Guest : Eldred De Klerk | Senior policing and Social conflict specialist at Africa Centre for                                             Security and Intelligence Praxis

Tonight with Lester Podcast

CoCT suspends metro cops involved in eviction of naked man - when do we question the actions of metro police officers? When will they be disciplined?

Guest : Rafieq Mammon | Artscape has partnered with community, regional and national radio stations across the country to bring the 2020 New Voices Programme to individual South African households as radio dramas over a two-month period from June to August.  The project seeks to give an opportunity to young writers as well as restoring dignity and confidence to those who have been disregarded and under-represented in the past. 

Artscape's New Voices 2020 Programme brings drama to your radios

Hiking feature with Tim Lundy: Myburghs Waterfall walk

Where in the world is... Lester Kiewit?

Guest : Kerry Mauchline | Spokesperson for Education MEC Debbie Schäfer| The Council of Education Ministers has made amendments to some grades returning to school.   Minister of the Department of Basic Education Angie Motshekga held a meeting with stakeholders on Thursday and announced that  "After careful consideration of all the reports CEM took a decision that only Grade 6, Grade 11 and Grade R will return to school on Monday, 06th July 2020," the council said in a statement.  Other grades will be phased during the month of July. 

Only Grade 6, 11 and Grade R will return to school on Monday - WCED responds

Guest : Ashley Newell Food Flow is a new initiative pioneered during this crisis in Cape Town – with donations they buy produce from small-scale farmers who would usually supply the restaurant business – to make up essential vegetable boxes to distribute to communities facing food insecurity.   Thus, protecting the supply chain for the future, keeping small farmers afloat – Food Flow shifts the flow of produce coming from farms to those most vulnerable.      FoodFlow then matches the farmer with a community organization in their vicinity who distributes harvest bags or cooks a meal for their beneficiaries. FoodFlow works to sustain food livelihoods, enabling farmers to continue sustaining their business despite the loss of restaurant, hotel and market clients and ensures fresh nutritious food keeps flowing to those who are most impacted by food insecurity

Beautiful News feature: Food Flow

Subs bench with Akhona Mashaya

Guest : Lawrence Manaka                Liyema Saliwa Today,  Equal Education held an online Children’s Conference, bringing together learner members of Equal Education (Equalisers) and education officials from various provinces, to discuss how to address the challenges faced by learners during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the realisation of a Charter for the Equal Education organization. 

Online Children’s Conference

Guest : Chantal  Bredenkamp | Grade 3 teacher  at Sunnyside Primary School The last few months have been tough on the education sector.  Schools were one of the first institutions to shut down even before the nationwide lockdown was announced and soon all classes turned digital.  As the economic repercussions of lockdown led to job losses and pay cuts, many parents found themselves battling to pay school fees.  The effects have been dire. But one school refuses to go down without a fight. 

Athlone school starts crowd-funding campaign 'Save Sunnyside Primary'

Guest : Dr Pieter Kotze | Head at Geomagnetism Group At Hermanus The launch of NASA’s next Mars rover mission has been delayed to no earlier than July 30 because of a launch vehicle processing issue, the latest in a series of slips that have now used up nearly half of the available launch opportunities for the mission.   NASA announced June 30 that the mission, previously scheduled to launch July 22, would be delayed to investigate “off-nominal” data from a liquid oxygen sensor line during a wet dress rehearsal of the mission’s Atlas 5 launch vehicle June 22 at Cape Canaveral, Florida - according to SpaceNews.com.  The mission was originally scheduled to launch July 17, the beginning of its launch period, but has slipped three times. None of the slips have had to do with issues with the Mars 2020 spacecraft itself - NASA announced.  The Mars 2020 project (carrying a rover named Perseverance) will land on Mars on Feb. 18, 2021, regardless of what day it launches during the current launch period. The rover will land in Jezero Crater on Mars for mission designed to last at least one Martian year, or 687 Earth days. Perseverance’s instruments will reportedly look for signs of past life on Mars, but the mission’s biggest purpose is to cache samples of Martian rock for later return to Earth.

Mars 2020 launch slips again

Guest : Dick Forslund | Economist & Researcher at Alternative Information & Development                                        Centre | Close to 100 economists have rallied together and written an open letter to the Standing Committee on Finance to reject the newly released supplementary budget (as tabled by the Minister of Finance on Wednesday 24 June 2020).    The open letter and submission from South African economists, economic and business analysts, and others on the Supplementary Budget (tabled 24 June 2020) argues that the Supplementary Budget Reneges on the President’s COVID-19 Rescue Package and poses dire risks to the country.    South Africa is in an unprecedented crisis. The Minister projected a fall in GDP of 7.2% and estimates of jobs at risk vary to as high as 2 million.  Millions will be plunged deeper into poverty if action isn’t taken immediately.   

98 Economists and Researchers Say The Supplementary Budget Reneges on the President’s COVID-19 Rescue Package

Guest : Marcelle Du Plessis | Fund Raising and Communications Manager  at Mdzananda                                                 Animal Clinic Khayelitsha The Mdzananda Animal Clinic in Khayelitsha has recorded a sharp increase in dog abandonments since the implementation of lockdown level 3. The clinic say this is an unusual increase.

Pet abandonment skyrockets amid lockdown Level 3

Guests : Tracey Malawana DG secretary for Equal Education                Lawrence Manaka 

Equal Education to hold Children’s Conference on learning amid the Covid-19 pandemic

Motoring with Melinda: Audi TT S and limited edition Megane RS 300 trophy

Guest : Anna James | member at OBS CAN (community action network)

Life for the homeless in Cape Town is cruel - where to from here?

Get the best of both worlds with Lester Kiewit, a writer for the Mail & Guardian by day and presenter by night. Rather than looking back at the news of the day, explore new subjects and new perspectives.

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Tonight with Lester Podcast

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