Newsbreak

By Newsbreak Producer Shanell Daniel - Over a million pupils are expected to sit for the 2020 matric examination starting this Thursday - and despite the impacts of Covid-19, learners will sit for the same high quality of examination - as in previous years. This according to Spokesperson to the Minister of Basic Education, Hope Mokgatlhe. The sector has had to double its efforts to ensure that the...

By Newsbreak Producer Shanell Daniel - Fundraising Manager for the "Saint Giles Organisation for the Disabled" - Brenda Craig says being disable does not mean being mentally impaired. Those were the sentiments as today marks the start of Disability Rights Awareness Month, with key focuses including seeing persons with disabilities as equal players in building inclusive economies. In this week's Me...

By Newsbreak Producer Tashlan Naidoo - Highly committed, well informed and extremely accurate. That's how the late Enuga Sreenivasulu Reddy has been described following his passing at the weekend. Born in Andhra Pradesh, India in 1924, Mr E.S Reddy went to the United States to broaden his horizons. He would go on to become a key figure in the international struggle to end colonialism, white minori...

By Newsbreak Producer Tashlan Naidoo - If election polls are anything to go by, democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is set to win today's election over the incumbent Donald Trump. Experts suggest that a victory for Biden and running mate Kamala Harris will be beneficial for South Africa in many ways, especially when it comes to financial stimulus packages and trade relations. Honorary Prof...

By Newsbreak Producer Shanell Daniel - Following the brutal murder of Ashveer Sukwa at Tongaat north of Durban, chairperson for the Tongaat Community Policing Forum, Nazir Sadek, says the arrests are welcomed - however the family of the deceased and the community are still reeling from shock following the brutal killing...

By Newsbreak Producer Matthew Veeran - Three suspects have been arrested in connection with the murder of Tongaat businessman, Ashveer Sukwa. Sukwa was brutally murdered at his Fairbreeze home on Saturday. Reports suggest that he sustained 35 stab wounds, while his widower father, Rajesh was also stabbed multiple times. The father who was in hospital, has been released and is in a stable condition...

By Newsbreak Producer Hoosen Ebrahim - The South African Weather Service (SAWS) say sustained downpours and cloudy conditions are expected throughout the day in some parts of the country. Johannesburg emergency management services (EMS) said its disaster management teams were on standby as weather conditions were expected to persist across the metro. Gauteng experienced heavy rains and thunderstor...

By Newsbreak Producer Rachel Vadi - Last week we brought you the news that former Minority Front (MF) secretary general and spokesperson Jonathan Annipen resigned from the party and officially joined the Inkata Freedom Party (IFP). This morning we get some reaction to that move from the current leader of the MF - Shameen Thakur-Rajbansi...

By Newsbreak Producer Taliesha Naidoo - "Bravery isn't just doing. It's courage with action and it's persevering when there's resistance." Those are the encouraging words of Vivian Chengalroyan, a PhD candidate from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). She is a nominee for the "2020 Sponsors of Brave" campaign, which aims to celebrate medical professionals who are unsung heroes in their fields....

By Newsbreak Producer Taliesha Naidoo - Issues of race and a lack of reform have been massive talking points since John Steenhuisen was elected the new leader of the Democratic Alliance. Steenhuisen emerged victorious against his contender, KwaZulu-Natal MPL Mbali Ntuli, at the party's virtual elective congress yesterday. He garnered 80% of the votes. Political analyst, Professor Bheki Mngomezulu...

By Newsbreak Presenter and Producer, taresh Harreepershad, and Newsbreak Producer, Rachel Vadi. Newsbreak Talk unearth's how the seeds of Indian traditions, culture and religion was planted in South Africa, despite there not being any structure for it

By Newsbreak Presenter and Producer, Taresh Harreepershad The Democratic Alliance says it expects its virtual elective congress to go according to plan because it has a solid voting system in place. The Democratic Alliance will choose its new leadership at the congress, where two-thousand delegates accredited to attend will cast their votes and pass resolutions to guide the party for the next five...

By Newsbreak Producer, Taresh Harreepershad Former Minority Front secretary general and spokesperson Jonathan Annipen has officially joined the IFP. This emerged at a briefing a short while ago. Annipen's new role will see him work for the IFP in Phoenix, north of Durban ahead of next years Local Government Elections.

By Newsbreak Producer, Rachel Vadi Various Private Medical Emergency and Rescue Services in KwaZulu Natal have fallen on tough economic times due to the the world-wide COVID 19 pandemic. However a group of about 30 private ambulance services in KZN further claim that their situation has been aggravated with the non-payment of work already done for the Road Accident Fund. Earlier, the Association m...

By Newsbreak Producer Shanell Daniel - The body of an e-hailing driver was found covered in tree branches at the back seat of a vehicle in Kuils River, east of Cape Town. Police spokesperson FC van Wyk says a silver Nissan was found at the scene, parked behind a petrol station. Van Wyk says upon investigation, the members found that the doors of the vehicle were open...

By Newsbreak Producer Tashlan Naidoo - Health organisations in South African are calling for 100% tax hike on tobacco products, saying it could relieve pressure on our overloaded health system and ultimately force smokers to quit due to exorbitant prices. The National Council Against Smoking (NCAS) says they will be lobbying treasury to look into their demands. The council's Sharon Nyatsanza says...

By Newsbreak Producer Tashlan Naidoo - Founder of Tax Justice South Africa's Yusuf Abramjee reacted to calls by the National Council Against Smoking, saying it's a "complete waste of time". Abramjee says a 100% tax hike on tobacco products will cause the illicit trade to flourish, meaning that billions of rands in tax would eventually be lost...

By Newsbreak Producer Taresh Harreeparshad - The green revolution is educating the world to re-look at the way one lives - in order to save the planet. The Hindu festival of lights or Diwali is not exempt from this green glow. The "Green Diwali Festival" will take place this weekend at the Durban Mitchell Park. It's an opportunity to celebrate the festival with more sustainable trimmings: like lig...

By Newsbreak Producer Tashlan Naidoo - The alcohol industry say its off-premises liquor trading sector has lost an estimated 12 billion rand due to the curfew and not being allowed to trade on weekends. This comes as they industry is pleading with government and President Cyril Ramaphosa to allow for off-site liquor traders to be able to do business on the weekends. Lucky Ntimane from the National...

By Newsbreak Producer Tashlan Naidoo - Two suspects are set to appear at the Chatsworth magistrates court today for the alleged murder of a man at the weekend. It is alleged that 35 year old Zamani Kleinbooi was stabbed to death at an informal settlement in Crossmoor at Chatsworth south of Durban. KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson, Captain Nqobile Gwala...

Some of the opposition parties in Parliament have criticised Finance Minister, Tito Mboweni, for allocating 10.5-billion-rand to South African Airways (SAA). However, the ANC has welcomed Mboweni's medium-policy budget statement in which he also announced that public sector workers and representatives would take pay cuts. Lulama Matya reports...

By Newsbreak Producer Shanell Daniel - The "new normal" due to the COVID-19 pandemic has called for the festival of lights, Diwali, to be celebrated in a different way this year. In keeping with this, the South African Hindu Maha Sabha is hosting a COVID-19 Diwali Celebrations Webinar this Saturday. The key focus areas will look at COVID compliance, the use and abuse of fireworks, avoiding racial...

By Newsbreak producer Hoosen Ebrahim - President Cyril Ramaphosa is "leading by example" in self-quarantining himself after a guest at a dinner he attended tested positive for the coronavirus. This is according to Political Science Lecturer at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), Zakhele Ndlovu. He says that although the President is showing no symptoms after being exposed almost five days ago,...

By Newsbreak Producer Tashlan Naidoo - Recently released data by Stats SA shows that 2.2 million people lost their jobs in the first quarter of the year. However, one popular holidaymaker's playground on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast - which was recently upgraded to four stars - says it's using this as an opportunity to attract more visitors ahead of the festive season...

By Newsbreak Producer Shanell Daniel - Private ambulance services in KwaZulu-Natal will march to the Road Accident Fund (RAF) offices in Durban this Friday - with regards to over R5-million of alleged unpaid work. According to Garrith Jamieson, spokesperson for the KZN Private Ambulance Association, the procession to RAF comes as a last resort after failing to recoup the money for their work, espe...