Drivetime

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

The horrors of urban warfare

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has just produced a special report, I Saw My City Die, which looks at shocking effects of modern urban warfare. It concentrates on the ICRC's experiences in the Middle East, crossing front lines, trying to bring relief to city communities. Joining us…

6 Jul 2017 3AM 18 min

ANC National Policy Conference Day 4

We’ve almost reached the end of day four of the ANC's national policy conference where delegates have been locked in discussions over various policies. Of course at the centre of the robust discussion is this much bandied about term called ‘radical economic transformation’ and the proxy battles between Zuma and…

6 Jul 2017 2AM 13 min

Modi visits Israel

India prime minister Narendra Modi was welcomed by his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Tuesday as he became the first Indian leader to visit Israel. But the Palestinian Authority (PA) has expressed its concern over Modi's decision not to meet President Mahmoud Abbas during his historic three-day trip…

6 Jul 2017 2AM 13 min

Recession to impact state health care sector

With facilities and services at our state health clinics and hospitals already dysfunctional, some experts are warning that things could further deteriorate as the public purse shrinks. South Africa is in a technical recession, our unemployment rate is on a 14-year high, and we have suffered junk status gradings by…

6 Jul 2017 2AM 11 min

Tribute to Suna Venter

The South African journalist fraternity is still in shock following the death of former SABC journalist Suna Venter yesterday. Suna was found dead in her flat on Thursday morning. It was yesterday revealed that she was diagnosed with a cardiac condition due to the severe stress she was under. Suna…

6 Jul 2017 2AM 7 min

Central African Republic - Civilians Targeted in War

Armed groups in the Central African Republic have killed civilians with wholesale impunity, spurring more violence in the war-torn country. That’s according to a new Human Rights Watch a report released today. The 92-page report, “Killing Without Consequence: War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity and the Special Criminal Court in the…

5 Jul 2017 11AM 13 min

The future of the ANC

As the ANCs national policy conference comes to a close today, we know there’s been some highly charged debates over issues of land and the economy. President Jacob Zuma’s “radical” faction is pitted against deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa’s “constitutional” faction. This means there is a clear battle for the future…

5 Jul 2017 10AM 11 min

India rocked by #NotInMyName protests

Thousands of people demonstrated yesterday in cities across India to protest recent attacks by mobs and vigilante groups on Muslims and lower caste Hindus. The protests were held amid growing concerns over rising intolerance. There’s also been criticism that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist government is not doing enough…

30 Jun 2017 10AM 16 min