First Take SA

The South African Social Security Agency, SASSA is urging social grant beneficiaries to ignore escalating social media panic regarding routine compliance assessments. SASSA Head of Communications, Dr. Paseka Letsatsi, confirms that being selected for a mandatory status review does not equate to an automatic suspension or rejection of funds. The agency says these ongoing audits are standard verification tools designed to confirm changing financial eligibility and filter out systemic fraud. For more Dr. Paseka Letsatsi elaborates

The Gauteng Legislature's transport committee is demanding immediate behavioural changes from motorists as South Africa officially begins Transport Month. Committee Chairperson Greg Schneemann flags reckless behaviour, drunk driving, speeding and surging road rage as major factors compromising safety ahead of the high-pressure festive season. The legislative body says while fixing road infrastructure remains a key priority, aggressive law enforcement is vital to curbing rising fatalities. We spoke to Honourable Schneemann to elaborate further on his sentiments

The state's first witness in the bail application of suspended Deputy National Police Commissioner, Shadrack Sibiya told the Randburg Magistrates court that whatsapp messages confirm that Sibiya did in-fact communicate with a 16 year-old girl and asked her to send him explicit images and videos of herself. Sibiya was arrested last week on charges of rape, human trafficking and the alleged sexual grooming of a sixteen-year-old girl. A new charge of contravening the Firearms control Act has also been added to his charge sheet. Sashin Naidoo reports.

ANC NEC member Andile Lungisa's legal team has told the Johannesburg High Court that ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula did not have the power to remove Lungisa from the party's proportional representation candidate list. Lungisa is challenging his exclusion from the list ahead of the November 4 local government elections where he says he was the number one candidate for Nelson Mandela Bay. Zara Groenewald reports. We also spoke to ANC NEC member Andile Lungisa and ANC Western Cape spokesperson Sifiso Mtsweni.

A look at the current top African economic stories with Victor Kgomoeswana, author of Africa Is Open For Business and Africa Bounces Back