Newsbreak

SABC News and Current Affairs — by SABC News Journalist, Minoshni Pillay - The South African Indian community has been handed a site along Durban's beachfront to erect a monument honouring the legacy of the indentured Indian labourers who arrived in 1860. Today marks the one hundred and fifty-sixth (156th) anniversary since the first ships from India arrived on Durban's shores carrying men and wom...

SABC News and Current Affairs — The Durban High Court has found the two women accussed of the murder of nine-year-old Shahiel Sewpujun, guilty. Kavitha Naicker was sentenced to life imprisonment and her mother Rajwanthie Hariepersadh to twenty-five years for the brutal way they murdered the young boy and dumped his body in a manhole. The trial has sparked an outpouring of grief from the Phoenix co...

SABC News and Current Affairs — Crime expert from the Institute for Security Studies, Dr. Johan Burger, says business robberies, house robberies and car hijacking are the most feared crimes in the country - especially in KwaZulu-Natal. Dr. Burger was a guest speaker at the KwaZulu-Natal Crime Summit. Their aim is to find ways to decrease crime and other related activities. Burger says figures show...

SABC News and Current Affairs — As the world commemorates International Fraud Awareness Week today, the South African Police Services say they will not only intensify fraud and crime awareness campaigns but also do everything within its powers to put people behind bars for abusing state resources. This after a 29-year-old man was recently arrested for opening a false case at the Durban central pol...

SABC News and Current Affairs — Members of the public must be proactive in reporting illegal electricity connections. That's the caution given by emergency services after an 8-year-old girl was killed by a homemade electrical fence in Coniston - Verulam, north of Durban on Monday. The grade three pupil was walking barefoot outside her home on Ramnath Road when she tripped and fell onto the fence....

SABC News and Current Affairs — by Newsbreak Producer, Hafsa Mkhize - Eight out of ten children are abused by close family members. That's according to Phoenix Child and Welfare society, North of Durban. The organisation has raised concerns over the increasing amount of family rape that has been taking place over the past week. This after the ruling at the Verulam Regional Court- where a 50 year o...

SABC News and Current Affairs — by Newsbreak Producer, Prabashini Moodley - A single mother and her daughter have been left homeless after their home at Puntans Hill in Durban was burnt down in the early hours of this morning. Vanessa Naidoo and her daughter were awoken by the smell of burning furniture. According to family spokesperson Jules Naidoo, they had battled for several months to try to g...

SABC News and Current Affairs — by Newsbreak Producer, Maya Jagjivan - Go back to basics with your children. That's the urgent call made by the The Anti-Drug Alliance of South Africa. They say age old lessons such as 'do not talk to strangers' and 'don't accept anything from someone you don't know' is more necessary now than ever before. The organisation was reacting to the drug poisioning of 15 c...

SABC News and Current Affairs — by Newsbreak Producer, Prabashini Moodley - KwaZulu-Natal police are warning members of the public to avoid carrying around large amounts of cash. This after a Pinetown man was shot and killed before he was robbed of an undisclosed amount of cash on Monday. He had just withdrawn the money from the ATM and was on his way to his business premises in Pinetown. Police s...

SABC News and Current Affairs — by Newsbreak Producer, Maya Jagjivan - Clothing stores need to be more sensitive to the realities of bullying in South Africa. This is the call from Durban-based clinical psychologist Dr Sherona Rawat after an online furore erupted over a T-shirt for girls aged 7 to 8. The T-shirt stocked by retailer Jet has a slogan that reads "You can't sit with us". A concerned p...

SABC News and Current Affairs — by Newsbreak Producer, Maya Jagjivan - Here is the statement issued by Jet, as voiced by Newsbreak's Maya Jagjivan. You can view a picture of the re-designed T-shirt on our social media - @Newsbreak_Lotus and Newsbreak LotusFM on Facebook.

SABC News and Current Affairs — by Newsbreak Producer, Prabashini Moodley - Fomer Lotus FM presenter Faradh Patel remains in a critical but stable condition in hospital, after he was robbed of cash and shot twice at Booysens, South of Johannesburg, on Monday morning. According to his brother Adam Patel, Faradh was travelling on the M1 highway when his tyre punctured. He was awaiting assistance fro...

SABC News and Current Affairs — by Newsbreak Producer, Maya Jagjivan - As the court case by environmental activists against government's one trillion rand nuclear plans gains momentum, more focus is being placed on alternate sources of energy - such as wind and solar. In their latest project, solar manufacturer SolarWorld Africa has partnered with a non-profit organisation that seeks to promote su...

SABC News and Current Affairs — by Newsbreak Producer, Prabashini Moodley - South Africans of Indian-origin have toiled and worked towards building a greater, democratic country and have contributed to every facet of the country's economy. Those are the sentiments expressed by member the 1860 Commemoration Council Seelan Archery. Archery spoke to Newsbreak ahead next week's SOD turning ceremony fo...

SABC News and Current Affairs — by Newsbreak Producer, Maya Jagjivan - Durban-based political analyst Imraan Buccus says Donald Trump played on the fears of many Americans, and it seems Hilary Clinton was let down by key groups of the American electorate...

SABC News and Current Affairs — by Newsbreak Producer, Taresh Harreeparshad - The US Consulate in Durban says that a lot will be planned now to ensure a smooth diplomatic transition- following Trump's victory as US President elect. Public Affairs Officer Mark Carr says the immediate goal would be to set a transition team...

SABC News and Current Affairs — by Newsbreak Producer, Maya Jagjivan - The Proteas are in high spirits after beating Australia by 177 runs in the first test in Perth. It also marked the debut of Durban's Keshav Maharaj who took the final wicket as SA bowled Australia out for 361. For budding cricketers who hope to follow in Maharaj's footsteps - the latest technological tool could be just what's n...

SABC News and Current Affairs — With 15 by-elections set take place in six provinces across South Africa today, candidates should expect a voter turnout that is less than 30%. This is according to SABC Specialist Researcher Ronesh Dhawraj, speaking ahead of South Africa's first by-elections since August the 3rd. 12 of the wards are former ANC wards, two were previously held by the DA and one by th...

SABC News and Current Affairs — by Newsbreak Producer, Hoosen Ebrahim - The South African Institution of Civil Engineering says South African engineers are being side-lined by the Department of Water and Sanitation. This after the department entered into an agreement with Italy to import skills into the country. The department says the Water Cooperation Agreement will help eradicate poverty in the...

SABC News and Current Affairs — by Newsbreak Producer, Maya Jagjivan - Families and communities must seek help in the aftermath of violent crime or they could risk living in a constant state of fear. Recently, Newsbreak has reported on several violent incidents in Durban alone. Last week, a 71 year old man Abdul Khalik was shot dead while on his way to a mosque in Phoenix. At the weekend, a 26 yea...

SABC News and Current Affairs — by Newsbreak Senior Producer, Genevieve Lanka - A South African student who was attacked and beaten by a gang in Bangalore, India - while trying to save his female friends from being raped is recovering in hospital. 19-year-old Abishek Bunwari is a Business Management student in Bangalore. He suffered extensive injuries in the attack and had to undergo reconstructiv...

SABC News and Current Affairs — by Newsbreak Producer, Hoosen Ebrahim - Social Activist and journalist, Yusuf Abramjee has just published his book entitled #Hajj2016, A Journey. The publication contains a photographic coffee table display of his pilgrimage to Mecca, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Abramjee documents his first hand experiences in the book which aims to create an understanding of Ha...

SABC News and Current Affairs — by Newsbreak Executive Producer, Salma Patel - Two young Durban Whizzkids need your help. Verulam Secondary School Grade 11 learner, Amaan Rampath, has been selected to represent South Africa in the International Junior Maths Olympiad in Lucknow, India. Rampath, who hails from a single-parent home, is just one of 28 learners who will be jetting off to India in this...

SABC News and Current Affairs — by Newsbreak Executive Producer, Salma Patel - Meanwhile, non-profit organisation - the Foundation for English, Mathematics, Sciences, Sports and Innovation of South Africa - or FEMSSISA is arranging this trip for learners to the Olympiad in Lucknow. Another learner from Apollo Secondary School in Durban, Celestian Kayleb Kisten, also qualified for the Lucknow Olymp...

SABC News and Current Affairs — by Newsbreak Producer, Hoosen Ebrahim - Investigations continue into the murder of 46-year-old Paresh Bodalia outside his home in Westville on Saturday. The Durban father and businessman was gunned down in front of his 6-year-old twins in what police suspect was a botch hijacking. This comes shortly after another Westville residents was shot during a robbery last mo...