The Political Desk

Bongani Bingwa's The Political Desk gives listeners insight into the major political stories dominating the headlines in South Africa.

Episodes in this series

The current state of Eskom’s power system

23 October 2020 | 7 Minute Listen

Power utility Eskom senior management gave the nation a briefing on the state of the power system yesterday. They warned that load shedding remains a real threat as the system continues to have its vulnerabilities. Old coal-fired power plants remain a burden, while plans are in play to fix up build defects at their newest power plants – Medupi and Kusile. Unveiling the economic construction and recovery plan in parliament on Thursday last week President Cyril Ramaphosa stated that, Government is fast-tracking applications for electricity generation for personal use as it moves to end crippling load-shedding and secure energy supply. He said government would work hard to ensure reliable, sufficient supply of energy within by 2022… Eskom Management on the other revealed yesterday that while it expects to have performed adequate reliability maintenance on its aged power plants to improve reliability by September 2021, the risk of load shedding will still not be eliminated. So, what's the true picture here? To discuss that, Bongani joined by the Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter.

Recap of US vice-presidential debate

08 October 2020 | 9 Minute Listen

With David Smith, Washington DC Bureau Chief of The Guardian.

Organisations call for IMF to stop promoting austerity

07 October 2020 | 7 Minute Listen

With Daniel McLaren, Budget Analyst at Section 27.

Cosatu, Saftu stage national day of action

06 October 2020 | 8 Minute Listen

With Bheki Ntshalintshali, General-Secretary of Cosatu.