Talk Radio 702 - The Midday Report

19 March 2010

Police are keeping a close watch on a protestors outside a Soweto court where the man known as Jub Jub, and his co-murder accused are appearing in connection with their bail application, they are accused of murdering four Soweto teenagers and seriously injuring two others in a street racing incident.
Cosatu has issued a strongly worded statement backing media freedom, this in the wake of the spat between a group of political journalists and the ANC Youth League – over an attempt by the Youth League to discredit a City Press writer via leaked confidential information.
President Jacob Zuma says he is encouraged by concessions that he has managed to extract from all involved in the Zimbabwe government of national unity, Zuma is back from two days of marathon negotiations in Harare.

18 March 2010

Police are keeping a watchful eye on school pupils demonstrating outside the court where the bail hearing of the man known as Jub Jub enters its second day, he and another man are accused of murdering four Soweto teenagers in a street dicing accident.
The Presidency has said it will investigate an incident in which an EWN journalist was roughed up by the VIP Protection Unit guarding Jacob Zuma, this as there are reports of another unit of the VIP squad detaining two journalists from the Mail and Guardian.
Cope says ANC Members of Parliament will have an opportunity this afternoon to decide if they vote with their consciences or if they simply vote for the ANC out of party loyalty, during a Vote of No Confidence in President Zuma in Parliament.

March 17, 2010

17 March 2010

As the taxi strike continues in Johannesburg about a lack of consultation over the implementation of the latest phase of the BRT system, the ANC says it is fully behind local government and the City of Johannesburg and that the taxi industry has to wake up and get on board.
A court in Johannesburg has heard that Jub Jub and his fellow murder accused tested positive for both cocaine and morphine on the night they allegedly killed four Soweto schoolboys and seriously injured two others in a street drag race incident.
The 2010 edition of the annual Internet Access Report shows that the number of South Africans accessing the Internet via broadband connections has grown by more than 50 percent in the past year – a direct consequence of the growing need for round-the-clock connectivity.

16 March 2010

The SA National Roads Agency says the country’s major roads will they be ready for the forthcoming World Cup.
President Jacob Zuma, who visited Soweto’s Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital this morning, says he is hugely impressed with the hospital and proud of the changes, this is the latest in a series of public appearances and walk-abouts by the President.
A top Shakespeare expert says there has been much hype over a play believed to have been co-written by William Shakespeare, saying the piece, called Double Falsehood, was in fact an early 18th century play by Lewis Theobald, which he claims to have based it on a play that Shakespeare co-wrote with John Fletcher called Cardenio some 300 years ago.

15 March 2010

In Johannesburg, the anti-BRT taxi strike continues, with 10 taxi drivers arrested for public violence as they tried to stop BRT busses and thousands of commuters unable to get to work.
ANC Youth League President Julius Malema has been found guilty of hate speech and of harassment by the Johannesburg Equality Court, he has been sentenced to making an unconditional public apology within two weeks and to pay R50 000 to a centre for abused women within one month.
English football superstar, David Beckham, is out of the World Cup after he ruptured his Achilles tendon on the weekend, but one of Britain’s top football magazines says that although Beckham has great popularity, he is at the twilight of his career and his absence will not greatly damage England’s chances.

12 March 2010

There is news of yet another instance of a very senior ANC official making very big bucks out of public tenders, John Mchunu is the chairman of the ANC’s eThekwini, and two of his companies have been awarded tenders worth at least R40 million rand by the Municipality.
The Independent Democrats’ Secretary General says he believes the ANC thinks there are different laws for its cadres and ordinary citizens, this after allegations that former ANC provincial chairman, Mcebisi Skwatsha tried to shield party spokesperson, Jackson Mthembu, who was arrested yesterday in Cape Town for driving in the BMT lane on the N2 incoming.
Public Enterprises Minister Barbara Hogan says failure that if Eskom were not to get a World Bank loan for to help fund the new power stations, there would be dire implications for the country’s economy.

March 11, 2010

11 March 2010

A cloud of uncertainty remains firmly in place over the roughly 2,500 converted panel van taxis on our roads, with government giving the taxi industry six months to ensure that the taxis – mainly converted Toyota Quantum panel vans – meet safety standards or they’ll be taken off the roads.
Traffic authorities are still in the process of clearing up after the major accident on the N1 near Pretoria’s Atterbury turnoff yesterday afternoon, and will re-tar the stretch of road today.
Indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinians are off according to the head of the Arab League, this in the wake of the Israeli decision to press ahead with the building of 1,600 settler homes in an area of the occupied West Bank that Israel has annexed to Jerusalem.

March 10, 2010

10 March 2010

Eskom in the spotlight over a large number of very favourable tariff deals for big business with reports of secret deals with 138 companies some of whom are paying tariffs as low as 9c/kwh.
A hip hop singer and another driver, charged with the deaths of four Soweto schoolboys have been denied bail and returned to jail, the charges against them have been changed from culpable homicide to murder and attempted murder.
The Department of Health says it is 85% ready for the World Cup and that there are just a few problems still to iron out.

09 March 2010

Four children killed in a drag-racing accident in Soweto, three cyclists killed in an incident outside Oudtshoorn yesterday morning and three construction workers killed and several others injured near Pietermaritzburg this morning, the focus swings very firmly to road safety.
Police have confirmed that protestors did not use live ammunition against police during service delivery protests in Mamelodi, the situation is reported calm now.
In the Middle East, indirect talks have resumed between Israel and the Palestinians for the first time in more than a year – but at the same time, Israel has also raised Palestinian anger by allowing more settlements to be built in occupied territory.

08 March 2010

Political parties put pressure on President Zuma to disclose his financial interests, with the Democratic Alliance saying it will write to the Public Protector to request that her office investigates Zuma’s apparent breach of section 5 of the Executive Ethics Code, insofar as he has failed to disclose his financial interests, assets and liabilities within 60 days of taking office.
An independent expert says the recent NERSA hearings into the Eskom tariff hike were deeply flawed and he believes there’s a move afoot to actually challenge this in court.
Police Minister, Nathi Mthethwa, speaking at a conference on crime staged by Agri SA called for race to be taken out of the debate, saying political parties have habit of taking the statistics and using them to score political points and that crime shouldn’t be politicised.