Newsbreak

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 Tashlan Naidoo - A new insulin therapy has been launched in South Africa and is said to be a game changer in the fight against Type 2 Diabetes. The new therapy only needs to be injected once a day and helps manage weight loss and cholesterol. The therapy is a fixed ratio combination of a blood glucose stabiliser and blood sugar level hormone. Endocrinologist Dr Sundeep Ruder...

By Newsbreak Producer Rachel Vadi - 27 years of freedom in South Africa, yet social political commentator and analyst Dr. Devi Rajab says we are still not enjoying the "true freedom" that was expected post 1994. Dr Rajab says under democracy from the apartheid days - the educational and economic divide does not allow for freedom for all South Africans. She says this is exacerbated by the leaders o...

By Newsbreak Producer Tashlan Naidoo - University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) has been ranked the fourth leading institution in the country, while also placing in the top 500 out of 19,000 universities globally. This was announced by the Centre for World University Rankings (CWUR) in its 2021-22 Global 2000 List. Deputy Vice Chancellor of Research and Innovation at UKZN - Professor Mosa Moshabela says...

By Newsbreak Producer, Rachel Vadi. National police spokesperson Brigadier Vish Naidoo says police are making strides in addressing the DNA backlog reported. He says the measures taken by the police to address the backlog in DNA testing has already reaped rewards. According to Brigadier Naidoo, a Benoni man has been confirmed as a serial rapist after being positively linked to 60 rape cases throug...

By Newsbreak Producer Rachel Vadi - A stop to police budgets from the Criminal Justice Fund is one of the main reasons for the backlog in DNA sample testing in the country. This is according to National police spokesperson Brigadier Vish Naidoo. Naidoo says this led to a shortage of "DNA consumables" which are essential for testing at the SAPS Forensic Science Laboratories. He says they are now ma...

By Newsbreak Executive Producer Salma Patel - The South Africa Netflix documentary My Octopus Teacher has won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature at the 93rd Academy Awards Ceremony in Los Angeles. The 2020 Netflix original by Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed documents a year spent by filmmaker Craig Foster forging a relationship with a wild, common octopus in a kelp forest at False Bay near Cape T...

By Newsbreak Producer Rachel Vadi - Taxi violence is getting out of hand in South Africa - leaving thousands of stranded commuters and irate drivers stuck in traffic for hours, but also causing the deaths of numerous innocent bystanders. This is the view of Durban Metro Police, who have embarked on operations to clamp down on these "turfs wars". 84 taxis in and around Durban were impounded over th...

By Newsbreak Producer Genevieve Lanka - Today marks the first day of the school break, following the close of the first academic term on Friday. The first term marked a new normal for pupils, educators and parents alike - as they had to navigate through a delayed start to the year, covid-19 protocols and staggered classroom time. However, KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education spokesperson, Muzi Ma...

By Newsbreak Producer Taresh Harreeparshad - Local LGBTQI+ activists have demanded that President Cyril Ramaphosa place issues relating to their community higher on the national agenda. This week, the Ntuzuma Magistrates Court is expected to hand down it's ruling on the bail application of Thando Mgenge. Mgenge is alleged to have killed Sphamandla Khoza - who was openly gay. Khoza's family say the...

By Newsbreak Producer Taliesha Naidoo - Crime activists are raising concerns around the sharp increase in kidnappings of businessmen in Gauteng. It's alleged that another prominent businessman, Ismail Akoonjee was kidnapped by heavily armed men on Saturday afternoon, outside the Ebotse Golf Estate in Benoni. Earlier in the month, businessman - Shama Premjee was also allegedly kidnapped, witrh repo...

By Newsbreak Producer Taliesha Naidoo - A tragedy of unspeakable proportions. That is how volunteers are describing the aftermath of a fire that ripped through the Jagger Reading Room, formerly known as the Jagger Library, at the University of Cape Town. The over 90-year-old library, which housed part of UCT's Special Collections, was completely gutted during the runaway wildfire last Sunday. Over...

By Newsbreak Presenter and Producer, Taresh Harreepershad. Gay Activist highlight the worrying state of affairs following several homophobic attacks in South Africa. Ahead of the next court appearance of suspect accused of killing openly gay Sphamandla Khoza, #NewsbreakTalk investigates what is fuelling LGBTIQ+ #hatecrimes with activists Keval Harie and Siya Khumalo

By Newsbreak Talk Producer and Presenter, Taresh Harreepershad. #SouthAfrica is on course for the local government polls on 27 October. In a time of pandemic and politics, how ready are you for election this year? #NewsbreakTalk speaks to IEC's Deputy Chief Electoral Officer, Mawethu Mosery and Political Analyst, Professor Joleen Steyn Kotze to find out how ready the IEC and South Africans are. #s...

Former President Jacob Zuma has accused the current ANC leadership of having failed to implement the resolutions from the party's 2017 national conference at Nasrec in Johannesburg. Zuma was speaking at a celebration for his 79th birthday organised by the youth wing of the South African National Civic Organisation in Umhlanga, north of Durban. The former president called on ANC branches not to be...

By Newsbreak Producer Tashlan Naidoo - A group of women from Gauteng have been left traumatised after they were allegedly assaulted and robbed of their belongings by four armed men at a local resort. Last month Kemantha Naidoo and seven of her friends booked into the resort in Centurion, for a ladies weekend away. However, after just a few hours, their trip turned into a nightmare. Naidoo alleges...

By Newsbreak Producer Tashlan Naidoo - Meanwhile, Gauteng police spokesperson Kay Makhubele says no arrests have been made, nor were any stolen items recovered. Responding to claims that police took several hours to respond to the scene without taking all the victims statements, Makhubele says the officers will contact the women in due course...

By Newsbreak Producer Shanell Daniel - If simple words can empower, imagine what an entire book would do! These are the sentiments of newly appointed principal at private tertiary institute - MANCOSA, Professor Magnate Ntombela. Today marks World Book Day - a day set aside to acknowledge and promote the importance of the written word. The institution has launched the "Million Books Project" aimed...

By Newsbreak Senior Producer Genevieve Lanka - Political parties have generally reacted positively to President Cyril Ramaphosa's announcement that the local government elections will be held on October the 27th. The President made the announcement yesterday, ending speculation over calls for a postponement. The date of the election is still to be proclaimed. Initially the EFF had proposed a postp...

By Newsbreak Senior Producer Genevieve Lanka - The ANC has emerged triumphant in the preliminary results of the first instalment of by-elections this year. Of the 14 Wards contested nationally, the ANC has retained 10, and won two new wards - one from DA in the Western Cape and one from the IFP in Kwa Zulu Natal. The official results will be announced by the Independent Electoral Commission this a...

By Newsbreak Producer Genevieve Lanka - The withdrawal of former President Jacob Zuma's legal team just weeks before the start of his corruption trial could spell another delay, in a case than now spans almost sixteen years. Zuma's legal representatives, Attorney, Eric Mabuza and Advocate Muzi Sikhakhane notified the Pietermaritzburg High Court just yesterday, that they will no longer represent Zu...

By Newsbreak Producer Tashlan Naidoo - One suspect will this morning appear in the Vryheid Magistrates Court in northern KwaZulu-Natal after he was found in possession of cannabis valued at 600-thousand rand. Eight bales and more than 300 parcels of dagga were found in two separate vehicles totalling over 250-kilograms. KZN police spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala says they are still searching fo...

By Newsbreak Producer Shanell Daniel - 56-year-old Muzi Sam Radebe - who is responsible for the murder of his 30-year-old fiancé, Nombuso Dube, and her 73-year-old mother, Thokozile Dube - has been sentenced to a double term of life imprisonment. This at the The Verulam Regional Court. The incident took place in the Mangwaveni area, near Tongaat, in 2018. Both women were shot in the head, neck and...

By Newsbreak Producers Tashlan Naidoo and Matthew Veeran - One of South Africa's largest and oldest non-profit organisations - the Aryan Benevolent Home (ABH) will be celebrating their centenary on next week. Located in Chatsworth south of Durban, the home cares for over 700 residents - including the elderly, children and victims of domestic violence. Over the years, the organisation has grown fro...

By Newsbreak Producer Hoosen Ebrahima and Shanell Daniel - A passion for the environment and a drive for economic opportunities has resulted in a number of role players working together to repurpose waste material, do clean-ups and embark on recycle drives. For several years, a group of informal waste pickers known as the "Roadhouse Crescent Recyclers" have been working in and around Durban North...