Church refugees finding homes: Verryn

The refugees about to be evicted from the Central Methodist Church in Johannesburg are finding their own accommodation, Bishop Paul Verryn said on Monday.

Verryn said he had been involved in the inner city for many years to ensure the Constitution protected people, including against eviction without alternative accommodation being provided.

"The church took a decision at one of its meetings that when I leave, the people in this building must also vacate this building," he said.

He would not comment on the Sunday Times's report that the refugees were being kicked out for running up a R2 million electricity bill. Verryn's term as superintendent at the church was coming to an end this month.

According to the New Age he told the church he was not afraid to approach the court after the church said it would evict more than 400 people by the end of December.

"I don't think we are going to get to that place. I have a feeling that people want to co-operate and find a dignified way to deal with this matter," Verryn told Sapa.

"Poor people are not disposable units... One of the good things that came from this was the media that helped to enable people to understand that there is a greater humanity that we are dealing with in this matter."

He said people were slowly beginning to move and many managed to get their own accommodation after the church, next to the high court in the CBD, decided it would close its doors to refugees by the end of December.

Verryn said many people were finding accommodation in Soweto. He had meetings with leaders from the Lutheran church and counsellors from Soweto to find alternative accommodation.

On Christmas eve, the number of people who needed accommodation was 468.

Verryn said he had lived in Soweto for 27 years and would continue working there and the Central Methodist Church would continue its worship sessions as usual.

The church has been a home for refugees since the xenophobic attacks in the country in 2008.

Presiding Bishop Reverend Ziphozihle Siwa was not immediately available for comment.

The refugees had reportedly said they would fight the process as they had nowhere to go and were unemployed.

-SAPA


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Former Bishop of Joburg celebrartes 40th anniversary

A festival of events will mark the first month of the new year in Johannesburg with the visit of a former Bishop of the city, the Rt Revd Dom Timothy Bavin.

Bishop Bavin headed the Anglican Church in the Diocese of Johannesburg during the heady days of the 1976 Soweto uprising and the massive socio-political changes that occurred during the 1980s. He will visit Johannesburg at the invitation of Bishop Steve Moreo, the current Bishop of Johannesburg, and St Mary's Cathedral.

As Bishop in Johannesburg, he was frequently in the firing line of the former South African government for opposing apartheid along with Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, Bishop Simeon Nkoane and other senior church leaders across denominational lines.

Organiser of the visit, Sidney Place, Organist and Treasurer of St Mary's Cathedral, says: "Bishop Bavin has a keen mind, a wealth of knowledge, and an engaging and entertaining personality. A man of profound spirituality, he was deeply committed to reconciliation, and his vision of a future South Africa was perhaps best underlined by appointing Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu in 1975 as Dean of St Mary's Cathedral in Johannesburg. Tutu was at the time working as a parish priest in the UK."

Bishop Bavin is currently Oblate Master at Alton Abbey in England.

Bishop Bavin will speak at several public and private events during his visit from 16 to 29 January 2015. These will include preaching at St Mary's Cathedral, Johannesburg, on Sunday 18 January, at the Sung High Mass at which the present Bishop of Johannesburg, the Rt Revd Steve Moreo, will preside.

Further details of Bishop Bavin's visit will be released in early January.

Issued on behalf of St Mary's Cathedral by Quo Vadis Communications

Media contact:

Chantal Meugens 083-676-2294

Theo Coggin 082-900-0168

-SAPA


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Methodists pull plug on Joburg church slum

Johannesburg - Bishop Paul Verryn will give his last Sunday church service at the infamous Central Methodist Church in Johannesburg after the church’s leadership ordered that the building be vacated after people living there ran up a R2m electricity bill.

According to the Sunday Times, the church, which has housed over 30 000 people over the past six years will on Wednesday lock out the remaining 500 refugees living there.

Numbers swelled in 2008 during the height of the xenophobic attacks after Verryn, the church’s superintendent, gave refuge to thousands of Zimbabweans at the time.

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Zuma calls for a speedy Second Coming

Durban - Addressing a group of elderly people at a Christmas gathering at his Nkandla homestead, President Jacob Zuma called on Christian priests to pray to God to send Jesus back to Earth because of the many sins in the country.




According to the Sunday Times, Zuma had been speaking off the cuff on Saturday and claimed there were many churches in the country “sinning too much”.

“The sins we have today are more than those that Jesus came to salvage. I ask the priests to ask God to send His son to come back again to cleanse our sins,” he said.

“He [God] must send him [Jesus] again. This time we won’t crucify him,” he added.

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NEWS: KZN church millions fleeced

Durban - It’s going to be a bleak Christmas for hundreds of Durban investors who poured money into Carmol Distributors, an alleged ponzi scheme now under investigation by the South African Reserve Bank.





Almost 2 500 investors, many of whom were encouraged to join by their local pastors, received a letter this week telling them the company’s operations had been suspended following a court order.

The alleged scheme, thought to be worth over R450 million, involved the distribution of diesel to foreign countries. Investors were promised up to an 8 percent monthly return on their investment.

The company, owned by Joburg-based entrepreneur Yunus Moolla, was suspended this week pending an investigation in terms of the Banks Act.

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NEWS: Stop expensive funerals says council of churches

The South African Council of Churches has slammed exorbitant funerals and wants burial societies to get better deals from insurance companies that underwrite their funeral schemes.

Church leaders say many funerals - estimated to cost R9.3-billion a year by financial services firm Old Mutual - are too expensive.

The SACC's ecumenical secretary in Gauteng, Rev Gift Moerane, said money was wasted on expensive funeral policies and coffins.

"South Africans do save but wrongly. We save money for death, not for life," said Moerane, who manages the SACC's nationwide financial literacy ministry.

Moerane said the SACC was talking to burial societies across the country to ensure that they get better deals for their members.

 READ MORE


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NEWS: Worries over food shortages, price hikes amid power cuts

Cape Town - Experts warn that Eskom’s power cuts could have a disastrous affect on agriculture which could result in food shortages and a spike in food prices.





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NEWS: Tutu marks thirty years since Nobel Prize

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu appealed to South Africans to resuscitate the values associated with its early days of democracy as he marked 30 years since receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.

"My plea to my compatriots, to government and civil society, faith leaders and educators, parents and elders and youth, is to institute programmes and trigger discussions aimed at resuscitating the national spirit of magnanimity and common purpose -­ and fostering self-esteem and self-worth."

Tutu, 83, said he was honoured to have received the Nobel Peace Prize on December 10, 1984.

"The feeling of national euphoria that took hold in those early years of our democracy masked the necessity for us to follow through the work of healing a society battered and bruised by centuries of racial division and oppression," he said in a statement.

Mechanisms aimed at redistributing wealth had largely failed with the gap between rich and poor having widened.

The education system was also not succeeding in lifting people out of poverty.

"All these factors contribute to retarding the healing of the soul of the nation, and conspire to create the environment for the intolerable levels of violence and racism that bedevil our society today," Tutu said.

He reflected on stories that dominated South African media coverage this year.

These included the trial of paralympian Oscar Pistorius for shooting dead his girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp.

Tutu said: "Our women and children seem constantly under threat from predator men".

Another news story he referred to was the wrapping up of the Commission of Inquiry into the events at Marikana in 2012.

On August 16 two years ago, 34 people, mostly striking miners, were shot dead by police in a confrontation that Tutu said "mirrored the worst apartheid police atrocities".

"It's as if we're in a time warp, and have returned to the past.

"Thirty years ago, on acceptance of the Peace Prize, I reflected on the rich bounty God had given South Africa; there were enough of the good things for all to live in dignity. This remains the case."

Tutu said one of former president Nelson Mandela's greatest gifts had been to teach South Africans to "see beyond pigmentation, beyond gender, sexual orientation, social status and religious belief ­ to acknowledge the worth of all people".

The Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation said on Tuesday that Tutu had cancelled his travel plans for the rest of the year because he was starting a new course of medication to manage the prostate cancer he has been living with for 15 years.

Tutu's daughter said he would no longer attend the Nobel Peace Laureates Summit in Rome this week.

-SAPA


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NEWS: No power cuts until January - Eskom

Johannesburg - As South Africans prepare for the summer holiday with lazy days of parties and fine food, Eskom says there will not be any disturbances caused by power cuts.

"As it stands and things don't change, the risk of load shedding is very low for today and the whole of December," the Eskom media desk said on Friday.

Spokesperson Andrew Etzinger said things were starting to look up for the power utility.

"There is a low probability of load shedding today. The grid is in good shape and unless something happens, the power will be fine," he said.

http://www.fin24.com/Economy/No-power-cuts-until-January-Eskom-20141212

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*Note: Views expressed in the commentaries on this website are those of individual authors and not necessarily those of PEFM 87.6or our presenters or correspondents.  Quotes are obviously the opinion of the source. A quote is just a quote and these are offered without comment. Use of a news story or commentary is not an endorsement of the source website.

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NEWS: SA’s newest low-cost airline set to take off in 2015

Johannesburg - South Africa’s newest low-cost airline, Skywise, is officially launching on Saturday 13 December, announcing its maiden flight.

The airline’s initial flights will be between Cape Town and Johannesburg, with the first flight taking place on 11 February 2015, which will carry school children adopted by the Thembekile Mandela Foundation. The date of Skywise’s maiden voyage is significant given that it was on the same day in 1990 that former President, Nelson Mandela, was released from prison after 27 years.

Tickets will go on sale to the general public on 11 February, the airline announced in a statement.

http://traveller24.news24.com/News/Flights/SAs-newest-low-cost-airline-announces-its-first-flight-20141212


 
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*Note: Views expressed in the commentaries on this website are those of individual authors and not necessarily those of PEFM 87.6or our presenters or correspondents.  Quotes are obviously the opinion of the source. A quote is just a quote and these are offered without comment. Use of a news story or commentary is not an endorsement of the source website.

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NEWS: Government steps in to halt the slide at Eskom, SAA and the Post Office

Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe has announced the appointment of a war room technical team to oversee the immediate implementation of a turnaround plan for Eskom.

The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting. Radebe says Cabinet is concerned about the performance of some state-owned companies, in particular Eskom, SAA and the Post Office.

President Jacob Zuma has assigned Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa to oversee government’s action plan for all three entities.

-NewsFlash


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*Note: Views expressed in the commentaries on this website are those of individual authors and not necessarily those of PEFM 87.6or our presenters or correspondents.  Quotes are obviously the opinion of the source. A quote is just a quote and these are offered without comment. Use of a news story or commentary is not an endorsement of the source website.

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NEWS: Generations The Legacy in shocking viewership plunge

Cape Town – They no longer like you Karabo. The SABC's reset primetime soap Generations The Legacy on SABC1 is in a shocking ratings tailspin, going down fast and losing millions of viewers as its former TV audience flee.




The new show which started on Monday last week is now down to just 4.1 million viewers.

Meanwhile major concern is mounting over what was once the SABC's now apparently broken crown jewel and what it means for the South African TV industry, the public broadcaster and advertisers.

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*Note: Views expressed in the commentaries on this website are those of individual authors and not necessarily those of PEFM 87.6or our presenters or correspondents.  Quotes are obviously the opinion of the source. A quote is just a quote and these are offered without comment. Use of a news story or commentary is not an endorsement of the source website.

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NEWS: God often blamed for child disability

Johannesburg - A punishment from God, witchcraft, anger of ancestral spirits, incestuous relationships and the misdemeanours of the mother.

These are the frequently stated causes for disability in children in Africa, according to a report, published by medical journal The Lancet, by the African Child Policy Forum.

Entitled “The African Report on Children with Disabilities: Promising starts and persisting challenges”, the report gives a description, analysis and synthesis of the situation of children with disabilities across the continent and provides several recommendations for policy and programme reforms.

The report says more than 1 billion people, or 15 percent of the world’s population, have a disability. The 2011 World Disability Report (by the World Health Organisation and the World Bank) estimated that there were between 93 and 150 million disabled children under 14 years of age.

The report states that in South Africa, the main contributors of childhood impairment and disability are illness; pre- and peri-natal problems such as genetic disorders and birth trauma; injuries; accidents; and violence.

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NEWS: Pistorius's conviction appeal granted

Judge Thokozile Masipa has granted the state’s application to appeal paralympian athlete Oscar Pistorius’s conviction.

However, she dismissed the state’s application to appeal his sentence.





“In the result in respect of the application ... the following order is granted. One, the application for leave to appeal against sentence is dismissed,” she said.

However, on the application against his conviction, she said: “I am satisfied that the points raised by the applicant [the state] are indeed a question of law.”

The Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein will deal with the judgment to re-examine the matter of dolus eventualis in the case.

On Tuesday, Barry Roux SC for Pistorius told the court that the law had been correctly applied in the conviction and sentencing of the athlete.

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel argued that the sentence imposed on Pistorius was “shockingly inappropriate”.
Nel said the court showed too much mercy for Pistorius, who could have foreseen that he could unlawfully kill whoever was behind the door.

Sentencing
On October 21, Masipa sentenced Pistorius to five years in jail for the culpable homicide of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

He shot her dead through the locked door of the toilet in his Pretoria home on February 14 last year, apparently thinking she was an intruder.

The state filed papers last month calling for a heavier conviction and harsher sentence to be imposed on the athlete. Pistorius was sentenced to a further three years, suspended for five years, for discharging a firearm at Tasha’s restaurant in Sandton, Johannesburg, in January 2013.
-SAPA


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NEWS: Beware of fraudulant debit orders at Christmastime

With Christmas just around the corner fraudsters are getting ready to launch their annual attack on unsuspecting consumers with fraudulent debit orders.

Working hand-in-hand with crooked banking employees who supply the banking details of targeted consumers, criminal syndicates create bogus debit orders which they then submit to payment systems companies who are unwitting accomplices in the scheme.

Fred Steffers, managing director of PS&S, one of the largest payment systems companies, said it was a continuous game of cat and mouse with criminals who sought to defraud consumers by creating fake debit orders without the knowledge of consumers.

"Usually the first indication we get that fraud has been committed is when consumers question debit orders that had suddenly appeared on their bank statements.

Steffers said payment systems companies collaborated with each other when cartels are uncovered.

"We meet on a regular basis to compare notes and to share information on fraudulent activities."

He said Christmas was an especially dangerous period because this was the height of the shopping season and consumers were not always as observant as they should be in checking their bank statements.

"My best advice to the public would be to check bank statements as often as possible. For account holders who use internet banking it is a simple matter of logging in on a daily basis to check if there are any suspicious transactions.

"For consumers who do not have on-line banking facilities the situation is more complicated but they should go to their nearest branch and ask for a bank statement at least once a month."

Steffers said that while the problem was not widespread, it was of great concern to companies like PS&S who were responsible for a large percentage of debit order transactions.

"It is clear to us (payment systems companies) that if we don't remain vigilant the problem is going to grow into a monster with many heads sprouting up all over the country."

He said payment systems companies processed all debit orders submitted to them in good faith.

"A recent investigation of bulk debit order requests processed by us over the past three months indicates that more than 95% of all transactions seem legitimate. The remaining percentage that is not, is resulting in consumers being defrauded of substantial amounts of money."

Steffers said payment systems companies were currently in talks with the country's largest credit bureau to find a solution to the problem.

"One possibility is that we will submit a yet-to-be-determined percentage of all debit order request submitted to us to the credit bureau who will verify that the consumers names and ID numbers match."

Steffers said the debit order industry played a significant role in smoothing financial transactions making it easy for consumers to buy goods and services by telephone.

It was also a significant player in the overall economy contributing billions of rand to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country, he said.

"We are working hard to weed out the rotten apples who try and take short cuts and basically operate as conmen using fraudulent tactics to obtain the banking details of unsuspecting consumers and then getting us to debit them believing the transaction had been done in legitimately."

For more information, please contact Fred Steffers on his cell at 083 268 6779 or e-mail him fred@psas.co.za Browse www.smartcollect.co.za <www.smartcollect.co.za>

-SAPA


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*Note: Views expressed in the commentaries on this website are those of individual authors and not necessarily those of PEFM 87.6or our presenters or correspondents.  Quotes are obviously the opinion of the source. A quote is just a quote and these are offered without comment. Use of a news story or commentary is not an endorsement of the source website.

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NEWS: Southern Africa's Archbishop Responds to Extremist Murders

The Anglican Archbishop of Southern has spoken of his distress at the news of the murder of two hostages by Al-Qaeda in Yemen.

South African teacher Pierre Korkie and UK-born US journalist Luke Somers were killed on Saturday by the al-Qaeda militants during a failed rescue operation by joint US and Yemeni special forces in the southern Shabwa region.

Primate of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa and Archbishop of Cape Town Thabo Makgoba today issued a statement:

"Sad and shocked at the death of Pierre Korkie, we in the Anglican Church sends our condolences to his wife, Yolande, and their family.

"As we mourn his death and that of Luke Somers, we call on all nations involved to expose those who maintain the extremism of groups such as Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

"We need to ask who benefits from their terror tactics and what is missing in our efforts to end such hostage-taking and killing. And we need also to address the grievances which fuel such extremism.

"May the hope of Advent prevail and surround the world."

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*Note: Views expressed in the commentaries on this website are those of individual authors and not necessarily those of PEFM 87.6or our presenters or correspondents.  Quotes are obviously the opinion of the source. A quote is just a quote and these are offered without comment. Use of a news story or commentary is not an endorsement of the source website.

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NEWS: ‘We’re Trying To Prevent A National Blackout’ – Eskom

Power utility Eskom has implemented load shedding in order to avoid a national blackout, said the parastatal’s chief executive Tshediso Matona on Monday.

Speaking at a media briefing at Eskom’s Megawatt Park offices, Matona apologised to South Africans for the inconvenience caused by the constant blackouts.

“We want to apologise to the nation for the inconvenience of the past few weeks due to load shedding,” he said.

“It pains us to load shed, but we are living on the edge for a variety of reasons. A blackout is a catastrophic event, so when we do load shedding we are trying to retreat from the brink of a disaster.”

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*Note: Views expressed in the commentaries on this website are those of individual authors and not necessarily those of PEFM 87.6or our presenters or correspondents.  Quotes are obviously the opinion of the source. A quote is just a quote and these are offered without comment. Use of a news story or commentary is not an endorsement of the source website.

© PEFM 87.6

NEWS: Shrien Dewani cleared of honeymoon murder of wife Anni Dewani

Cape Town – Shrien Dewani is a free man after the Western Cape High Court ruled in favour of his application to be discharged of killing his wife Anni Hindocha.

Dewani's lawyers brought the application last month in terms of Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Act.




This opened the way for a discharge if the court believed there was no credible evidence at the close of the State's case.

He was charged with kidnapping, murder and defeating the ends of justice. It was alleged Dewani plotted with taxi driver Zola Tongo and others to murder Hindocha in November 2010.

Western Cape High Court Deputy Judge President Jeanette Traverso, despite facing a petition calling for her recusal, made the ruling on Dewani's application.

-SAPA


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International Correspondent Scott Congdon can be reached at:
Mail: scottcpefm@gmail.com
Phone: 010 500 8203 (in South Africa) (Available 3-5pm SAST weekdays)
011 27 10 500 8203 (calling from outside of South Africa) (Available 3-5pm SAST weekdays)

*Note: Views expressed in the commentaries on this website are those of individual authors and not necessarily those of PEFM 87.6or our presenters or correspondents.  Quotes are obviously the opinion of the source. A quote is just a quote and these are offered without comment. Use of a news story or commentary is not an endorsement of the source website.

© PEFM 87.6

WATCH: Nelson Mandela’s Interview With Oprah – Showing His Humility To Mankind

Watch the late former President Nelson Mandela on the Oprah Winfrey Show in 2000. The world leader talks of his time on Robben Island and the peace talks that paved the way for a democratic South Africa.

“The thing that was challenging was getting [Mandela] to admit that he played the greatest role in the Apartheid movement,” said Winfrey. “Because he kept saying, “no it wasn’t me, it was all the other people,’ and I realised in that interview with him that that is what true humility is.



“He was insistent upon not going forward with the interview without including all of the other people who were part of the movement.”

WATCH VIDEO


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International Correspondent Scott Congdon can be reached at:
Mail: scottcpefm@gmail.com
Phone: 010 500 8203 (in South Africa) (Available 3-5pm SAST weekdays)
011 27 10 500 8203 (calling from outside of South Africa) (Available 3-5pm SAST weekdays)

*Note: Views expressed in the commentaries on this website are those of individual authors and not necessarily those of PEFM 87.6or our presenters or correspondents.  Quotes are obviously the opinion of the source. A quote is just a quote and these are offered without comment. Use of a news story or commentary is not an endorsement of the source website.

© PEFM 87.6

NEWS: Eskom chaos set to dampen Christmas festivities

Cape Town - South Africans are warned to brace themselves for cold turkey on Christmas Day as the Eskom crisis looks set to continue into the New Year, reported the Sunday Times.



According to the newspaper, consumers can expect 54 hours of darkness in the coming week as the embattled parastatal announced that it needed to free up 4 000MW after running out of water and diesel at some facilities.

CEO of the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry Neren Rau said the country’s unstable electricity supply was the single biggest risk to the country’s economy.

READ MORE 


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International Correspondent Scott Congdon can be reached at:
Mail: scottcpefm@gmail.com
Phone: 010 500 8203 (in South Africa) (Available 3-5pm SAST weekdays)
011 27 10 500 8203 (calling from outside of South Africa) (Available 3-5pm SAST weekdays)

*Note: Views expressed in the commentaries on this website are those of individual authors and not necessarily those of PEFM 87.6or our presenters or correspondents.  Quotes are obviously the opinion of the source. A quote is just a quote and these are offered without comment. Use of a news story or commentary is not an endorsement of the source website.

© PEFM 87.6

NEWS: Julius Malema to say 'I do' to local sweetheart-

EFF leader, Julius Malema is set to be a married man come 2015. The fire brand leader is apparently going to say 'I do' to his girlfriend, Mantwa Matlala this December.

Malema will wed Matlala, a woman who won his heart years ago, The Star reports.

The two are gearing up for their traditional wedding ceremony which is expected to take place in Malema's hometown of Seshego, Polokwane. A source confirmed to The Star that the wedding day will be a massive event with the local community already preparing for what is believed to be an extravagant affair.

READ MORE

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International Correspondent Scott Congdon can be reached at:
Mail: scottcpefm@gmail.com
Phone: 010 500 8203 (in South Africa) (Available 3-5pm SAST weekdays)
011 27 10 500 8203 (calling from outside of South Africa) (Available 3-5pm SAST weekdays)

*Note: Views expressed in the commentaries on this website are those of individual authors and not necessarily those of PEFM 87.6or our presenters or correspondents.  Quotes are obviously the opinion of the source. A quote is just a quote and these are offered without comment. Use of a news story or commentary is not an endorsement of the source website.

© PEFM 87.6

NEWS: Photographer suing govt for R20m for using Mandela image

Cape Town - A photographer is suing the South African government for R20m for using his image of Nelson Mandela.

Shaun Earl Harris says he has tried addressing government with his concerns but have received no response.



In 2006, the South African Government Communication & Information Systems (GCIS), purchased a license to use Harris’s photograph in a book.

This license was, however, limited to the once off use of the image in a book published and distributed in South Africa.

READ MORE

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International Correspondent Scott Congdon can be reached at:
Mail: scottcpefm@gmail.com
Phone: 010 500 8203 (in South Africa) (Available 3-5pm SAST weekdays)
011 27 10 500 8203 (calling from outside of South Africa) (Available 3-5pm SAST weekdays)

*Note: Views expressed in the commentaries on this website are those of individual authors and not necessarily those of PEFM 87.6or our presenters or correspondents.  Quotes are obviously the opinion of the source. A quote is just a quote and these are offered without comment. Use of a news story or commentary is not an endorsement of the source website.

© PEFM 87.6

NEWS: SA is expected to come to a standstill to honour Nelson Mandela at 10 tomorrow morning

Acting President Cyril Ramaphosa is urging South Africans to observe a minute of silence in honour of Nelson Mandela tomorrow.

Ramaphosa will deliver the keynote address at the official commemoration ceremony of the former president’s death at Freedom Park in Pretoria.

He today called on all South Africans, churches, mosques, temples, factories, schools and motorists to ring their bells, sirens, hoot and use loud hailers to call the country to attention at three minutes and seven seconds to 10 tomorrow morning.

A moment’s silence will also be observed across the country between 10 and three minutes past 10.
-NewsFlash

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International Correspondent Scott Congdon can be reached at:
Mail: scottcpefm@gmail.com
Phone: 010 500 8203 (in South Africa) (Available 3-5pm SAST weekdays)
011 27 10 500 8203 (calling from outside of South Africa) (Available 3-5pm SAST weekdays)

*Note: Views expressed in the commentaries on this website are those of individual authors and not necessarily those of PEFM 87.6or our presenters or correspondents.  Quotes are obviously the opinion of the source. A quote is just a quote and these are offered without comment. Use of a news story or commentary is not an endorsement of the source website.

© PEFM 87.6

NEWS: Mother Stays Close To Christian Faith As She Mourns Family Killed By Taliban

The wife and mother, whose husband and two teenage children were killed by Taliban rebels at their compound in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Saturday, has turned to her Christian faith for comfort, reported the Beeld on Tuesday.





“I am sad that I did not go with them, but the Lord clearly has other plans for me,” Hannelie Groenewald told the newspaper.

It is believed that the family, who had been living in Kabul since 2002, were gunned down after they were identified as alleged undercover missionaries working to convert Muslim people to the Christianity faith.

READ MORE


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International Correspondent Scott Congdon can be reached at:
Mail: scottcpefm@gmail.com
Phone: 010 500 8203 (in South Africa) (Available 3-5pm SAST weekdays)
011 27 10 500 8203 (calling from outside of South Africa) (Available 3-5pm SAST weekdays)

*Note: Views expressed in the commentaries on this website are those of individual authors and not necessarily those of PEFM 87.6or our presenters or correspondents.  Quotes are obviously the opinion of the source. A quote is just a quote and these are offered without comment. Use of a news story or commentary is not an endorsement of the source website.

© PEFM 87.6

NEWS: Scheduled electricity cuts could be over for this year

Eskom is cautiously optimistic that the country will get through the rest of this year without any more scheduled power blackouts.

Spokesperson Andrew Etzinger says the weekend’s load shedding boosted reserves, and with schools and many businesses closing soon, demand is bound to decrease.

He nevertheless encourages consumers to continue saving electricity as the network remains under pressure.
-NewsFlash

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International Correspondent Scott Congdon can be reached at:
Mail: scottcpefm@gmail.com
Phone: 010 500 8203 (in South Africa) (Available 3-5pm SAST weekdays)
011 27 10 500 8203 (calling from outside of South Africa) (Available 3-5pm SAST weekdays)

*Note: Views expressed in the commentaries on this website are those of individual authors and not necessarily those of PEFM 87.6or our presenters or correspondents.  Quotes are obviously the opinion of the source. A quote is just a quote and these are offered without comment. Use of a news story or commentary is not an endorsement of the source website.

© PEFM 87.6