help reduce crime in South Africa, especially the maltreatment of children. The lobby group is calling for the passing of the Liquor Amendment Bill, which it says will help change the country's drinking culture. We spoke to Maurice Smithers, director for The Southern African Alcohol Policy Alliance (Saapa) and got some reaction from Lucky Ntimane, convener of the liquor traders council.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that private investors and companies will be allowed to generate (and sell) up to 100 MW in electricity. The move, which includes the ability to sell excess capacity into the grid, is expected to take pressure off state-owned electricity utility Eskom, However not immediately. Energy experts have weighed in on the president's move to allow up to 100MW of private power production. We spoke to Energy Economist Lungile Mashele…

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gorhdan has announced Takatso Consortium as the new strategic equity partner for SAA. Takatso will own 51% of the restructured airline while government will hold a 49% stake into the new SAA. Government says it will not be putting any money into the new consortium. Gordhan says Takatso will invest just over 3 billion rand into the new airline. Gordhan says after the conclusion of all business rescue process the purchase agreement will be signed with Takatso consortium. We spoke to Adv. Melanchton Makobe, Acting Director General at the Department of Public Entreprises & Independent Analyst Khaya Sithole.

Soweto residents protest outside Eskom's Megawatt Park. Residents complain of electricity problems and poor service delivery by the power utility. They say they have been without electricity for a about year now. We spoke to our reporter Maageketla Mohlabe, some of the protesting residents and energy expert,Ted Blom.

The Free Basotho Movement wants South Africa- Lesotho borders to be removed. The movement is calling for an election referendum to allow citizens to vote on the removal of the borders separating Lesotho and South Africa. The Free Basotho Movement says it has written to SADC to intervene. We spoke to the President of the Free Basotho Movement DR Letsema Morolong and got more context from Senior Research Fellow at research and policy advocacy think tank - Trade Collective, Lebohang Pheko.

South Africa is DITCHING the 'herd immunity Covid 19 vaccination plan, because herd immunity is no longer practical in the country. South Africa was aiming to immunise 41-million people by the end of this year in order to reach herd immunity. Health experts working for Bhekisisa confirmed that the government is now rethinking its plan and moving towards a containment strategy to reduce strain on the country's health system. We spoke to Bhekisisa's Senior Health Reporter, Aisha Abdool Karim.

Further investigations into the Department of Health's irregular Digital Vibes contract have revealed that minister Zweli Mkhize's son scored a Land Cruiser bakkie from the Digital Vibes. Previous investigations found that the minister's son also had money paid to his company, while the maintenance work on the minister's house was also paid for by the group. Digital Vibes is owned by Mkhize's long-serving personal spokesperson Tahera Mather and former personal assistant Naadira Mitha. For more on this we are joined on the line by Political Analyst- Sanusha Naidu...We reached out to Tareha Mather of Digital Vibes and offered her an interview to chat to us about the allegations levelled against her company- She says she is not feeling well and will not be able to do the interview.

Independent business community Sakeliga has instituted court proceedings to reverse municipal decline throughout South Africa, proposing a new form of municipal administration, with independent control over electricity and other service charges. In court papers served, Sakeliga has asked a judge to appoint a special master to handle payments for water, electricity and repairs in two of the failing municipalities in the North West province. It is asking a judge to ring-fence municipal rates in two of the North West province's struggling municipalities and appoint a special master to make payments to Eskom and for water and repair services before giving "what is left" to the municipality. We spoke to Piet le Roux, CEO of Sakeliga.

Housing activist organisation Ndifuna Ukwazi has condemned the City of Cape Town for attempting to compile complaints from the public against homeless people. A document that recently surfaced on social platforms, urges members of the public in the City of Cape Town to "add their voice" about how homeless people ("street people" as referred to in their document) impact them, and to send these to JP Smith, Mayco Member for Safety and Security...We spoke to Jonty Cogger, an attorney with Housing Activist organisation, Ndifuna Ukwazi, they are legally representing some homeless people in court. We also spoke to P Smith, Mayco Member for Safety and Security, in the City of Cape Town.

The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) is currently being briefed by the National Treasury and the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) on allegations of maladministration, mismanagement and corruption. These were brought by the President of the United Democratic Movement, Bantu Holomisa. Last year. Scopa resolved to develop a framework that would guide investigations into allegations of corruption at DBSA. Our Reporter Zalene Merrington spoke to us...

In line with the approved the Self Sufficiency and Sustainability Strategic Framework, Correctional Services is today launching a prison project at Oudtshoorn in the Little Karoo. The vision is for the inmates to produce their own food for government to save money. Inmates will also gain practical skills and qualifications through the project. We spoke to our reporter Sagree Chetty.

Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) says it has assessed the extent of vandalism of its infrastructure across the country and has instituted a recovery plan, Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula has joined PRASA Management in visiting some of the damaged stations in and around Johannesburg and to provide details of the recovery plan. We also spoke to Prof. Jackie Walters, Director for the Institute for Transport and Logistics Studies (ITLS) Africa @ the University of Johannesburg

The ANC has retained 27 of the 40 wards it contested in yesterday's by-elections. The governing party has also lost one ward and won three new wards. The DA which contested ten wards, has retained six wards but lost four, while the Patriotic Alliance has won two new wards. The IFP has retained one ward and won another. The Better Residents Association in Mpumalanga has lost a ward. According to the IEC the average turnout of the by-elections was 31-point-94 per cent. We spoke to Wayne Sussman an elections analyst.

At least sixty seven Palestinian including children have been killed since Monday. Heavy Israeli air strike and Palestinian rocket fire have continued through the night. The Israeli military says it is targeting Gaza including intelligence buildings, a bank and the Hamas navy squad. Palestinian militants have launched ways of rockets towards Israeli cities. Suhair Zakkout is the Spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Gaza and she gives us this update from Gaza

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign in Cape Town says it is formulating a Parliamentary Bill to force the South African government to implement sanctions against Israel. This as conflict in the Middle East continues to escalate.Meanwhile, the Pro-Palestine protest is continuing in Cape Town against the continued clashes in the Middle East. The Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) is leading the march with various other organisations and some political parties to mark the end of Ramadaan. We spoke to our reporter Vanessa Poonah and Dr Sikwani Ncube Senior Lecturer at the Department of Public Law at the University of Johannesburg (UJ).

The Modjadji Royal Council in Limpopo has veered off from the long held history of matrilineal lineage by appointing a male leader. The Balobedu nation has not had a male monarch in 200 years. Balobedu are known to be led by Modjadji queens who are famous for rainmaking customs. The royal council has appointed the late Queen Makobo Modjadji's son, Lekukela, as the king of Balobedu people. It was anticipated that Masalanabo, currently aged 16, would be ascend the queenship when she reaches 18. We spoke to Advocate Ngoako Moropene of the Lembede Tambo Pitjie Chambers…Meanwhile The Modjadji Royal Council says it has never stated that the late Queen Makobo Modjadji's sixth daughter, princess Masalanabo Modjadji, would be the next Rain Queen to rule over the Balobedu nation. The council announced that Masalanabo's brother, prince Lekukela, has been appointed as the next leader to ascend the throne. A regent has been on the throne since 2006, following Queen Makobo's death in 2005.We also spoke to the Modjadji Royal Council’s spokesperons, Phetole Mampeule….

National police commissioner General Khehla Sitole received a tongue lashing from police minister Bheki Cele yesterday. In a letter demanding a retraction of appointments of senior managers by Sitole, Cele was critical of the commissioner for effectively defying him and going over his head. The commissioner was given until 4pm yesterday to retract the appointments.We spoke to Head of Justice and Violence Prevention @ The Institute for Security Studies, Gareth Newham.

It has emerged in the Auditor General's findings on the National Student Financial Aid Scheme's (NSFAS) annual report that the entity allegedly incurred R50.1 billion in irregular expenditure and that "ghost students" had allegedly received funding. According to the NSFAS 2019/20 annual report there were some 440-thousand "irregular" student records that had been picked up and an undisclosed number of "ghost students" had been funded. We spoke to NSFAS Spokesperson, Kagisho Mamabolo

The Head of ANC Presidency, Sibongile Besani, says the suspension of the ANC Secretary-General Ace Magashule is a decision of the party's national executive committee (NEC) to fight corruption and also unite it. On the other hand suspended Magashule wrote a letter to party President Cyril Ramaphosa, suspending him. In a letter circulating on social media last night, Magashule says he used powers vested in him to subsequently suspend the president. We spoke to Political Analyst, Sanusha Naidu.

DNG Power, a South African company to develop liquefied natural gas facilities is objecting to its disqualification in South Africa's emergency power tender. It's alleging wrongdoing, following government decision to award to eight companies to alleviate power shortages. DNG Power has taken legal action to have the government's award of emergency power generation contracts halted….We spoke to Aldworth Mbalati, the founder and chief executive of DNG Power Holdings.

Following SABC's expose' of families of rape survivors complaining that backlogs in the processing of DNA evidence samples are preventing justice from taking its course, the police have now come forth to respond. South African Police Service’s spokesperson, Brigadier Vish Naidoo says there is light at the end of the tunnel regarding DNA backlogs

It's an issue that cannot be taken lightly. Bullying and prejudice have damaging effects on victims and their families. An adult who has suffered humiliation has made an impassioned plea to authorities to urgently deal with the scourge. Primary school teacher Mpho Mawela is, what she calls herself, a plus-size mother. The 32-year was bullied as a child, and she's still being body-shamed. Our repoerter Molebogeng Gulwako has more …

Families of rape survivors say backlogs in the processing of DNA evidence samples are preventing justice from taking its course. Police management told Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Police recently that backlogs at the National Forensic Science Laboratory stood at over 173-thousand cases. Experts say this poses a serious challenge for the administration of justice. Our reporter Tshepo Phagane filed this report.

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) says it has noted an upsurge in Covid-19 cases in the Northern Cape, North West and Free State Provinces. Senior Epidemiologist at the NICD, Dr Harry Moultrie says NICD is working with the respective provinces to ascertain whether the rise in cases can be attributed to cluster outbreaks.

The National Development Plan 2030 emphasizes that the use of digital communications has the ability to change society and is a powerful means of fostering social inclusion. But, in recent times - it is in this particular space that government seems to experience challenges. Some of these include questionable procurement of ICT services by government departments to long queues at government departments, like the Home Affairs - caused at most by failing and crashing computer systems. We spoke to Luvuyo Keyise, Executive Caretaker for the State Information Technology Agency, SITA.

South Africa has struck a R218 billion energy deal with Turkish company Karpowership to provide South Africa with power from Ships. The three floating power stations - which use Liquefied Natural Gas to produce electricity - are expected to dock at Saldanha, Richards Bay and Gqeberha towards the second half of next year. The Dept. of Mineral Resources and Energy has however acknowledged that Karpowership, which will supply 450 megawatts of electricity from gas, does not meet the local content requirement for the ships it will use. Deputy Director General Jacob Mbele told parliament that the final agreements are yet to be signed . Meanwhile, Energy Analyst Clyde Mallinson says the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP) is expensive and should be replaced by a materially larger, cost-effective, procurement programme based primarily on renewables and storage, rather than power ships. Mallinson has written to the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) and the Independent Power Producer (IPP) Office to highlight these expensive shortcomings of the RMIPPPP.

The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) says it has encountered payment delays for March and April COVID-19 grant. SASSA says this due to the transition in government financial years. The end of March is the end of the financial year for government and various administrative tasks are required before any payments which relate to the previous financial year can be made. We spoke to Paseka Letsatsi, SASSA Spokesperson.

Power utility Eskom is urgently seeking new providers of technical support after Oracle Corp.'s South African unit withdrew its services over a payment dispute. The state power utility has been in a disagreement with Oracle, which initially claimed Eskom underpaid it by about R7.3 billion, before reducing the amount to R380 million. Eskom is only prepared to pay R166 million. Eskom earlier this month lost a court bid to compel Oracle to continue providing services until April 2022. We spoke to Eskom's spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha.

Former VBS Mutual Bank retail account holders have until July 8 to collect up to R100,000 at any Nedbank branch. 8TH July 2021 is the date when the agreement between the liquidator, the Prudential Authority and Nedbank is due to end. In terms of the agreement which was concluded in 2018, depositors were guaranteed up to R100 000 per depositor and had three years to collect their money. Retail depositors include individuals, burial societies, stokvels and saving clubs’ deposits in VBS. The guarantee does not cover municipal or corporate deposits. We spoke to Anoosh Rooplal, VBS Mutual Bank liquidator.

The Communications Worker's Union (CWU) says issues facing the South African Post Office (SAPO) include Structural Organisation, Industry regulation and Governance. The union also says that it is very strange top executives at SAPO do not last very long in their positions. Just recently (in January this year) the union says it was shocked and disturbed by the resignation of the Post Office's CFO just three months into the job. Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts is also concerned by the report of the Auditor General on the South African Post Office. SAPO obtained a disclaimer of audit opinion and Auditor General Tsakani Maluleke which found that SAPO is commercially insolvent. The group incurred irregular expenditure of over 200 million rand as well as fruitless and wasteful expenditure exceeding 26 million rand. We spoke to CWU's Aubrey Tshabalala and SAPO CEO, Nomkhitha Mona

A Soweto family is still traumatized after the horrific death of their mother, Jostina Sangweni who had dementia. She was attacked and burnt by community members on Friday while she was apparently on her way to consult with her spiritual healer. A video of the attack in which the voices of men insulting her can be heard, went viral on social media over the weekend. The family says she was attacked because she was wearing a traditional healer's attire and the community believed she was a witch. We spoke to Brigadier Mathapelo Peters, the Gauteng SAPS Spokesperson.

Several families in KwaZulu-Natal say their lives are in limbo due to a backlog at the forensic laboratory of the South African Police Services. They say they have been unable to bury their loved ones because of the delays. The Ngcobo family in Hammersdale outside Durban has been waiting for the positive identification of a burnt body that was found last year. The family believes the body belongs to a relative, Nomvuselelo Ngcobo. Yesterday we spoke the deceased's sister, Nkosingphile who says they are still waiting for DNA results. We today we speak to SAPS National Police Spokesperson, Brenda Muridili

A forensic investigation by legal firm Bowman has found that an oil blending and storage company, Econ Oil & Energy allegedly secured deals to supply Eskom with fuel oil worth more than R15 billion at inflated prices by paying inducements, including donations to the ANC. Bloomberg reports that according to the forensic report, Econ Oil & Energy allegedly won the contracts with the help of Thandi Marah, then senior manager of business enablement at Eskom, who allegedly interfered in the tender processes. We spoke to Eskom's spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha.

Several families in KwaZulu-Natal say their lives are in limbo due to a backlog at the forensic laboratory of the South African Police Services. They say they have been unable to bury their loved ones because of the delays. The Ngcobo family in Hammersdale outside Durban has been waiting for the positive identification of a burnt body that was found last year. The family believes the body belongs to a relative, Nomvuselelo Ngcobo. The deceased's sister, Nkosingphile says they are still waiting for DNA results ...

Government Food Banks aim to provide for the immediate and basic needs of the most vulnerable in our society and the indigent. They rely on donors in order to fulfill their mandate. Some of the donors who give generously include the farmers, market agents, exporters and retailers. The market's own food technicians determine which of the donated food is fit for human consumption. We spoke to our reporter Nozintombi Miya.

Eskom's technical services provider Oracle, is threatening to withdraw their services to Eskom due to non-payment. Eskom approached the high court to compel Oracle to continue providing the services for the duration of the agreement until April 2022, however its bid failed in court...Eskom has warned that South Africa can be plunged into total darkness if the company is not stopped from withdrawing its services. Oracle technical services are crucial to its operations. We spoke to Eskom's spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha

South African artists want to know what happened to the millions of rands that were meant to help them when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. They have staged a sit-in at the National Arts Council offices. They've vowed to continue occupying the offices of the arts council until they are paid out monies promised to them. The impasse is over a 300 million rand presidential employment stimulus programme, meant to be disbursed via the National Arts Council and the National Film and Video Foundation. It's aimed at assisting people in the sector, suffering losses due to Covid-19. We spoke to Tshepo Mashiane- Spokesperson for the National Arts Council.

Home Affairs Department will this weekend be doing a follow-up to a pilot they started last weekend where they are availed officials at all health facilities with maternity wards. This is in order to fast track registration of new-born babies at medical facilities where the child is born. A family has up to 30 days to register a birth. Registration of birth after 30 days is considered to be a late registration and additional requirements apply. We spoke to the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Mr. Njabulo Nzuza.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) have called for an investigation into some 40-thousand public service employees who applied for the SASSA SRD grant since February. This was revealed by the minister of Social Development, Lindiwe Zulu, in a written response to a parliamentary question posed by the Democratic Alliance (DA). We spoke to DA shadow deputy minister of social development, Dr Mimmy Gondwe.

An independent review panel in the United States has raised concerns around the information released by AstraZeneca yesterday showing its COVID-19 vaccine was 79 percent effective in preventing symptomatic illness. A statement released in the early hours of Tuesday by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases -- or NIAID -- pointed to concern expressed by an independent panel of experts that AstraZeneca may have included outdated information from a trial conducted in the US, Chile and Peru. The NIAID has now urged AstraZeneca to work with the Data and Safety Monitoring Board to review the efficacy data and ensure the most accurate, up-to date efficacy data is made public as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, Anxiety is rising again over concern of an impending third wave of Covid-19 infections and the slowness of the vaccination rollout plan. Thus far, less than 200-thousand of the 1,2-million healthcare workers in the country have received their jabs. We spoke to senior health reporter at Bhekisisa, Aisha Abdool Karim.

The Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi has described as 'completely unacceptable' the conduct of a teacher who was seen forcibly running a comb through a learner's hair, in a video that has gone viral on social media. In the video the teacher has other learners lined up to get their hair combed. The incident has drawn condemnation and has reignited conversation on socially acceptable conditions of black hair.We spoke to Gauteng Education MEC, Panyaza Lesufi.