0:02

with Mandy Wiener on 702. Let's walk

0:05

the talk streaming on the Prime

0:07

Media Plus ad. DSTV channel 856.

0:09

92.7 and 106 at them. Coming

0:11

up on the show today, Sendzum

0:14

Kunu visits Soshang Guvay and announces

0:16

one arrest for the

0:18

murders of community patrolers.

0:20

President Romaposa says nurses

0:22

will be the backbone

0:24

of the NHS. Government

0:26

launches the border management

0:29

and immigration anti-corruption forum.

0:31

Paula Mabe appears in

0:33

court and essay rugby

0:35

announces the end of

0:37

the MTN sponsorship deal,

0:39

all of that over

0:41

the next hour. Good

0:44

afternoon, welcome to the Madere Report

0:46

on 702 and Cape Talk with

0:48

me, Mandy Wiener. Great to be

0:50

with you today. Sure, that empty

0:52

announcement from S.A. Rugby ending eight

0:54

years of a sponsorship deal, who

0:56

will appear on the book, Jersey

0:58

next? What is the most iconic

1:00

sponsor? on a box jersey that

1:03

you can recall, Castle Lager, Sassal,

1:05

who do you think should be

1:07

next? So who would you like

1:09

to see on the front of

1:11

that double World Cup winning team?

1:13

Send me a WhatsApp voice note,

1:15

07-2, 702-1, 702-0-2-0-7, 57, 1567.

1:17

I've just been watching President

1:19

Cyril Ramaposa taking questions from

1:21

the media being door-stop. He

1:23

was speaking at the Denosa

1:25

Nurses Union conference at Birchwood,

1:27

speaking about us. search for

1:30

a new US ambassador who's

1:32

going to be our next

1:34

ambassador. Mamani is probably, I

1:36

mean I have heard the

1:38

name Andre Snell being mentioned

1:40

quite a bit, the deputy

1:42

minister of justice, he was

1:44

born in America, married to an

1:46

American, understands America, a very loyal

1:48

Ramosa man. What do you think?

1:50

Who do you think it should

1:52

be if you want to let

1:55

us know about that? But let's

1:57

start with the police minister, Saint-Ontunu,

1:59

a long... with the Hauteng

2:01

provincial commissioner, also the Hauteng

2:03

Premier in Soshanguvei today, where

2:06

now six people, the death

2:08

toll has risen to six

2:10

people, died over the weekend

2:13

in that attack on community

2:15

patrolers, the police minister announcing

2:17

that one person has been

2:20

arrested, two others taken in

2:22

for questioning. Take a listen to what

2:24

he had to say a bit earlier on.

2:29

which was a firearm

2:31

in possession of

2:33

the suspect that

2:35

has already been

2:38

arrested. In other

2:40

words, he was

2:42

in possession of the

2:44

fire. That's why he

2:47

is being tested

2:49

and the forensic

2:51

lab. So that

2:53

we can determine

2:55

beyond a doubt.

2:58

whether or not it is

3:00

the verified army or one

3:03

of the firearms that was

3:05

used to the matter. We

3:07

will catch that as well.

3:10

Very soon. This Zimbabwe is

3:13

an undocumented Zimbabwe.

3:15

In other words, he is

3:18

an undocumented Zimbabwe. In

3:20

other words, he is

3:22

somebody who is illegally

3:25

here in Saddam. In

3:28

fact, we are still

3:30

going to go on

3:33

in terms of when

3:35

and how he goes

3:37

to Santa to manifest

3:40

this. We will

3:42

come to that

3:44

at some point.

3:46

But it is

3:48

confirmed beyond any

3:51

doubt, he is

3:53

an undocumented foreigner

3:55

who is here.

4:00

who are also informed

4:02

by police that the

4:04

firearm that we are

4:06

talking about, that he

4:09

was in possession of,

4:11

is an unlicensed fire.

4:15

Police Minister Senzo Tgunu was

4:17

speaking earlier, so an undocumented

4:19

foreigner and unlicensed firearm. Jubileein

4:22

Bata, E.W.N. reporter, is there

4:24

in Soshangove for us. Jabalila,

4:26

good afternoon to you. Tell

4:28

us what else the police

4:31

minister had to say today? Good

4:33

afternoon, Mandy. So as you had

4:35

correctly, the undocumented foreign national... that

4:37

has been arrested was found

4:39

with an unlicensed firearm. And this

4:42

is something that the police minister

4:44

has said, it's actually a problem

4:47

in the community of Soshangouvay. So

4:49

he says that from the information

4:51

that they got earlier on, from

4:54

Soshangouvay police officials, is that

4:56

this is actually, you know, something

4:58

that is quite right in the

5:01

area. And something that they've

5:03

been told is that these

5:05

unlicensed firearms or even... and

5:07

being transported across borders. So

5:09

this is definitely something that

5:11

they will be looking into.

5:13

He also mentioned that the

5:16

issue of undocumented foreign nationals

5:18

is a concern for the community

5:20

of social movie. So that is also

5:22

something that they will bring their attention

5:25

to. Jabelli, anything about motive? Does

5:27

he explain it all about what

5:29

they suspect may have happened and

5:31

why these killings took place? He

5:34

didn't get into those details

5:36

Mandy, but as we've been

5:38

told by the community members,

5:40

is that they suspect that

5:42

this is a retaliation attack

5:45

because these criminals have been

5:47

terrorizing the community and the

5:49

patrolers have been trying to

5:51

get a handle on this

5:53

issue. But one of the

5:55

things that the minister mentioned

5:57

is that now, you know,

5:59

they definitely will be assisting the

6:02

communities more. They are present as

6:04

the police will be found in

6:06

those communities. They also will

6:08

even have more police vehicles

6:11

from the Sashangouvay police station

6:13

to make sure that you know

6:15

they get a handle on these

6:17

crimes that occur in these informal

6:19

settlements in Sashangouvay. Did you get

6:22

the sense that there was

6:24

an acknowledgement from the police

6:26

minister that there was a

6:28

failing by the police here?

6:30

There are only community patrolers

6:32

in the area because of

6:34

the inefficiency and the inadequate

6:37

policing in areas like Marymi? Yes,

6:39

and maybe he did mention, or

6:41

rather acknowledge, the concerns that

6:43

have been raised by the community

6:46

and he even said that... you

6:48

know, the premier had been briefed

6:50

on the very specific issues, you

6:52

know, with obviously police visibility, being

6:54

one of them, but other contributing

6:57

factors to the crimes and the

6:59

concerns that the community has. So

7:01

they will be holding a gathering

7:03

with the community to further discuss

7:05

solutions for these problems. So

7:08

he definitely acknowledged that, you

7:10

know, there's concerns from the

7:12

community and the community once

7:14

the police presence to police presence

7:16

to be solved. Jabali Lein

7:19

Bata, E.W. and reporter in Soshanguve for

7:21

us, thank you very much for your

7:23

time on the what-step line. Senzunu must

7:25

also accept that his government has failed

7:28

the people of South Africa, undocumented immigrants

7:30

in South Africa are a big problem.

7:32

Thank you very much for that one.

7:34

Mandy, as crime is such a huge

7:37

problem, it is now abundantly clear that

7:39

neither the government nor the police can

7:41

get crime under control. It's time for

7:43

personal protection. Ah, yeah. I think this

7:46

was very similar to what we heard

7:48

yesterday, scrap the VIP protection in other

7:50

words and that's what everyone's saying here.

7:53

So it does seem as a symptom,

7:55

Kuno is acknowledging the failings of the

7:57

police here and this is the point.

7:59

right is that there would not

8:02

be a community patrolers. The community

8:04

in Mary Me would not have

8:06

to rely on community patrolers if

8:08

the police were actually doing their

8:10

job properly. And I think it's

8:12

important that he acknowledges that as

8:14

Jabalila says he is going to

8:17

meet with the community, the Kharting

8:19

Premier is also there meeting with

8:21

the community as well to get

8:23

a handle on the understanding of

8:25

the problem. And I understand of

8:27

course a lot of outrage. concern

8:30

about the fact that the

8:32

one person arrested is an

8:34

undocumented illegal foreigner. So I'm

8:37

sure that's going to really

8:39

garner a lot of reaction.

8:42

7.02. The midday report Monday

8:44

to Friday. 12 to 1

8:46

p.m. In Parliament, the Portfolio

8:48

Committee on Co-operative Governance, getting

8:50

an update on the registration of

8:52

spaza shops, the Minister also

8:54

expected to brief the Committee

8:56

on that declaration of a national

8:59

state of disaster following severe

9:01

weather events in KZN. So

9:03

a lot to be discussed by

9:05

the Portfolio Committee of Cogta,

9:07

Lindsay Dentlinger, EWR and reporter is

9:09

following that for us. Lindsay, good

9:12

afternoon to you. Thank you

9:14

very much for your time. Tell

9:16

us about what the portfolio committee

9:18

heard today. See, Mandy, what is so

9:20

ongoing, we are not here at

9:22

the point where I can tell

9:25

you much about disasters, because a

9:27

lot of what has transpired so

9:29

far this morning is the issue

9:31

of spousa shops, the registration of

9:33

spousa shops. But as you can

9:35

imagine, very natural gerbili, is saying

9:37

it's a matter of foreign nationals

9:39

owning these shops that have been

9:41

a used mode of contention for

9:43

parliamentarians. And they really cost me

9:45

doubts on the information that has

9:47

been provided to them in terms

9:50

of the number of applications only

9:52

around less than 3,000 around 2,900

9:54

some odd applications that have been

9:57

received since July last year to

9:59

legally. operate eight further shops have

10:01

been granted to foreign nationals.

10:04

The parliamentarians don't believe that

10:06

that is an accurate figure.

10:08

The Corporation's Governance Department

10:10

pointing out that only around

10:12

a quarter mandate of more

10:14

than 80,000 applications that have

10:16

been submitted have been approved.

10:18

And the department wants to

10:20

indicate that that number would

10:22

then show that they are

10:24

really administraties that we are

10:26

being restricted. about who they

10:29

are granting these licenses to.

10:31

But parliamentarians saying they feel

10:33

that the children who died

10:35

as a result of even

10:37

contaminated food from these shops

10:39

are really being failed. They aren't

10:41

enough answers in their view in terms

10:43

of how this is allowed to happen

10:45

and whether the clampdown is strict

10:48

enough. And so the department

10:50

is promising to come back

10:52

to Parliament to drill down

10:54

a little further into the

10:56

figures. especially with those regarding

10:58

business permits given to foreign

11:00

nationals. The department saying it

11:02

is well known that South

11:04

African business owners, owners of

11:06

property, owners of shops who

11:09

have legal permits are renting

11:11

out, if you will, these

11:13

permits to foreign nationals. to

11:15

be able to operate their

11:17

businesses. But 90, let's take

11:19

a listen to two of

11:21

the MPs, the first one

11:23

on the fellow from the

11:25

ANC, from the ANC, Angela,

11:27

from the NK party, questioning

11:30

the department about these permits.

11:32

The authorities are not paying tax.

11:34

Most of them, they are shipping

11:36

their money. They've got the connection

11:38

through the habits. they don't put

11:40

their money from the bank. So

11:43

what I want to know with

11:45

other departments of a service, what

11:47

is their process, what are their

11:49

procedures that you have taken in

11:51

terms of making sure that that

11:54

money does not go out of

11:56

certificate because they're not paying our

11:58

taxes and our people. they are

12:00

forced to pay tax because they are

12:02

South Africans. Your Middle Eastern,

12:05

your Bangladesh, your Indian descent, they

12:07

get money from their countries of

12:09

origin to establish in South Africa

12:12

and the South African retail sector

12:14

allows them to buy because they

12:17

buy and buy which is good

12:19

business for them. But also they

12:21

go for this sale by day

12:24

type of food and they sell

12:26

it to our people. So it

12:28

is a controlled industry network of

12:31

foreign national colluding with our national

12:33

retail owners and wholesalers because it's

12:35

about business and our people are

12:38

on the receiving end of all

12:40

of this. Thank you. That was

12:42

the conversation in the Portfolio

12:44

Committee on Cooperative Governance today

12:47

around the issue of spaza

12:49

shops and licenses. Our thanks

12:51

to Lindsay Deninger for that

12:54

report. The old man do

12:56

we know taking your calls on

12:58

Oh, double one double eight three

13:01

oh seven oh two This

13:03

morning, the Minister of Home

13:05

Affairs, Dr Leon Schreiber, the

13:07

Special Investigator Unit Head, Advocate

13:09

Andy Motibi, and the Acting

13:11

Commissioner of the Border Management

13:14

Authority, launching the Border Management

13:16

and Immigration Anti-Corruption Forum in

13:18

Pretoria. What does this all

13:20

mean? Hamato Medici, E. E.W.N.

13:22

reporter. Good afternoon to you.

13:24

What exactly is the Border

13:26

Management and Immigration Anti-Corruption Forum,

13:28

and what is it set

13:31

up to do? Mandy,

13:33

we have advocate ending with TV

13:35

here to explain it for us.

13:37

He's the chairperson of this forum.

13:40

Advocate on the TV just about

13:42

what exactly the forum is said

13:44

to do in collaboration with home

13:46

affairs. Okay, thank you for our

13:49

opportunity. The management and

13:51

immigration anti-corruption forum is

13:53

a platform that brings together

13:55

with civil society, business,

13:57

labor, traditional leaders. women

14:00

and all other stakeholders within

14:03

regulators and the purpose is

14:05

really to ensure that we all all

14:07

implement the vision of the national

14:09

anti-corruption strategy which is

14:11

to include everyone in the

14:14

fight against corruption. Now we've created

14:16

this platform they also

14:18

monitor the investigations either that

14:21

they would have reported or

14:23

the investigations that are underway

14:25

and the results if we take

14:27

long to investigate they call

14:29

us to order. but

14:32

another thing is that

14:34

the also concept

14:37

to be put in

14:40

today to

14:42

present action,

14:45

that all the

14:47

time, Unfortunately, we're just

14:49

struggling with that line there. As

14:51

you can hear, it is breaking

14:53

up a little bit. Andy Motibi,

14:55

the S.I.U. Head, speaking to Hamoto

14:57

Modice, there. I'm sure she's still

14:59

interviewing him. So what we'll do

15:01

is we'll take a break, we'll

15:03

get them back again. I think

15:05

it's very important to understand this.

15:07

There's a lot of criticism for

15:09

our porous borders and what is

15:11

happening. So this kind of collaboration,

15:13

we're seeing from home affairs with

15:15

the border affairs with the border

15:17

management authority. corruption and to make

15:19

our borders less porous. Latest

15:22

news, breaking stories, expert analysis.

15:24

All you need to know

15:26

in 60 minutes. This is

15:28

the midday report. Good afternoon

15:30

Mandy, the listener, South Africa,

15:32

hope you're keeping well on

15:34

this fine Tuesday. Just a

15:36

quick one, I heard you

15:38

guys mentioning the going ahead

15:40

with the NHI or the

15:42

medical thing that they wanting

15:44

to now push through. Wasn't

15:46

it just last week though

15:48

when they announced in Europe

15:51

that they are going to

15:53

be doing away with their

15:55

NHI that's in Europe and

15:57

England? Isn't that, you know,

15:59

some... Mandy, that's quite alarming that

16:01

we should be looking at as something

16:04

that did not work. It would

16:06

be under correction, but sure that was

16:08

what was discussed or brought into

16:10

the news last week or the

16:12

week before. Mandy, Mandy, Tarnier,

16:14

Renberg. You are a great optimist, Mandy, but

16:17

I think it's time now to

16:19

actually call it for what it

16:21

is. Even now, the president speaking

16:23

about the nurses being the backbone,

16:25

blah, blah blah blah blah blah

16:27

blah blah. seen what happened to

16:29

our defense force. We heard that

16:31

in an interview this morning, blah

16:34

blah blah blah. No water, no

16:36

lights. I think you got a

16:38

start concluding that we

16:40

are heading to the state of a

16:42

failed state. No, Tyre, we're not doing

16:44

this again. This got me into a

16:46

lot of trouble last time. So, but

16:49

I thank you. I appreciate your views.

16:51

You know, I'm the eternal optimist, although

16:53

we do see the very worst and

16:56

the very best of it all. But

16:58

I hear your point. And government does

17:00

seem to be persisting with the NHI,

17:03

the president speaking at Denosa's conference today,

17:05

saying nurses will be the backbone of

17:07

the NHI. To be so, good afternoon

17:10

to you. It certainly does seem as

17:12

though the government is committed to the

17:14

NHI. the President has to say? Good

17:16

afternoon Mandy. It certainly does think that

17:19

the government is committing the NIHI and

17:21

I think it's quite a big statement

17:23

for President Serram oppose, has actually come

17:26

out here and speak to Denosa. It's

17:28

not even though it is pretty much

17:30

a big organization and is affiliated

17:32

to Kosatu. You'd think that it's something

17:35

that maybe the president might delegate to

17:37

someone else. So it does send quite

17:39

a big statement for President Trump, to

17:41

actually come out here physically and speak

17:43

to Denosa. And one of the things

17:45

that President Trump was attached on is

17:48

saying that, you know, nurses are at

17:50

the forefront of our health care system.

17:52

You know, he actually mentioned that, you

17:54

know, during the times of COVID, a

17:56

lot of nurses and even doctors, a

17:59

lot of health care workers actually

18:01

died and because they were risking

18:03

their lives to take care of

18:05

South Africa and there is something

18:07

that the South African government does

18:10

appreciate and actually sees. Now in

18:12

terms of this conference, we do

18:14

know that this conference is going

18:16

to be discussing quite a number

18:19

of issues affecting nurses and one

18:21

of the main issues is especially

18:23

around security. We do know that

18:25

there was a horrible horrible case

18:27

recently where nurses were raped. in

18:30

limbo and here in Hautean. And

18:32

it's becoming quite a bit of

18:34

an issue. It's something that Ramaposa

18:36

did actually mention around the security

18:39

and ensuring that nurses, especially in

18:41

those rural and township areas, are

18:43

actually free to do their work

18:45

and we do not make hospitals

18:48

and clinics. I'm actually areas where

18:50

nurses can be targeted. The president

18:52

also spoke about him and he

18:54

called it a specter, the high

18:57

rate of nurses that are being...

18:59

South Africa nurses that are being

19:01

recruited by foreign governments saying that

19:03

you know South Africa kindly faces

19:06

a nursing shortage and that nursing

19:08

shortage obviously is not going to

19:10

be plaid if a lot of

19:12

our South African trained nurses are

19:15

going overbroad. You also spoke about

19:17

the low rate of nurses that

19:19

are entering the system and attributing

19:21

this to obviously we do know

19:23

that a number of nursing colleges

19:26

have been cut since 1994. He

19:28

did attribute that saying that those

19:30

nursing colleges may have to be

19:32

reopened or there has to be

19:35

new barriers or those barriers that

19:37

are limiting nurses from entering the

19:39

system may have to be looked

19:41

at. Now obviously the national health

19:44

insurance was quite a topic and

19:46

President Sir Marposa did speak about

19:48

the importance of nurses when it

19:50

comes to the implementation of the

19:53

NIHI and this is what you

19:55

have to say. Our nurses will

19:57

be the backbone of the national

19:59

insurance, health insurance. are going to

20:02

be the real bad call. When

20:04

people look at how we're implementing

20:06

the NIHI, the first point of

20:08

call will be the capability, the

20:10

ability of our nurses to be

20:13

able to improve the delivery of

20:15

health care in our country. So

20:17

you are going to be at

20:19

the center of it all. And

20:22

it is you who people are

20:24

going to look at. To be

20:26

so very quickly on his way

20:28

out, the president was door stopped.

20:31

He was asked about US relations.

20:33

What did he have to say

20:35

about that? The South Africa is

20:37

looking for a new ambassador to

20:40

the United States of America. The

20:42

question was actually, you know, will

20:44

he be consulting the genuine partners?

20:46

And the president plainly say demanded

20:49

that the... appointment of ambassadors is

20:51

his sole and only responsibility. So

20:53

he won't be consulting anyone on

20:55

the new appointment to the South

20:57

Africa ambassador to the United States

21:00

of America. To be so, thank

21:02

you very much. To be so

21:04

go about EWR and reporter speaking

21:06

to us there, the G&U partners

21:09

are not going to be happy

21:11

with that. That was a big

21:13

fight during the negotiations, where they

21:15

were saying it's the president's prerogative.

21:18

According to the Constitution and G&U

21:20

partners saying, that's not how it

21:22

works anymore, so how is this

21:24

going to be managed? 7.02. The

21:27

midday report Monday to Friday. 12

21:29

to 1 p.m. Good day Mindy.

21:31

It is now becoming abandoned it's

21:33

clear that in most of these

21:36

heinous crimes that are committed in

21:38

South Africa there's never a shortage

21:40

of illegal immigrants. I mean you

21:42

can name The shocking incident that

21:45

happened at Zanzu Club. It involved

21:47

illegal and documented immigrants. Same thing

21:49

now with what happened at Mirumi.

21:51

Unfortunately, we have still have politicians

21:53

like the EFF, who label we

21:56

have xenophobic person. complain about these

21:58

kinds of crimes. And this is

22:00

exactly why they are going down.

22:02

This is exactly why there is

22:05

now the rise of parties like

22:07

ActionSA. So anybody who doesn't address

22:09

this thing is bound to lose

22:11

elections because South Africans have had

22:14

enough, we need to secure borders

22:16

in our country. We can no

22:18

longer bear being traumatized by people.

22:20

We have no reason, no cause

22:23

being here in the first place.

22:25

Premier Les Sophie promised to deploy

22:27

facial recognition technology as a crime-fighting

22:29

tool. How far are we with

22:32

that as a province? Because our

22:34

police are clearly stretched and were

22:36

overwhelmed with crime. This can help

22:38

us identify criminals and solve kidnapping

22:40

cases in other violent crimes. Thank

22:43

you. Thank you very much. I

22:45

think that there were a lot

22:47

of promises made in the run-up

22:49

to the election. How many of

22:52

those have come to fruition? I

22:54

think that's an important question, though,

22:56

for us to take up. And

22:58

I think that this issue of

23:01

what has happened in Soshanguvay and

23:03

what Saint-Gunu says about the fact

23:05

that an undocumented foreigner has been

23:07

arrested has to be viewed in

23:10

context of at the same time

23:12

today in Pretoria, the launch of

23:14

the border management and immigration anti-corruption

23:16

forum. Because this is exactly what...

23:19

the problem is, is our poorest

23:21

borders. And if we can get

23:23

a handle on that and tighten

23:25

up our border control so that

23:27

it's so much more difficult to

23:30

get into the country, then perhaps

23:32

that would remedy a lot of

23:34

our problems as well. Lots of

23:36

messages coming through about this. Some

23:39

messages also on the question asked

23:41

about the Springbok Jersey, now that

23:43

MTN has ended its eight-year sponsorship

23:45

of the Springboks. Who will be

23:48

on the Buck Jersey? There's a

23:50

suggestion here for Steinoff. to be

23:52

on the Buck Jersey. Hey don't

23:54

you remember Steinhoff was the Jersey

23:57

sponsor for the Sevens? I know

23:59

a lot of people had rugby

24:01

Sevens and Blitzbach jerseys when the

24:03

The entire Steinhoff scandal occurred. What

24:06

did you do with those jerseys?

24:08

702. The Mid-Day Report with Mandy

24:10

Wiener. Let's walk the talk. Jobs

24:12

numbers, out of from StatSA, a

24:15

modest growth for the last quarter

24:17

of last year. There has been

24:19

a year-long decline. We know that

24:21

unemployment in South Africa, a mess

24:23

of problems. So what is the

24:26

latest, according to the stats? Solih

24:28

Mullay, the acting DDG for population

24:30

at StatSA. Solih, good afternoon to

24:32

you. Thank you very much for

24:35

your time today. Take us through

24:37

an overview of those numbers. Good

24:39

afternoon and then good afternoon to

24:41

the listeners. Indeed today we have

24:44

released a report that looks at

24:46

the quarterly employment statistics. So this

24:48

report is on the basis of

24:50

how many looking at the employees

24:53

from the employer perspective unlike our

24:55

neighbor for survey where we go

24:57

to the household. This one goes

24:59

directly to the employers and then

25:02

we want to ask them how

25:04

many have they employed in that

25:06

particular court. And as you already

25:08

alluded to the numbers, we are

25:10

seeing a quarter to quarter, which

25:13

is quarter four of 20, 24,

25:15

we're seeing that we had a

25:17

0.1% increase. And this, it translated

25:19

into 12,000 jobs. But then when

25:22

you look at annually, we see

25:24

that actually we had a loss

25:26

of 91,000 jobs. So. Overall, if

25:28

you look at it year to

25:31

year ahead, the numbers are not

25:33

growing in the manner that probably

25:35

most of us will want them

25:37

to grow. If you look at

25:40

before COVID, I mean, we're sitting

25:42

around 10.3 million jobs in these

25:44

sectors and now we're sitting around

25:46

10.3 million before COVID, now we're

25:49

sitting about 10.6 million. So it's

25:51

an increase, but it's not that

25:53

marginally significant. A full-time employment in

25:55

the country has increased, but there

25:57

are still many sectors that have

26:00

declined. Definitely, yes. So if you

26:02

look at from the, so the

26:04

other thing that I need to

26:06

put context into these numbers is

26:09

that we are looking at a

26:11

vet registered business. So meaning that

26:13

we don't look at the agriculture

26:15

and then we're also not looking

26:18

at the private household. So when

26:20

you're looking only at this vet

26:22

registered businesses, we are seeing that

26:24

quarter to quarter, four out of

26:27

eight of these industries, they've shown

26:29

a positive. Trade is one of

26:31

them, business services, transport, and electricity.

26:33

And trade mainly is driven by

26:36

retail trade. You remember that this

26:38

is the fourth quarter. So this

26:40

is when December, where we are,

26:42

most of us are enjoying going

26:45

to restaurant and also doing some

26:47

shopping. So that's when we're seeing

26:49

a retail trade is going a

26:51

little bit more in terms of

26:53

hiring, especially your third time. I'm

26:56

very interested in the data around

26:59

bonus payments. You found that bonuses

27:01

have surged, but overtime pay is

27:03

declined. Definitely, yes. So over time,

27:06

just like looking at the numbers

27:08

of those who are employed, we're

27:10

seeing that over time the gross

27:13

ending actually as the totally is

27:15

not performed very well. And then

27:17

the bonuses we've seen a positive

27:20

increase here and this is mainly

27:22

driven by... the bonuses that we're

27:24

getting normally during December. And again,

27:27

this is in line with some

27:29

of the indicators that we're seeing

27:31

from the other data sets. So

27:34

in most cases in quarter four,

27:36

the bonuses you will see an

27:38

increase, but then unfortunate part is

27:41

that when you stretch it over

27:43

years and you're seeing that over

27:45

years, there's been much in terms

27:48

of the bonuses and also, including

27:50

also the gross ending. And

27:53

lastly, average monthly earnings. Tell us

27:55

about that. So the average monthly

27:57

earnings. we are just taking the

27:59

three months and then we're taking

28:02

the average of the particular and

28:04

mandatory ends and then in this

28:06

case it would be at November

28:08

which is the middle month between

28:10

October and December and our average

28:13

monthly ends including the bonuses and

28:15

overtime payment they've decreased by 0.2%

28:17

and again when you compare to

28:19

the October 2024 and compared to

28:21

November 2024 we're seeing that in

28:24

a 12th date that is a

28:26

decrease from 20 and 20. a

28:28

thousand to around to two again

28:30

to two. The difference is so

28:32

minimum and maybe that is just

28:35

open to percent. So it's a

28:37

couple of friends that are in

28:39

difference between the two point. Sorry,

28:42

thank you so much for unpacking

28:44

all of that for us. Sorry,

28:46

Molai is the acting DDG for

28:48

population at StatSA, taking a look

28:51

there at the latest data that

28:53

has been released, which tells us

28:55

that there was a modest job

28:57

growth. But it also tells us

28:59

that there was a year-long decline

29:02

in job creation, and we know

29:04

that government has... promised to nurture

29:06

growth to create jobs that really

29:08

needs to happen if they're going

29:10

to see the economy grow and

29:13

if they're going to deal with

29:15

all the other socio-economic problems in

29:17

the country. Latest news, breaking stories,

29:19

expert analysis. All you need to

29:21

know in 60 minutes. This is

29:24

the midday report with Mandy Wiener

29:26

on 702. Well let's go to

29:28

the courts now a few different

29:30

cases we are looking at for

29:32

you. Firstly Pule Mabe was in

29:35

court today to deal with his

29:37

fraud and corruption case. The former

29:39

ANC spokesperson appearing in the Palm

29:41

Ridge Magistrates Court today that matter

29:43

has now been postponed. This is

29:45

all to do with a 27

29:48

million Rand tender allegedly awarded improperly

29:50

to him. Alpha Ramashwana was in

29:52

court for us. He's in our

29:54

Joeburg studio and now. So tell

29:56

us about today's court appearance. Good

30:00

afternoon Mandy. Well, William Abbe, his

30:02

wife, his cousin and five other

30:05

people appeared today, a very brief

30:07

appearance at the Palm Ridge Magistrates

30:09

Court. Of course, like you said,

30:11

it's in connection with the 27

30:13

million rentender that was allegedly awarded

30:15

improperly to his company in Vyromobi

30:17

in 2017. Now, the state is

30:19

arguing Mandy that when Mabe... was

30:21

awarded the contract, he was still

30:23

a member of parliament. And I

30:25

will take you to the Court

30:27

of Conduct for members of parliament.

30:29

It clearly stipulates that if you

30:31

are an MP, you are not

30:33

allowed to conduct business with the

30:35

state in any way. So the

30:37

state is saying, for the fact

30:39

that Mabe was still in parliament,

30:41

when his company received that contract,

30:43

it makes it irregular and it

30:45

was awarded improperly, the state is

30:47

also saying that Mabe, like, well,

30:50

the company. failed to disclose its

30:52

links to Maui when it bidded

30:54

for the contract in 2017. So

30:56

today, they made their second appearance,

30:58

but because there was a change

31:00

in lawyers for Maui and his

31:02

wife, they had to postpone it

31:04

to the 17th of June. I

31:06

think it's quite interesting, looking at

31:08

the person who they've appointed to

31:10

represent them, they've now enlisted the

31:12

services of Zola Machia, who you'd

31:14

know him, is represented, you know,

31:16

other ANC. and politicians who've been

31:18

accused for fraud and corruption. I

31:20

mean, just a few months ago,

31:22

he was representing Zizikota, who is

31:24

my best predecessor in the ANC,

31:26

Zolamacha, who managed to convince the

31:28

DPP through. written arguments to drop

31:30

and withdraw the charges against his

31:32

accord. But now, Mabi has decided

31:34

to go for the same advocate,

31:37

hoping that he too will have

31:39

his case either withdrawn or even

31:41

maybe proven innocent or proven not

31:43

guilty. So I think it's going

31:45

to be interesting to see how

31:47

this case unfolds with Zolamacha for

31:49

defending Pulemari going forward. Let's take

31:51

a listen to what the NPA

31:53

had to say about the fact

31:55

that a familiar face has been

31:57

roped into defend Pulemari. Every

32:00

case is treated according to its

32:02

merits. So what happened previously, it

32:04

was another case, now we seized

32:06

with this case with its own

32:08

evidential material and should, he has

32:11

not indicated that he will be

32:13

making representations to the NPA, but

32:15

should we reach that stage? Obviously

32:17

it will go through the regional

32:19

head first before it reaches the

32:21

DPP stage. So both our senior

32:24

management are in position to make

32:26

they are decision once they've received

32:28

such applications. Very interesting that Pulemabe

32:30

has brought Zolomajavo in I think

32:32

very strategic if he is intending

32:34

to make representations and it would

32:37

be very embarrassing and I'm not

32:39

just embarrassing it would be a

32:41

blight again on the NPA's record

32:43

if it does not get a

32:45

conviction here. Alpha what does the

32:47

Pulemabe have to say about the

32:50

situation the fact that this has

32:52

now been postponed for several months?

32:54

Well, Bulimabe did not speak to

32:56

the media today unlike, you know,

32:58

his first appearance where he had

33:00

a whole media briefing on the

33:02

doorstep of the Palm Ridge Magistrates

33:05

Court. So today, after the brief

33:07

appearance, he just, yeah, he left.

33:09

The media wasn't able to speak

33:11

to him, but the postponement is

33:13

because of his decision to change

33:15

lawyers. He would know that when

33:18

an accused goes through the process

33:20

of changing lawyers, the new attorney

33:22

or the new legal team needs

33:24

to be given some time to

33:26

familiarize themselves with the case, the

33:28

contents of the case, the dockets,

33:31

and so between now and June,

33:33

Zolamacha, with a new lawyer for

33:35

Boulamabe, would be going through the

33:37

dockets, going through the case, the

33:39

affidavits that were presented in court

33:41

in the first appearance, to familiarize

33:43

himself with the case and also

33:46

make a decision on how to...

33:48

strategically move forward as the defense

33:50

attorney of Boulamabe and his wife.

33:52

Alpha, thank you very much for

33:54

that. Alpha Rama Schwana, E.W. reporter

33:56

who was in court for us

33:59

today. That's the one matter we're

34:01

looking at. The other one is

34:03

a really interesting case that's in

34:05

the Victoria High Court today and

34:07

it has got serious shades of

34:09

rosemary and global. It's an insurance

34:12

killing case, that's what we call

34:14

them now in South Africa, insurance

34:16

killing cases, that led to the

34:18

arrest of an investigating officer and

34:20

the murder of another officer believed

34:22

to be a station commander. This

34:25

story is incredible. So the state

34:27

is alleging that a 42-year-old woman

34:29

from Brits, and I'm reading here

34:31

from Linda Nese, from Newsroom Africa,

34:33

his tweet, that says a 42-year-old

34:35

Brits woman took out insurance to

34:37

cover the life of a family

34:40

member, a 20-year-old male. She together

34:42

with an accomplice secured the services

34:44

of an accused, a 24-year-old Malawian

34:46

citizen, and another person to kill

34:48

the 20-year-old. She lured the deceased

34:50

to her property of her accomplice

34:53

in order to have him killed,

34:55

and accused number two and this

34:57

other person that entered the house,

34:59

broke the light, viciously stabbed the

35:01

deceased with sharp objects and killed

35:03

him. That's a classic South African

35:06

court case of an insurance killing

35:08

in which an investigating officer has

35:10

been arrested, the murder of another

35:12

officer believed to be a station

35:14

commander. You cannot make the stuff

35:16

up. Keep updated. All you need

35:18

to know in 60 minutes. This

35:21

is the midday report with Mandy

35:23

Wiener on 702. If you were

35:25

listening a bit earlier on in

35:27

the show, we spoke to homotso

35:29

modice who was interviewing the head

35:31

of the S-I-U advocate Andy Motibi

35:34

about the launch of the border

35:36

management and immigration anti-corruption forum in

35:38

Pretoria today. And fortunately we lost

35:40

that line. But we do have

35:42

a homotor back with us now

35:44

to tell us about this. Homoto,

35:47

good afternoon to you. Good to

35:49

have you back. Apologies. And thank

35:51

you for getting advocate Andy Motivi.

35:53

I hope you didn't carry on

35:55

that interview by yourself for too

35:57

long. But tell us about the

35:59

launch of... this forum and what

36:02

the intention is as Motibi was

36:04

explaining. Well Mandy this

36:06

forum is meant to bring together all

36:08

the stakeholders and all the organizations that

36:11

are part of law enforcement we saw

36:13

and the NPA head advocate shaman at

36:15

the toy also speaking and giving her

36:18

support for this farm and the idea

36:20

really here is that all law enforcement

36:22

bodies will be able to contribute in

36:25

law enforcement at our borders I mean

36:27

we heard some really interesting numbers today

36:29

in fact advocate material earlier, I don't

36:32

know if you caught that, but when

36:34

he was speaking a little earlier, he

36:36

spoke about how they have identified certain

36:39

visas now, that seem to be rather

36:41

popular, but are being used by people

36:43

who are trying to enter into the

36:46

country illegally. And among those is the

36:48

steady visa. We heard from advocate material

36:50

that 110 referrals for steady visas to

36:52

be revoked have been made. So the

36:55

SSU has referred these. to the NPA

36:57

for prosecution and for these visas to

36:59

be revoked. These are all visas that

37:02

have been given illegally. And so the

37:04

representations that were made by these people

37:06

applying were illegal documents that were used.

37:09

So really, that's the work of the

37:11

forum. I think another interesting number that

37:13

we heard today is how there are

37:16

60. eight or 68% of arrested people

37:18

over a six month period last year

37:20

were for foreign nationals and this came

37:23

from the border management authority. They had

37:25

said they flagged 68% of those arrests

37:27

were foreign nationals for crimes a number

37:30

of crimes around the borders in the

37:32

country. So the work of the foreign

37:34

really is to bring those numbers together

37:37

and to pull together in a single

37:39

direction to combat crime at the country's

37:41

borders. And what are they saying about

37:44

this collaboration, how it will actually work

37:46

with these different arms of government working

37:48

together? Well I think really at the

37:51

centre of this work is the S.I.U.

37:53

because the S.I.U. is really doing a

37:55

lot of the actual investigations. investigating the

37:58

allegations of fraud around there, whether there

38:00

are people that are taking bribes in

38:02

the area. Really, the SIU here is

38:05

become the main organization that's going to

38:07

be leading a lot of what's going

38:09

there. And I think how it's going

38:12

to work is that many of the

38:14

organizations that work at the border. So

38:16

you may remember Mandy, that when the

38:18

border management authority was formed, a number

38:21

of the government departments were stationed at

38:23

our borders in order to assist. with

38:25

people coming in and out of the

38:28

country. So all those organizations which have

38:30

now formed the Border Management Authority are

38:32

going to be partnering with the SIU

38:35

to investigate the allegations of crime, the

38:37

allegations of syndicates and the allegations of

38:39

people trying to enter the country illegally.

38:42

I think the point that advocates in

38:44

the people are trying to make Mandy

38:46

is that they must now be a

38:49

single body that works together that pulls

38:51

in a single direction to combat crime

38:53

at the country's borders. Hamoto,

38:56

thank you very much for that.

38:58

Hamoto Modice, E.W.N. reporter joining us

39:00

again to speak about the Border

39:02

Management and Immigration Anti-Corruption Forum. 7.02.

39:04

The midday report Monday to Friday.

39:06

12 to 1 p.m. In Quazu

39:08

no tell the 2025-26 provincial budget

39:11

for the next financial year being

39:13

tabled. Remember of course KZN is

39:15

a provincial government of unity. Have

39:17

they had the same kind of

39:19

problems with the budget there? I

39:21

imagine not. Because of the fact

39:23

that France were Rogers is the

39:25

finance MEC and Franklin M. Ew.

39:27

Ew. Ew. Ew. Have there been

39:30

any issues around the budget in

39:32

case it in? As you say,

39:34

mainly noted, all for the first

39:36

time in fact since 2021, whilst

39:38

on the top provincial government departments

39:40

will be fully funded. And this

39:42

means there will be no department

39:44

will face budget cuts. You'd recall

39:47

that the Department of Education was

39:49

one of the departments mainly that

39:51

had really faced, and when it

39:53

comes to that, I remember at

39:55

some point the department was sought

39:57

with 7 billion rent, but this

39:59

time around in fact when it's

40:01

been a prioritized department that's according

40:04

to any C funds or Rogers

40:06

who then gave the Department of

40:08

Education 66 billion rent held to

40:10

receive 56 and then Social Development

40:12

Department called 3 billion. I must

40:14

mention this is the first time

40:16

ever that we see the Social

40:18

Development Department being just prioritized like

40:20

this. Usually it would be a

40:23

human settlement for the department. of

40:25

transport among others, but this time

40:27

around it being part of those

40:29

that are prioritised by the MEC.

40:31

So to be clear, of course,

40:33

just to remind people the government

40:35

in KZN is IFP Premier, ANC,

40:37

DA and then the NFP with

40:40

one seat, so everybody in support

40:42

of that budget from France where

40:44

Rogers today. Indeed, surprisingly the MK

40:46

party and the ESS were the

40:48

only... opposing, I mean, opposition parties

40:50

in this legislature, mainly also have

40:52

welcomed the decision to, you know,

40:54

give more funds to the departments

40:56

of education and health in the

40:59

province. But what the, what the

41:01

in-court versus the party says, is

41:03

that they will ensure, though, that

41:05

it's used efficiently or rightfully, so

41:07

you'd recall that previous, that this

41:09

Department of Education had faced issues

41:11

of money when it comes to

41:13

that feeding scheme, There are a

41:16

lot of limitations of grounding and

41:18

corruption. So they are saying this

41:20

time around, they want to see

41:22

really the department spending the money

41:24

wisely, but they are pointing to

41:26

the issue of scholar transport, especially

41:28

in schools and rural areas, as

41:30

you know that some people have

41:33

to travel long distances to school.

41:35

So they say they will be

41:37

keeping a close eye towards that,

41:39

but mainly the provincial government of

41:41

unity, which consists of IRPA and

41:43

CDA. NSP, they have actually said

41:45

that they do welcome this particular

41:47

budgetment. And in fact, what is

41:49

the thinking behind this this budget?

41:52

What is France? Roger Sin about

41:54

why he has to feed up

41:56

the money the way he has.

41:58

Well, like I mentioned, you said,

42:00

these first three departments are what

42:02

he says a frontline department. Look

42:04

at health. You look at the

42:06

Department of Education. You'd recall that

42:09

Kwamata has the most number of

42:11

schools in the whole country, but

42:13

also he says that given the,

42:15

you know, the performance by the

42:17

metric. So it seems that schools

42:19

have to get whatever resources they

42:21

need, but also to take care

42:23

of their public infrastructure. And he

42:26

says the budget deliver today has

42:28

been his plan that he has

42:30

for the past eight years. But

42:32

he said something that he's going

42:34

to do mainly, which is monitoring

42:36

the how this money is spent.

42:38

You recall, but four months after

42:40

he came into office last year,

42:42

he was very strict about money

42:45

used. He raised concerns about the

42:47

hiring of vehicles for any season.

42:49

and other government dignitaries in this

42:51

province, he then said that he's

42:53

putting an end to it, he

42:55

says he will be continuing monitoring

42:57

that, and said it needs to

42:59

be a little counter time where

43:02

the provincial government will actually buy

43:04

cars for the officials, but he

43:06

looked and mentioned a lot of

43:08

things mainly around saving finances for

43:10

the province, saying that they will

43:12

have to be very careful about

43:14

how money is spent, saying that

43:16

Part of him delivering this budget

43:19

mainly really to ensure that taxpayer's

43:21

money is used wisely, but gold

43:23

weights are supposed to go. In

43:25

Fantla, thank you very much, and

43:27

K&Mabaso, E.W.N. reporter in KZN for

43:29

us. The Mid-Day Report. Thank you

43:31

very much for joining us.