Newsbreak

#ARCHIVE Ronnie Govender - in his own words - renowned playwright passed away late last night

#ARCHIVE Tributes pour in for acclaimed playwright Ronnie Govender

#ARCHIVE Acclaimed playwright Ronnie Govender passes away at age 86

By Newsbreak Producer Taliesha Naidoo - Acclaimed Durban born playwright Ronnie Govender has passed away at the age of 86. Reports suggest that Govender passed away in Cape Town, where he was living since 2012. Described as someone who understood the power of community theatre, Govender used his life's experiences to criticise apartheid laws. Govender was known for a number of his literary works a...

By Newsbreak Producer Taresh Harreeparshad - Not the greatest climate for the labour force as the country marks Workers Day tomorrow. Currently the unemployment rate stands at 32.5%- the highest since the start of the quarterly labour force survey in 2008. It means 7.2 million people were unemployed, up from 30.8% in the previous three months. Political economist Prof Patrick Bond explains that th...

By Newsbreak Producer Tashlan Naidoo - Renowned South African scientist and epidemiologist Professor Salim Abdool Karim says the newly established Science Council will focus on finding and identifying what could be the world's next pandemic. Karim is among 9 leading world experts in the health sector that were appointed to the council, established earlier this month by the World Health Organisatio...

By Newsbreak Producer Tashlan Naidoo - Food rescue organisation - SA Harvest has delivered their five millionth meal - just 18 months after its inception. According to the organisation, around 19 million people go hungry every day while 10 million tonnes of food goes to waste annually. Using this information, SA Harvest CEO Alan Browde and his team put pen to paper and the operation now runs in fi...

By Newsbreak Executive Producer Salma Patel - Durban-based non-profit organisation, the Caring Sisters Network, says more families and now even donors are experiencing financial difficulty as the country struggles to get back to productivity after the harsh lockdown. The charity has re-launched their signature Eid Smile Campaign aimed at bringing joy to needy children. The campaign had to be cance...

By Newsbreak Producer Shanell Daniel - The community of Lenasia, in Gauteng, is outraged at the brutal killing of 31-year-old, Naadira Vanker. The body of the mother of four was discovered in a shallow grave earlier this week. Reports suggest that Vanker was abducted from her home in Lenasia South last week by two men. The men allegedly drove in the victim's vehicle, which was later found abandone...

By Newsbreak Producer Tashlan Naidoo - The DA is KwaZulu-Natal is exploring the option of legal action against the provincial health MEC Nomagugu-Simelane Zulu after allegedly not being allowed to conduct an oversight visit of a vaccination site at Phoenix north of Durban. DA KZN leader Francois Rodgers says upon arrival at the Phoenix Community Health Centre (CHC) the team was turned away even th...

By Newsbreak producer Tashlan Naidoo - South Africa's world renowned scientist and epidemiologist Professor Salim Abdool Karim has been appointed to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Science Council. The Council was established earlier this month to provide guidance on the science and research strategy of the organisation. The nine-member team comprises of experts from around the world including...

By Newsbreak Producers Taresh Harreeparshad and Matthew Veeran - ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa exposed the kinks in his party's armour yesterday when he testified at the State Capture Commission. He said that the party did not do enough to fight corruption and state capture. Ramaphosa went on to discuss cadre deployment. Let's delve into this further now - we are joined on the line by Corruption W...

By Newsbreak Producer Hoosen Ebrahim - The alliance partners of the ANC say they hope other members of the ANC will learn from Supra Mahumapelo's suspension that no-one is above the party. Mahumapelo and the acting provincial secretary of the ANC Women's League Bitsa Lenkopane have been suspended for five years from the ANC. They were both charged with misconduct, after allegedly convening a paral...

By Newsbreak Producer Shanell Daniel - Investigations are underway to determine cause of death, after the body of 31-year-old Naadira Vanker was found in a shallow grave in Gauteng. Reports suggest that Vanker was abducted from her home in Lenasia South last week by two men. The men allegedly drove in the victim's vehicle, which was later found abandoned in Ennerdale. A 36-year-old man has since b...

By Newsbreak Producer Hoosen Ebrahim - Experts predict that although India recorded over 18-million Coronavirus cases since the outbreak begun last year, the real number could be over 30 times higher. Doctors and health workers in India have long warned that Covid-19 infections and deaths are significantly "under-reported". With the latest from India, journalist based in Andhra Pradesh - Vikash Su...

By Newsbreak Producer Tashlan Naidoo - In partnership with wildlife group 'Bushbabies' - these talks will run on the last Saturday of every month. From crocodiles and snakes to butterflies and birds - children between 4 and 16 years will be able to personally interact with these wonderful creatures. Here's Manager of Crocworld, James Wittstock...

By Newsbreak Producer Matthew Veeran - The country is likely to experience it's first real signs of winter this weekend, with a cold front expected to grip most parts of the country. The South African Weather Services (SAWS) confirmed that high pressures will bring with it icy conditions and strong showers from as early as tomorrow. KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng are likely to be worst affected by the...

By Newsbreak Producer Hoosen Ebrahim - Leading Indian Doctor - Ishwar Gilada has described the second wave sweeping through the South Asian nation as "devastating" with predictions showing the country could reach up to 500,000 infections per day. India's Prime Minister, Narendra Modi requested international help as hospitals were all full to capacity with oxygen supplies critically low in most sta...

By Newsbreak Producer Shanell Daniel - In the midst of the global Covid-19 pandemic, vaccines are proving to be more important than ever before - playing a vital role in global protection and ultimately trying to conform to a new normal. However, there is a lot of misinformation and doubt when it comes to vaccines, leading to various myths and misunderstandings about them. That's according to Dire...

By Newsbreak Producer Tashlan Naidoo - Authorities in India's capital of Delhi ordered a luxury hotel to be converted into a COVID-19 health facility for the exclusive use of high court judges and their families - drawing outrage in a city that has no hospital beds or life-saving oxygen for hundreds of people. The local government said in a public notice on Monday that it had received a request fr...

By Newsbreak Producer Tashlan Naidoo - The Indian Premier League moved to India's capital even after 20,000 new Covid cases were reported in a day in Delhi. Five payers have walked out but it will be business as usual for the world's richest cricket tournament as eight T20 matches will be played in the city despite a lockdown in place for local residents. This report by Rana Sen and Tashlan Naidoo...

By Newsbreak Producer Tashlan Naidoo - ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa will finally appear before the State Capture Commission later this morning. Ramaphosa's appearance before commission chairperson Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo will be in two-parts. For the next two days he will testify as the leader of the governing ANC and next month will give evidence as the president of the country. Meanw...

By Newsbreak Producer Tashlan Naidoo - In a bid to address the high data usage of online video streaming applications - a local IT programmer has now developed his own. Officially launched in February this year, the SODAPOP app is already live in 176 countries - streaming dozens of popular television channels and live sport - for a fraction of the cost of current platforms. Founder of the App - Za...

By Newsbreak Producer Shanell Daniel - The United Kingdom has imposed asset freezes and travel bans against 22 individuals involved in notorious corruption cases in South Africa, Russia, South Sudan and Latin America. This under the new "Global Anti-Corruption" sanctions regime, which allows the UK the ability to stop those involved in corruption from benefiting from the country's economy. The 22...

By Newsbreak Producer Rachel Vadi - India's Coronavirus crisis has seen an outpouring of support and well-wishes from all over the world. Founder of Humanitarian Aid organisation, the Gift of the Givers Foundation - Dr Imtiaz Sooliman has now called for prayer - irrespective of ones faith. Dr Sooliman has also cautioned travellers that make their way to and from India...