Newsbreak

By Newsbreak Executive Producer Salma Patel - South Africa, as a country, is bankrupt. That's according to Economist Professor Dilip Garach - who adds that a second hard lockdown could ravage an already ailing economy. Many countries have had to impose hard lockdowns after a resurgence of the second wave of the coronavirus. Professor Garach says while South Africa had handled the pandemic much bet...

By Newsbreak Producer Hoosen Ebrahim - Several civil society organisations have joined hands in marching outside parliament this afternoon as Finance Minister, Tito Mboweni delivers his medium-term budget policy statement. The coalition consists of organisations including Equal Education, Section 27 and the Alternative Information and Development Centre (AIDC). Senior economist at the AIDC, Dick F...

By Newsbreak Producers Tashlan Naidoo and Salma Patel - Today marks the 103rd Anniversary of the "Padavattan Six" - a group of seine-netters, who saved 176 people from drowning in the Tintown Floods of 1917. Little is known about the brave efforts of Captain Mariemuthoo Padavattan, his brother Gengan, Sabapathy Periyasamy Govender, Rangasamy Naidoo, 16 year old Kuppusamy Naidoo, and T Veloo. The t...

By Newsbreak Producers Shanell Daniel and Matthew Veeran - With the advancement in technology and inflation to account for, a flagship mobile phone in South Africa can cost you anything between R16,000 and R20,000. Go back a few years to 2016 and you will see a marked increase in top-tier cellular devices, with Samsung's brand new "Galaxy S7" costing around R9,000. Of course, the phones we see in...

By Newsbreak Producer Tashlan Naidoo - Management at the Wild Coast Sun, situated on the south coast of KwaZulu-Natal, say saving staff jobs is their top priority. With the tourism industry still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, the popular holiday resort say they managed to retain all staffers - even though revenue streams were extremely low during the hard lockdown. The Wild Coast Sun attr...

by Newsbreak Executive Producer, Salma Patel - Seven days before his 30th birthday, Roodepoort school teacher Ahmed Timol was brutally killed when he was flung from the 10th floor of John Forster Square Police Station 49 years ago TODAY. The apartheid regime claimed that Timol committed suicide but its been established that the SACP and Umkhonto We Sizwe member was murdered. Although the family he...

by Newsbreak Producer, Shanell Daniel - The NPA's Sipho Ngwema has also called for the responsible handling of a document, naming Meyiwa's girlfriend Kelly Khumalo, which was erroneously sent to the media

by Newsbreak Producer, Shanell Daniel - The case against the five accused arrested in connection with the murder of soccer star Senzo Meyiwa has been postponed to the 27th of November in the Boksburg Magistrates court. Themba Sibiya, Bongani Ntanzi, Mthobisi Ncube, Mthokozisi Maphisa and Sifiso Ntuli have been charged with murder, attempted murder, robbery with aggravated circumstances and possess...

by Newsbreak Producer, Shanell Daniel - A foetus has been found in a shallow grave Umzumbe, in Port Shepstone, on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast. Police spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala, says the foetus was found wrapped in linen and buried.......

By Newsbreak Producer Tashlan Naidoo - The South African Anti-Drug Forum have lauded the recent drug busts in KwaZulu-Natal, but feels there needs to be more convictions in order for the drug scourge to be dealt with in the country. In the recent weeks, crime fighting organisations such as the HAWKS and SAPS have made multi-million rand busts of marijuana, heroine and other narcotics. Anti-Drug Fo...

By Newsbreak Producers Shanell Daniel and Hoosen Ebrahim - Public Enterprise Minister, Pravin Gordhan is set to be cross-examined by former SARS boss Tom Moyane this Friday. This comes as Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo ruled that Moyane may cross examine Gordhan, subject to certain conditions. His questions must relate to Gordhan's allegation that the laying of criminal charges against him was...

By Newsbreak Producer Tashlan Naidoo - Health experts says that regular check ups and treatment should be done even during a time of COVID-19. Around the world, many people are choosing to delay treatment for serious and chronic ailments because they are worried about being exposed to the virus. Lenmed Group Chief Medical Officer, Dr Nilesh Patel says people have become anxious due to the uncertai...

By Newsbreak Producer Tashlan Naidoo -]In a strange turn of events, a peacock was found in the boot of a vehicle that was used as a getaway car by two hijacking suspects at Umhlanga, north of Durban. According to Tyron Powell of private security company - Marshall Security - an alert was put out on the vehicle. Powell says upon investigation and a social media post, the peacock was found to have b...

By Newsbreak Producer Matthew Veeran - With the festive season around the corner and the end of the year looming, criminals will once again use this time to target South African households. Mid-year figures from StatsSA shows that there were around 1,3 million incidents of housebreaking - affecting 5,8% of all households in the country. The statistics also showed that the most likely victims of ho...

By Newsbreak Producer Tashlan Naidoo - Some of the 8 suspects that were arrested linked to an alleged car theft syndicate operating at the Durban beachfront are currently appearing before the courts. This comes after a lengthy investigation by Durban metro police and private law enforcement who yesterday make the breakthrough and busted 4 suspects in the act of stealing a vehicle. Police tracked t...

KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala has warned that the provincial government and law enforcement agencies will crack down on those flaunting COVID-19 regulations to fend off a second wave of infections. The number of new cases has increased in nine of the province's 12 districts over the past two weeks. The provincial government is also working on a comprehensive contingency plan for the influx...

By Newsbreak Producer Rachel Vadi - Later today, a 34-year old man is expected to appear at the Estcourt Magistrate Court in the KwaZulu-Natal midlands, on charges related to drug dealing. The man allegedly tried to flush the drugs down the toilet when police approached his home. Meanwhile, Mohammed Irshaad Desai, a facilitator at the "Re-focus and Upliftment Foundation" (RAUF) says the drug situa...

By Newsbreak Producer Taliesha Naidoo - As the class of 2020 prepare for their final examinations, fears have been mounting on how the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown might affect performance and results. An exam under the current circumstances, coupled with the expectations for academic excellence, could place immense pressure on a student. Educational Psychologist, Nicola Buhr explains...

By Newsbreak Producer Taliesha Naidoo - The lockdown has left many women across the world bearing the brunt of responsibility. To highlight this, a group of 18 South African women have come together to pen down their experiences, thoughts and even a fictional short story or two - in a book titled, "Lockdown Behind the Mask." The book, sheds the spotlight on how women were impacted by an increasing...

By Newsbreak Producer Rachel Vadi - The Isipingo Marieamman Temple was established in 1870, by Nariansamy Moodley - an Indian Indentured Labourer who carried a Marieamman Murthi with him in his journey from India to South Africa. When the sugar barons noticed the large numbers of devotees that would gather on the banks of the river, they allocated land to Moodley to build the temple. Since then, t...

By Newsbreak Talk Presenter and Producer, Taresh Harreepershad NewsbreakTalk speaks to Deena Govender from the eThekwini Electricity Department about the increase in recent electricity tariffs.

By Newsbreak Presenter and Producer, Taresh Harreepershad The Bergville Taxi Association in KwaZulu-Natal says it has begun preparing for an influx of commuters as the holiday season approaches to reduce road accidents. This follows a series of major accidents that has claimed more than twenty lives in the province. Sixteen people were killed in a crash involving a taxi and a truck on Thursday in...

By Newsbreak Producers Matthew Veeran and Taliesha Naidoo - The mute button, or at least the threat of it, seemed to work - during the second and final United States Presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. In contrast the the previous debate, the candidates were more restrained and allowed each other to speak. With just 11 days to go now until the US election, the debate saw Trump...

By Newsbreak Producer Shanell Daniel - Two men are expected to appear at the Durban Magistrates court on Monday for the alleged murder of a vagrant over a stolen cell-phone dispute. KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson - Colonel Thembeka Mbele says the 33-year old-man was at the Saint Andrews sports field in Durban when the incident occurred. Colonel Mbele says he was living near the field in a tent,...

By Newsbreak Producer Matthew Veeran - The Western Cape Health Department have partnered with charities and a local clothing manufacturer to provide both employment and free quality cloth masks to people in high-risk communities. Known as "UbuntuCare", the initiative aims to address issues in rural areas, which have been hit the hardest by COVID-19 infections. The masks consists of three layers, w...