Newsbreak

SABC News and Current Affairs — By Newsbreak's Taliesha Naidoo - Meanwhile, mourners are paying homage to India's former Prime Minister and Bharat Ratna award-winner Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Newsbreak spoke to the Managing Editor at CNS - Shobha Shukla, a women who lived all her life in the political constituency of Vajpayee. Both are poets and have always loved the old city of Lucknow where Vajpayee...

SABC News and Current Affairs — By Matthew Veeran - Former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who carried out nuclear tests to make India a nuclear weapons state, has died in a hospital. The government declared seven-days of state mourning for the poet-turn-politician who governed the world's largest democracy with grace and energy. Indian journalist Bobby Ramakant says Vajpayee implement...

SABC News and Current Affairs — By Tashlan Naidoo - An increase in the number of hijackings at Asherville in Durban has raised concern among residents. In the latest incident a video surfaced on social media of two armed men hijacking residents on their driveway. The footage shows the suspects casually getting out of their motor vehicles and confronting the victims before searching them several ti...

SABC News and Current Affairs — By Taliesha Naidoo - Young women between the ages of 15 and 24 are continuing to acquire HIV infections from older men. That's according to Professor Quarraisha Abdool Karim, who is the Associate Scientific Director at the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA). Professor Karim says it is of grave concern that the epidemic remains relati...

SABC News and Current Affairs — By Tashlan Naidoo - A senior citizen serial killer has been sentenced to a 135 year combined sentence by the Pietermaritzburg High Court. Kershwin Goldstone murdered three elderly people aged between 88 and 92 in the space of two months. He was sentenced to three life terms for three counts of murder, 15 years each on four counts of robbery and five years each on tw...

SABC News and Current Affairs — By Taliesha Naidoo - Durban-based businesswoman - Shaaista Khan Osman has been nominated as a finalist for the upcoming Standard Bank Top Women Award. Osman is the CEO of the event management company, Blu Blood. The annual awards ceremony celebrates South Africa's most accomplished businesswomen and organisations accelerating gender transformation in the workplace....

SABC News and Current Affairs — By Taresh Harreeparshad - Global activist Kumi Naidoo has assumed his role as Secretary General of Amnesty International. Having raised his voice loud enough against climate change at Greenpeace International - his focus now shifts to the pursuit of global human rights. Naidoo made a brief stop to his home town of Durban before jetting off to his new post. The SABC'...

SABC News and Current Affairs — By Newsbreak's Tashlan Naidoo - A number of the private reserves in the Greater Kruger National Park are in the spotlight for allegedly violating the protocols and regulations of the park. One of the reserves, Umbabat, has been flagged by Kruger officials for its questionable hunt of a lion. The park's fence on the boarders of some private reserves were allowed to b...

SABC News and Current Affairs — By Hoosen Ebrahim - Over two-million Muslim pilgrims from all over the world have descended in Saudi Arabia for the annual Hajj Pilgrimage which begins on Sunday. It is one of the five pillars of Islam - obligatory for every Muslim once in their lifetime, provided they are physically fit and financially capable. Saudi Authorities have deployed around 200-thousand em...

SABC News and Current Affairs — by Newsbreak Producer, Hoosen Ebrahim - The KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board will hold a memorial service in Durban tomorrow for two employees who drowned in a boat accident at Richards Bay last week. The tragedy occurred as marine officials were servicing shark nets when rough seas led to their boat capsizing. KwaZulu- Natal Sharks Board CEO - Mthokozisi Radebe explains....

SABC News and Current Affairs — by Hafsa Mkhize - Calm has been restored at the transit camp in Isipingo south of Durban, where angry community members had earlier blocked roads with burning tyres and rubble in a service delivery protest. Commitee chairperson Linda Vilakazi says they were told that they would be placed at the camp for only eight months in 2009. The residents claimed that they were...

SABC News and Current Affairs — by Newsbreak Producer, Tashlan Naidoo - India celebrates its 72nd year of independence from British Rule. The country became an independent nation on the 15th of August 1947. Meanwhile, Pakistan's Independence Day was celebrated yesterday - the day Pakistan was declared a sovereign nation after the end of the British Rule. Pakistani's are anxiously awaiting the inau...

SABC News and Current Affairs — By Newsbreak's Prabashini Moodley - The recent alleged attempt on the life of S'bu Zikode - the leader of shack dwellers association Abahlali baseMjondolo's - may be linked to claims that he has had gone into hiding. That's according to Mary de Haas - research fellow from the KZN Violence Monitor. Abahlali baseMjondolo released a statement claiming that Zikode's veh...

SABC News and Current Affairs — By Newsbreak's Tashlan Naidoo - Taxi drivers are constantly coming under attack by brazen criminals. The latest attack occurred at Canelands in Verulam on the north coast after claims had been made that a taxi driver was gunned down whilst his vehicle was parked near a shopping centre. Police spokesperson captain Nqobile Gwala told Newsbreak that that the alleged su...

SABC News and Current Affairs — By Newsbreak's Hafsa Mkhize - South Africa is continuously surging ahead towards gender transformation in the corporate world. New research shows that very little has changed since 2015. Local and African research company Jack Hammer Chief Operating Officer - Advaita Naidoo says there has been moderate progress in gender transformation at executive level, but none a...

SABC News and Current Affairs — By Prabashini Moodley - The PAC is mourning the loss of Mama Zondeni Veronica Sobukwe - who was the wife of its founder, Robert Sobukwe. She passed on early this morning at the age of 91. Mama Sobukwe, also known as "The Mother of Azania," was a health practitioner and an activist in her own right. She repeatedly wrote to the apartheid government during the years he...

SABC News and Current Affairs — By Newsbreak's Hoosen Ebrahim - Government have slammed civil rights organisation, AfriForum - for circulating a list of properties claiming it as 'land' earmarked to be expropriated without compensation. The Department of Rural Development and Land Reform says that distribution of the list consisting 195 properties earmarked for expropriation is "highly irresponsib...

SABC News and Current Affairs — By Newsbreak's Taliesha Naidoo - Free access to internet could soon become a reality for all South Africans. This as internet connectivity and affordability will be at the top of the agenda at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Summit in Durban next month. Telecommunications and Postal Services Minister - Siyabonga Cwele - explains why Durban has been c...

SABC News and Current Affairs — India have kicked-off celebrations to mark its 72nd year of its freedom from British rule with the launch of the world's largest health-care scheme. But festivities have been muted as the independent nation is caught in a war between secular forces and an increasingly authoritarian state. Rana Senn reports from New Delhi...

SABC News and Current Affairs — By Newsbreak's Prabashini Moodley - South Africans have taken to social media to convey messages of a speedy recovery to American singing sensation Aretha Franklin. The music legend is gravely ill and is surrounded by family and friends in Detroit. They are asking for prayers and privacy. 76-year-old Franklin underwent surgery in 2010 for an undisclosed ailment. Sou...

SABC News and Current Affairs — Newsbreak Talk tackles women and economic challenges - produced by Tashlan Naidoo and hosted by Taresh Harreeparshad

SABC News and Current Affairs — Internationally acclaimed activist and climate change campaigner Kumi Naidoo says the fight for constrained natural resources is the reason why human rights violations are becoming more severe today. Naidoo will assume the role of Secretary General of global organisation Amnesty International on Wednesday, becoming the the first African to hold the position. He prev...

SABC News and Current Affairs — by Newsbreak Producer, Tashlan Naidoo - Lectures at the University of KwaZulu-Natal's Westville campus have been suspended until Thursday, after violent protests between students and the police. The Student protest began yesterday and became violent leading to the arrest of 17 people. The suspects are appearing at the Pinetown magistrates court today facing charges...

SABC News and Current Affairs — by Newsbreak Producer, Prabashini Moodley - Residents from Harinagar and Buffels Bosch at Chatsworth - south of Durban say, they are fearful that land invasions currently plaguing the area will soon spread to their properties. This comes after a meeting was held by the leaders of both the areas last night, in an effort to put a plan in place to tackle the spiralling...

SABC News and Current Affairs — by Newsbreak's Hoosen Ebrahim - The proposed Tobacco Bill has received mixed reaction, with some organisations saying the current act is effective but needs enforcement. Spaza shop owners around the country have raised concern, saying that if the bill is passed it would ban branding on cigarette packets and clamp down on the sale of single or loose cigarettes. The S...