LOCAL Eskom said it would escalate scheduled power cuts to "Stage 4" from 4 pm until midnight on Thursday due to a shortage of generation capacity. The utility had earlier announced "Stage 2" power cuts during the evening peak hours for Wednesday and Thursday, which would have required up to 2,000 megawatts to be shed from the national grid. Eskom said in a statement that there had been a delay […]
LOCAL Several roads leading into Kagiso, west of Johannesburg, have been blocked off this morning due to a community protest against illegal mining in the area. The blockage follows the gang rape of eight women, who were part of a production crew, shooting a music video. They were working on site when the attack took place on Thursday last week, near a mine dump in Krugersdorp. According to police, the […]
LOCAL The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) in the Western Cape says it will embark on strike action on Thursday against crime and high fuel prices. Cosatu members will march through the Cape Town CBD, to the provincial legislature, Civic Centre and Parliament. Cosatu provincial secretary Malvern de Bruyn says talks to resolve issues have been unsuccessful. “The march is about the crime issue in our province, [and it is] about […]
LOCAL The Western Cape has reported a high number of gender-based violence cases that are being thrown out of court as a result of dockets going missing. Statistics from the quarterly report of the Department of Community Safety’s Court Watching Brief team shows that just short of 200 criminal cases were withdrawn in court, between 1 April and 30 June, as a result of police inefficiencies. Western Cape MEC of […]
By Tauhierah Salie Western Cape residents are encouraged to prepare for a legal, mass strike by COSATU on Thursday morning. Thousands of members are expected to take to the streets to demand government urgently tackle high crime and fuel prices in the province. Provincial spokesperson, Malvern de Bruyn, said its ‘all systems go’ and that support has been received from at least fifteen unions. Hundreds of marshals have been appointed […]
INTERNATIONAL The Palestinian Authority is responsible for the torture and ill-treatment of civilians, the United Nations Committee against Torture (CAT) determined, after the completion of hearings investigating the torture. According to the UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner, the “Committee was seriously concerned about the causalities caused by the excessive use of force, particularly the use of lethal weapons by security forces and unidentified armed elements during demonstrations on the […]
INTERNATIONAL The Doha agreement, struck between the US and the Taliban some two years ago, has been the subject of intense debate since the targeted assassination of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. Zawahiri was killed on Sunday morning when a US drone strike targeted the 71-year-old while he stood on the balcony of his villa in the capital Kabul. A veteran militant with a $25m reward on his head, Zawahiri had helped coordinate the 9/11 attacks […]
INTERNATIONAL Yemen's warring sides agreed to renew a two-month truce expiring on Tuesday, the United Nations Envoy said, despite international pressure for an extended and expanded deal that would build on the longest stretch of relative calm in over seven years, Reuters reports. "This truce extension includes a commitment from the parties to intensify negotiations to reach an expanded truce agreement as soon as possible," Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, said […]
INTERNATIONAL A man has been arrested by Egyptian authorities yesterday after footage circulated online showed him tying up and dragging a stray dog behind his vehicle. The video, which has since gone viral, has angered thousands of Egyptian social media users, who called for his arrest, reported The National. According to a statement by the Ministry of Interior, the man's intention behind the act was to entertain his children. The incident […]
VOC became the first Muslim radio station in South Africa when a special events license was granted to the station in Ramadan/January 1995. Subsequent temporary broadcast licenses were granted, permitting the station to broadcast for 24 hours.
