Newsbreak

By Newsbreak Talk's Shanell Daniel At just 16-years-old South African activist, Vernon Moodley, was exiled in the early 1960s and ultimately died after a drowning incident in 1967. Over 60 years later, his family has found a sense of closure after Moodley's remains were repatriated to South Africa and laid to rest on home soil on Friday. This follows the successful repatriation of 42 freedom fight...

By Newsbreak Executive Producer Salma Patel - The National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure or NATJoints - is on high alert after social media messages of a #NationalShutdown went viral. Police and the army have been deploayed to all hotspots across KwaZulu-Natal. Metro Police has been seen patrolling the Durban central business district from as early as 4am this morning. SABC News Rep...

By Newsbreak Producer Rachel Vadi - Latest reports suggest that a fourth wave of COVID-19 is predicted to hit South Africa in the first week of December. CEO of the Kwazulu-Natal Doctors Healthcare Coalition - Professor Morgan Chetty says this fourth wave could last longer that 75 days. Professor Chetty says the best protection against the looming fourth wave is the non-surgical interventions of s...

India has given emergency approval to the world's first DNA vaccine developed for adolescents, which is slated to be launched soon. Scientists hailed it as a watershed moment in the country's fight against Covid-19, which has so far infected more than 32-million people and killed over 430,000. Ran Sen reports...

By Newsbreak Executive Producer Salma Patel - KwaZulu-Natal's first vaccine drive-thru has proved a success with youngsters and parents favouring this method. More than 700 people have been vaccinated at this site at the weekend. Volunteers assisted patients and were offering both the Pfizer - double shot and the Johnson and Johnson single shot vaccines. Yasiera Mohammed Suliman chairperson of the...

By Newsbreak Producer Shanell Daniel - A 35-year-old man is expected to appear at the Pietermaritzburg Magistrates Court today - facing charges of possession and dealing in drugs. According to KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson, Colonel Thembeka Mbhele, an intelligence driven operation was conducted leading police to the Sweetwaters area. This is where a large quantity of drugs, including heroin wa...

By Newsbreak Producer's Shanell Daniel and Tashlan Naidoo- Household employees such as domestic workers, nannies and gardeners can now manage their time effectively at the touch of a button. This with the help of a recently launched proudly South African app called, 'MiVoice'. The app is designed to aid employees and employers with processes like tracking working hours, calculating leave days and...

By Newsbreak Senior Producer Genevieve Lanka - South Africans are bracing for a double digit electricity tariff increase from the 1st of July. This as the country also battles rising covid-19 infections, higher food prices and an adjusted alert Level 4 Lockdown. As from Thursday this week, Cape Town residents are expected to pay 13.48% more for electricity, while Johannesburg and Durban residents...

By Newsbreak Producer Shanell Daniel - The pressure on non-governmental organisations (NGOs) since the initial lockdown over a year ago - has not subsided and another harsh lockdown could cripple the sector entirely. These are the sentiments of Head of Social Impact at the University of Stellenbosch Business School, Dr Armand Bam. He says while red flags have been raised regarding the unprecedente...

By Newsbreak Senior Producer Genevieve Lanka - The Automobile Association is calling on government to provide more clarity on the planned roll-out of the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) act. The system is expected to be phased in from July 1st. However, the Association's spokesperson - Layton Beard SAYS - there is still too much confusion over the exact time-frames, an...

By Newsbreak Senior Producer Genevieve Lanka - The South African National Editor's Forum (SANEF) says the process has already begun to ensure that journalists are next in line to receive the covid-19 vaccination. SANEF's Secretary-General - Mahlatse Mahlase - says government has informed them that journalists will receive the jab as soon as all media houses submit information regarding their emplo...

By Newsbreak Senior Producer Genevieve Lanka - In handing down judgement, the Constitutional Court has described as disturbing - what it calls - former President, Jacob Zuma's attempt to ignore, undermine and destroy the rule of law. Zuma has been ordered to hand himself over to police - at either Nkandla police station or Johannesburg Central within five days - to begin serving his sentence. The...

by Newsbreak Producer, Tashlan Naidoo - For the second year running - (pardon the pun) the 125th edition of Africa's Greatest Race, the Vodacom Durban July, will be held behind closed doors. Despite the country moving to lockdown level 4, the races are all set for this Saturday. The first race is set for just after 11am with the main race at 3pm. Event and Marketing Executive Steve Marshall says t...

by Newsbreak Senior Producer, Genevieve Lanka - The South African National Editor's Forum says it expects feedback from government in the next few days on the vaccination of journalists for covid-19. SANEF's Secretary-General Mahlatse Mahlase says the journalism fraternity has been on the front-line of the pandemic, ensuring credible information is disseminated to the public. She says SANEF has be...

by Newsbreak Senior Producer, Genevieve Lanka - Police in KwaZulu-Natal say they will act swiftly to apprehend anyone found flouting lockdown regulations. According to provincial spokesperson - Brigadier Jay Naicker - from the 16th to 27th of June, over 1700 individuals were arrested for various contraventions of Level 3 lockdown regulations. This includes over 1000 people for not wearing masks. N...

The Protection of Personal Information Act or POPI Act comes into effect on the 1st of July.. The Act was signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa last year but organisations and other state organs which keep personal information were given a reprieve for a year to become compliant with the new law. Some legal analysts have welcomed the legislation saying it will go a long way towards safeguar...

by Newsbreak Producer, Tashlan Naidoo - Indications from yet to be published data show that the J&J vaccine currently being rolled out across the country is effective against the fast spreading Delta variant - first identified in India. The Delta variant is thought to be the most transmissible form of the virus and is suspected to be the driver behind the current surge of infections in the country...

by Newsbreak Producers, Tashlan Naidoo and Shanell Daniel - 14 goals from normal playing time, nine penalties and an endless supply of drama made for some brilliant football in the last 16 of the Euro 2020 tournament last night. 2016 Euro runners-up and World Cup Winners France were dumped by Switzerland in Bucharest, while 2010 World Cup champions Spain came back from 1-nil down against Croatia i...

by Newsbreak Producer, Tashlan Naidoo - The Beer Association of South Africa (BASA) says it is seeking legal advice following the 4th prohibition on liquor sales in 18 month. This follows President Cyril Ramphosa's address that announced a ban of on and off-site liquor sales for 14 days. BASA CEO Patricia Pillay says the illegal alcohol trade took away more than R11-billion from the fiscus during...

Locating the remains of slain award-winning photo journalist Anton Hammerl is key to instituting an investigation into his death. That's according to the international legal team for Penny Sukhraj-Hammerl, Anton's wife. In 2001, Hammerl travelled from his home in London to Libya to cover the Arab Springs and was killed. After ten years of no action, no answers and no accountability, Sukhraj-Hammer...

By Newsbreak Producer Shanell Daniel - The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) says President Cyril Ramaphosa's decision to move the country to lockdown Alert Level 4 was inevitable. However, they say government needs to provide relief for those sectors of the economy prohibited from trading or required to down-scale. These include the liquor, tourism, hospitality, sports, and events s...

By Newsbreak Producer Taliesha Naidoo - A new Hindu business chamber has been established in South Africa. The Lotus Economic Forum (LEF) was launched at the weekend in an online event. The forum will offer economic interventions and resources to businesses that support the tenets of Sanatan Dharma. Sanatan Dharma is a concise guide that incorporates various teachings from Hindu vedas and texts, s...

By Newsbreak Producer Rachel Vadi - As today marks Gay Pride Day - the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex - or LGBTQI+ - community, has called for tougher action against hate crimes. Gay Pride Day began in 1969 after the Stonewall Riots in the United States - which was in response to police raids on a gay-friendly establishment in New York. More than fifty years later, preside...

by Newsbreak Producer, Rachel Vadi - Faced with growing financial distress during COVID-19 and South Africa's lockdown, the KwaZulu-Natal Blind and Deaf Society were able to overcome non-funding by employing members in a Sewing Club. President of the Society, Veetha Sewkuran says they began a few months ago, sewing masks for retail. Spurred on by their success, the sewing club is now embarking on...

By Newsbreak Producer, Hoosen Ebrahim and Taliesha Naidoo - President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced the country will move to an adjusted alert level 4 of the lockdown for the next 14 days. South Africa has recorded over 15,000 new COVID-19 cases and 122 COVID-19 related deaths in the last 24 hours. Chairperson of the Medical Expert Consulting Group - Dr. Terrence Komal explains what this now means...