Newsbreak

SABC News and Current Affairs — India's government said today that it was confident of controlling the spread of Coronavirus which has infected 12,300 people so far. But the public assurance sounded hollow amid a desperate scramble by hundreds of thousands of workers stranded in locked down cities with no jobs, food or money. Our South Asian correspondent Rana Senn reports..

SABC News and Current Affairs — by Newsbreak Producer, Shanell Daniel - Education Expert, Professor Jonathan Jansen, says it is unreasonable to expect educators to cover-up on lost teaching time in the remaining parts of this year - following the coronavirus pandemic. Jansen advises that the 2020 academic year be called-off and pupils promoted to the next grade, with a catch-up plan in place for 2...

SABC News and Current Affairs — by Newsbreak Producer, Tashlan Naidoo - Eight KwaZulu-Natal emergency medical service staff will appear before a hearing tomorrow for allegedly failing to pick up and transport a positive COVID19 patient last month. According to the National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union or NEHAWU, five of the 8 belong to their union. Nehawu Provincial secretary, Ayand...

SABC News and Current Affairs — By Newsbreak Producer Matthew Veeran - The South African Muslim Network (SAMNET) have lauded the decision to ban the sale of alcohol and are in full support of the regulation continuing. The Network's Dr. Faisal Suliman says the ban of liquor has contributed immensely to a safer society for all in South Africa. He goes on to say that while SAMNET does understand the...

SABC News and Current Affairs — By Newsbreak Executive Producer Salma Patel - The community of Phoenix in Durban is rallying to support a man who tested positive for COVID-19. Initially, the family had to deal with the infection AND the stigma associated with it. The impact was made worse by fake news and a number of rumours doing the rounds on social media. But now, every evening, the community i...

SABC News and Current Affairs — By Newsbreak Producer Hoosen Ebrahim - A man suspected of robbing a petrol station in Chatsworth Main Road in Umhlatuzana, outside Durban will appear in court soon. According to reports from the scene, he unwittingly handed himself over to police when he went to buy petrol there while officers and witnesses were still present. The petrol station was robbed earlier t...

SABC News and Current Affairs — By Newsbreak Producer Shanell Daniel - With food production and distribution hampered during the National Lockdown and the demand for food being even greater, South Africa needs to have measures in place to ensure food sustainability in the long-run. This is according to Agricultural Economist at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Professor Lloyd Baiyegunhi. In this w...

SABC News and Current Affairs — By Newsbreak Producer Hoosen Ebrahim - A husband and wife team have been working hard to research and understand the novel coronavirus, infecting over two-million people globally. Based in Durban, Professor Quarraisha Abdool Karim is married to the South African epidemiologist, Professor Salim Abdool Karim. They have both been working tirelessly for weeks on end, to...

SABC News and Current Affairs — By Newsbreak Producer Tashlan Naidoo - Going to the store for essential items has become a daunting task for many people and health officials are urging people to wear a mask if you do venture out. Face masks are seemingly difficult to come by because of its high demand by health-care workers. The South African Medical Association (SAMA) Chairperson, Dr Angelique Co...

SABC News and Current Affairs — by Newsbreak Producer, Matthew Veeran - While there have been various reports of a decrease in South Africa's crime rate, a number of areas in KwaZulu-Natal have described the increase in fence-hopping as a "serious concern". Dhevan Govindasamy of private security company - PT Tactical Unit, says drug addicts are often the main culprits as they wander the streets lo...

SABC News and Current Affairs — by Newsbreak Producer, Hoosen Ebrahim - Correctional Services Department officials have begun disinfecting at least three facilities which include the Head Office in Pretoria, the East London correctional facility and the St Albans Centre in Port Elizabeth. This follows an increase of 49 positive cases of the coronavirus at the East London Correctional facility with...

SABC News and Current Affairs — by Newsbreak Producer, Hoosen Ebrahim - Netcare Kingsway Hospital in Amanzimtoti, south of Durban, stopped admitting new patients earlier today after it emerged that staff had tested positive for Covid-19. Reports indicate that the trauma unit has been closed off after a patient and staff tested positive for the virus. The Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Af...

SABC News and Current Affairs — by Newsbreak Producer, Salma Patel - India has extended its lockdown until May the third to curb the spread of the coronavirus. India has recorded more than 10-thousand infections and 339 deaths. A South African who is in lockdown in India due to the travel bans says people should not be afraid of the extension of the lockdown. 27-year-old Brandon Majozi, from Umlaz...

SABC News and Current Affairs — By Newsbreak Producer Tashlan Naidoo - Following the COVID-19 presentation by infectious disease epidemiologist Professor Salim Abdool Karim earlier this week - social media users were quick to laud him for his impressive outlook. Professor Abdool Karim discussed what South Africa is likely to face in the coming months and spoke about how it should be dealt with. Ac...

SABC News and Current Affairs — By Newsbreak Producer Hoosen Ebrahim - The Department of Basic Education is considering a number of options to help salvage the 2020 schooling year. South Africa's schools were closed on the 18th of March as part of the measures to try and stop the spread of the coronavirus before the lockdown and schools were to resume again on the 14th of April 2020. Spokesperson...

SABC News and Current Affairs — By Newsbreak Producer Hoosen Ebrahim - The Coronavirus has now infected over two million people around the world. It begun as a mysterious pneumonia-like illness in Wuhan, China late last year, but has now turned into a global health crisis that has threatened economies throughout the world. Meanwhile, South African health authorities are confident that the measures...

SABC News and Current Affairs — By Newsbreak Producer Matthew Veeran - The talk of the football world at this current moment revolves around non-playing staff taking pay cuts due to the coronavirus pandemic. Premier League outfits Bournemouth, Newcastle United and Norwich have all decided to put staff on furlough, while Liverpool and Tottenham recently reversed similar decisions. But while many ar...

SABC News and Current Affairs — By Newsbreak Producer Tashlan Naidoo - The issue of food parcels being unfairly distributed around the country has come to the fore as we near the end of the third week of lockdown. Now, The Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (CASAC) is calling on government to take steps to make the lockdown easier to swallow for the most vulnerable in so...

SABC News and Current Affairs — By Newsbreak Producer Shanell Daniel - A 37-year-old man has appeared at the Durban Magistrates Court after he was found in possession of drugs. Now, this incident is related to the death of a doctor who was killed in a fire at the Windermere Holiday Flats on North Beach, Durban, earlier this week. The 44-year-old doctor was found in his bathroom along with the susp...

SABC News and Current Affairs — by Newsbreak Producer, Hoosen Ebrahim - More than a dozen police officers are expected to appear in various courts around the country today after allegedly contravening alcohol-related laws during the national lockdown. National Police spokesperson Brigadier Vish Naidoo confirmed a total of around 15 officers were handcuffed over the long weekend. One of the cases i...

SABC News and Current Affairs — by Newsbreak Producer, Shanell Daniel - Around 100 lockdown violation cases are being seen at the Johannesburg Magistrates Court today following the Easter long weekend. Our SABC News reporter, Hasina Gori, is at court. She says while there are large amounts of people at court strict measures are in place in keeping with the Covid-19 Lockdown regultions...

SABC News and Current Affairs — by Newsbreak Producer, Shanell Daniel - While some are comfortably abiding by the National Lockdown Regulations, there are many communities who are finding it to be a challenge. With some not having homes to stay in during the lockdown and others being concerned about issues related to eviction from rented homes - many South African's are in need of assistance. The...

SABC News and Current Affairs — by Newsbreak Producer, Shanell Daniel - The Reserve Bank has announced an emergency interest rate CUT of 100 basis points. This repo rate now stands at 4-point-2-5 percent. The announcement was made after the bank moved its monetary policy committee meeting, which was scheduled for May, forward to today. Last month the Reserve Bank cut the repo rate by a full percen...

SABC News and Current Affairs — by Newsbreak Producer, Hoosen Ebrahim - India's nationwide lockdown, the biggest in the world, has been extended until the 3rd of May. The three-week lockdown of the nation of 1.3 billion people, which started on the 25th of March , was scheduled to end at midnight tonight. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the extension was due to the world trend on the spread of t...

SABC News and Current Affairs — by Newsbreak Producer, Salma Patel - Several foreign-owned shops are being looted and the owners attacked at Umlazi, south of Durban. Deven Govindasami of a private security company says the army and police have been deployed to the area......