Newsbreak

By Newsbreak Producer Tashlan Naidoo - President Cyril Ramaphosa says phase two of the coronavirus vaccine roll-out is expected to take place from the end of this month with the elderly and essential workers being among those to get the jab. Ramaphosa says a deal was secured recently for 11-million vaccine doses from Johnson and Johnson as well as 20 million from Pfizer. The country moved to Alert...

By Newsbreak Producer Taliesha Naidoo - South African economists are paying closer attention to the crypto currency space in 2021. Just last week, Bitcoin prices sharply rose after billionaire Elon Musk, invested 1.5 billion dollars in crypto currency through his company, Tesla Inc. However, what glitters is not always gold. Bacause, fellow billionaire and Microsoft founder, Bill Gates has come ou...

By Newsbreak Producer Taliesha Naidoo - Calls have intensified for items of historical significance to be protected and preserved in South Africa, to ensure future generations are educated and made aware of the country's checkered past. This after a plaque of former British prime minister Winston Churchill went missing in Durban. The plaque, which was situated outside the Durban Post Office, comme...

In a short while India will start inoculating its senior citizens in the second wave of the world's largest COVID-19 vaccination drive launched last month. Jabs will be given free of cost at thousands of state-run facilities where people over 45 years with chronic ailments can also walk in for the shots. Rana Senn reports...

President Cyril Ramaphosa has moved the country to Alert Level One of the lockdown effective from last night. He was addressing the nation on the country's response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Under Alert Level One, the wearing of masks will continue to be mandatory, with curfew starting at midnight and ending at 4am. Gatherings will be allowed but limited to 100 people indoors and 250 people outdoo...

By Newsbreak Producer Rachel Vadi - It has been three years since South African schools held their last School Governing Body (SGB) elections. Following this three year term of service, SGB elections for the new term are set to begin today, 1st March 2021 and run until 31 March 2021. The theme for the election process is "re-imagining School Governance under complex conditions". Chairperson of the...

By Newsbreak Talk presenter and producer, Taresh Harreepershad - The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in sudden, premature loss of life, which has had a devastating impact on families and communities. On Newsbreak Talk, we discuss Newsbreak Talk brievement and grief with Kayleen Moodley from the South African Hindu Maha Sabha.

By Newsbreak Presenter and Producer, Taresh Harreepershad - Looking at burning issues affecting South Africans, Newsbreak Talk discusses why corruption and cronism is the stumbling block to South Africa's development, and how a R30 increase in the old age grant is simply not enough to make ends meet. We are joined in studio by Lee du Preez, Managing Director of transformation legislation complianc...

By Newsbreak Producer, Rachel Vadi - A 54 year old man will be appearing before the Wentworth Magistrate Court today after he allegedly tried to smuggle drugs to a suspect appearing at court. It is believed that the suspect tried to smuggle 48 mandrax tablets in two cigarette boxes. Colonel Thembeka Mbele says the Court Orderly found the drugs when he inspected the parcel

By Newsbreak Producer, Taresh Harreepershad - News channel ENCA is embroiled in an alleged race row. This follows video footage showing reporter Lindsay Dentlinger asking certain interviewees to wear their masks while allowing others not to. During her interviews at Parliament for the Budget Speech she didn't request Freedom Front Plus leader, Pieter Groenewald, and the DA's John Steenhuisen to pu...

By Newsbreak Executive Producer Salma Patel - Vaccinations for all staff are proceeding smoothly at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital in Durban. Vis Moodley who provides Admin Support in the hospital's Oncology Unit says its important to vaccinate all front-line staff and not just doctors and nurses. Moodley received her COVID-19 vaccine this week...

By Newsbreak Producer Tashlan Naidoo - Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Wits University, Professor Ruksana Osman says there is going to be a major digital divide when coding and robotics is introduced into the curriculum at South African schools. Yesterday, President Cyril Ramaphosa was speaking at the first day of the virtual Basic Education Lekgotla, where he said government is on track to finally intr...

By Newsbreak Producer Matthew Veeran - 18-year-old Cape Town matriculant Kaviel Singh is counting his successes, after picking up seven distinctions in the 2020 exams. But it wasn't all smooth sailing for the former KwaZulu-Natal resident, who had to deal with a number of issues in his final year, least of all the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year Kaviel's mom was retrenched, while the young man was mu...

By Newsbreak Producer Hoosen Ebrahim - In a bid to grow the tourism industry in KwaZulu-Natal, the province recently hosted two top singers in Kyle Deutsch and Aewon Wolf. The duo have since toured over 2,500 kilometres over a period of three days - compiling a music video that will showcase key destinations in the province. The video will be for their new song "We Have it All", which does its bes...

By Newsbreak Producer Shanell Daniel - Political Analyst, Xolani Dube says he does not foresee pertinent issues like corruption and service delivery within KwaZulu-Natal being taken seriously by the ANC-led government in the province. This as KZN Premier, Sihle Zikalala, delivers his State of the Province Address (SOPA) today. People around the province are waiting to hear from the premier on seve...

By Newsbreak Producer Shanell Daniel - A R30 increase in the state pension grant is no where near sufficient. These are the sentiments of Community Activist, Les Govender, following Finance Minister Tito Mboweni's 2021 Budget Speech yesterday. On the increase in social grants; state pension grants and care dependency grants increase by R30 to R1890. The January 2021 Household Affordability Index s...

By Newsbreak Producer Tashlan Naidoo - Search and rescue teams are hard at work at KwaMashu D section north of Durban, after two men died when a wall collapsed on them after heavy rains this morning. It's alleged that the two men were asleep when their neighbour's wall collapsed on their shack. The high wall was built on the edge of an embankment. Durban Metro Police Spokesperson, Senior Superinte...

By Newsbreak Producer Taresh Harreeparshad - Early indications are that the markets have reacted positively to Finance Minister Tito Mboweni's Budget Speech. Mboweni allocated 10 billion rand to the COVID-19 vaccination programme and alo decreased corporate tax among other reforms. Economist Prof. Waldo Krugall says these reforms are all steps in the right direction...

By Newsbreak Producer Tashlan Naidoo - The fast growing cannabis industry in South Africa has caught the eye of Gauteng Premier David Makhura, who announced in his State of the Province Address earlier this week that he hopes the province becomes a leading contributor to the sector. Makhura believes that working together with provinces that cultivate the Cannabis, Gauteng could use existing infras...

By Newsbreak Producer Shanell Daniel - There's been mixed reaction to the numerous name changes in the Eastern Cape. While many are welcome the changes, others are struggling to learn the correct pronunciations. The name changes include Port Elizabeth being changed to 'gqeberha', with the Port Elizabeth Airport now named after Dawid Stuurman - a political activist and Khoi Chief. Earlier this week...

By Newsbreak Producer Shanell Daniel - A 41-year-old man has appeared at the Chatsworth Magistrates Court, south of Durban, after being arrested for being in possession of heroin capsules worth an estimated 214-thousand-rand. It's alleged that the drugs were recovered in Shallcross and was owned by the late Yaganathan Pillay - commonly known as Teddy Mafia. The suspect remains in custody and the c...

By Newsbreak Producer Matthew Veeran - Today residents in most parts of Durban will wake up to a shortage in the supply of water, lasting until 8pm this evening. The interruption is due to a faulty raw water conveyance line, which needs immediate repairs caused by a failed scour valve. This will now result in a 50% reduced treatment capacity from Durban Heights waterworks, which supplies most area...

By Newsbreak Producer Tashlan Naidoo and Shanell Daniel - Finance Minister Tito Mboweni will have a challenging task before him as he tables the 2021 Budget later today, amidst the Coronavirus pandemic. Expected on the agenda is whether or not taxes will be increased, with focus also on keeping spending low in order to help fund an effective vaccination programme. Statistics South Africa yesterday...

By Newsbreak Producer Tashlan Naidoo - The alcohol industry has released data showing a R36.3-billion loss in revenue due to the three alcohol bans since the lockdown began in March last year. The industry is now calling on Finance Minister Tito Mboweni to help the sector get back on its feet. According to the assessment, the tax revenue loss - excluding excise duties to the fiscus, amounted to R2...

By Newsbreak Producer Matthew Veeran - The rise in the amount of citizen journalists and unverified information available online is becoming a major cause for concern in South Africa. On a daily basis, platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Whatsapp are inundated with questionable pieces of information - and often, this information gets shared to the unsuspecting members of the public. While legi...