Drivetime

Inflations stats out

Inflation decreased for the third month in a row in June, with the annual consumer price index (CPI) falling to 5.1% after a drop to 5.4% in May, Statistics SA announced today. On line is Dr Jason Musyoka, Post Doctoral fellow, University of Pretoria Guest : Dr Jason Musyoka Position:…

19 Jul 2017 10AM 12 min

10111 in wage dispute

The South African Police Union (SAPU) want 10111 operators to earn the same amount of salary as that of warrant officer by end of 2018. Wage talks have deadlocked and operators are set to go on strike today. On line is Oscar Skommere , General Secretary,SAPU 10111 Guest : Oscar…

19 Jul 2017 10AM 8 min

Palestinians oppose extreme security measures at Al Aqsa

Palestinians performed dawn prayers outside of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound today to show their opposition to new metal detectors installed by Israeli authorities at the mosque's entrances. The new security features are in response to a deadly shooting attack at the holy site on Friday. Meanwhile, Jewish Israelis were again…

19 Jul 2017 8AM 21 min

Human Rights demands inquiry into deaths of Syrians

Human Rights Watch has demanded an independent inquiry into the death of four Syrians who died while in Lebanese army custody and said anyone responsible for wrongdoing should be held to account. On line from Beirut is Bassam Khawa, Researcher, Human Rights Watch, Lebanon and Kuwait. Guest: Bassam Khawa Position:…

18 Jul 2017 11AM 11 min

SACP to go it alone

The resolution taken by the SA Communist Party (SACP), to contest for state power independently is a warning to the ANC that if it does anything stupid, it risks losing one of its alliance partners for good, according to political analyst Ralph Mathekga. He now joins us on line. Guest:…

18 Jul 2017 10AM 9 min

Yemen’s cholera crisis spirals out of control

Health and humanitarian officials say the cholera outbreak in Yemen has infected more than 300,000 people and caused more than 1,700 deaths in the last few months. Security concerns amid a severe shortage of safe drinking water are limiting what can be done to help fight the often-fatal bacterial disease…

13 Jul 2017 11AM 14 min

Maulana Igsaan Hendricks in Istanbul

For the next minutes, we are going to be chatting to Al Quds foundation president Ml Igsaan Hendricks who is in Istanbul for a Palestinian conference. It’s marked as the second one under the establishment of the international union of students and Youth movements. The conference was attended by close…

13 Jul 2017 10AM 7 min

Malusi Gigaba’s 14 point plan to revive economy

Finance minister Malusi Gigaba today released a 14-point economic plan to kickstart growth, amongst them, that the ministry will implement a "private sector participation framework" by March next year. Business and investors have raised concerns over the county's growth, rising government debt and policy uncertainty. The minister is detailing plans…

13 Jul 2017 10AM 7 min

Gaza plunged into darkness as power plant turned off

The Gaza Strip's only operating power plant was turned off late yesterday due to a severe shortage of fuel, leaving the coastal enclave in a complete blackout. The Gaza Strip, with more than two million people, has been suffering from an energy crisis since mid-April due to a dispute over…

12 Jul 2017 10PM 5 min

‘At Any Cost - The Civilian Catastrophe in West Mosul, Iraq’

You’ll recall that last week, we chatted to the Iraqi ambassador about the situation in Mosul and yesterday, Amnesty International released its latest report, stating that the tactics used by Iraqi forces and their U.S.-led coalition allies in the battle for Mosul violated international humanitarian law and might amount to…

12 Jul 2017 11AM 19 min

How power has shifted away from Zuma inside the ANC

Following the last of the media briefings yesterday on the outcomes of the ANC’s policy conference, there is still much to dissect in terms of analysis. Last week’s conference was ostensibly to decide policy issues, but it became apparent that policy subjects were a mechanism by means of which the…

12 Jul 2017 10AM 7 min

Lessons from the Bell Pottinger scandal

Now a name that has gotten South Africans hot under the collar this week is Bell Pottinger, the disgraced UK public relations firm who ran the Guptas PR campaign. As has been revealed recently, Bell Pottinger has been driving the narrative about “white monopoly capital” on social media, doing more…

12 Jul 2017 10AM 8 min

Qatar-Gulf crisis in focus

There appears to be no sign of resolution to the standoff between the Gulf countries and Qatar that began on June 5. The Saudi-led coalition accuses Qatar of regional meddling, citing this as the source of the diplomatic rift. Qatar, however, claims the blockade is an effort to undermine its…

10 Jul 2017 11AM 19 min

Probe into Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharief

The 4-6 pm current affairs Drivetime Show is hosted by veteran journalist Shafiq Morton, winner of two Vodacom Awards, and an AfriCAN author’s award. Analytical and thought-provoking, Morton brings his decades of experience as a photo-journalist, historian and broadcaster to the show, added with his unique brand of humour and…

10 Jul 2017 10AM 13 min

Concrete action must follow ANC rhetoric on Palestine

Now one of the bold recommendations at the ANC’s 5th national policy conference last week, was the call to downgrade the South African Embassy in Israel. At the national policy conference, the ruling party said it wanted to send a strong message about Israel’s continued illegal occupation of Palestine and…

10 Jul 2017 10AM 8 min

Zambia state of emergency

The 4-6 pm current affairs Drivetime Show is hosted by veteran journalist Shafiq Morton, winner of two Vodacom Awards, and an AfriCAN author’s award. Analytical and thought-provoking, Morton brings his decades of experience as a photo-journalist, historian and broadcaster to the show, added with his unique brand of humour and…

7 Jul 2017 10AM 11 min

Has the Constitution failed us?

As we know, the ANC has just come out of an important national policy conference, where issues of the economy and social equality were emotive topics. Land was one of the most contentious issues discussed at the policy conference. On the issue of land, Zuma said expropriation without compensation within…

7 Jul 2017 10AM 8 min

Iraq after ISIS

After three years of the Islamic State group occupying Iraq’s second largest city Mosul, and thirty percent of Iraqi territory in north and west Iraq, it seems ISIS will soon be dejected from Iraq. Through three years of fighting the group, Iraq gained vast and unique experience of combatting ISIS…

6 Jul 2017 11AM 18 min

ICC rules on Bashir's visit to SA

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has ruled that South Africa violated its agreement with the court by not arresting Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir for crimes against humanity. The court on Thursday delivered its judgment on South Africa's failure to arrest Al Bashir when he was in the country in…

6 Jul 2017 10AM 30 min

Tribute to Ghalib Jonker

Former Saudi Gazette and Independent media journalist Ghalib Jonker passed this week and was laid to rest on Tuesday morning. Ghalib, an Afrikaans revert, was indeed a colourful character. VOC Drive Time's Shafiq Morton spoke to those who knew him well in his career, Mugamad Jacobs, a senior layout sub…

6 Jul 2017 9AM 14 min