Update at 17h45 SAST
SA Tourism to Go Ahead With Tottenham Hotspur Deal
SA Tourism announced today that it will be pushing ahead with the controversial almost R1 billion Tottenham Hotspur sponsorship proposal. The sponsorship would see the football club advertise South Africa as a tourist destination, Eyewitness News reports. Despite condemnation from various quarters of South African society including President Cyril Ramaphosa, SA Tourism said it will be moving ahead with the next step of the Tottenham Hotspur sponsorship proposal.
AKA To Receive Provincial Funeral
Multi-award-winning hip-hop artist AKA whose real name is Kiernan Forbes will be laid to rest in a private provincial funeral on Saturday, February 18, 2023. The artist's bereaved family said the memorial service will take place on Friday February 17 at the Sandton Convention Centre, Eyewitness News reports.
Steenkamps Withdraw Forgiveness for Oscar Pistorius on the 10th Anniversary of Daughter's Murder
Speaking on the tenth anniversary of Reeva Steenkamp's murder, Barry and June Steenkamp say that while they initially forgave Oscar Pistorius for killing their daughter, they now believe Pistorius should stay behind bars for life after he refused to admit to them that he deliberately shot Reeva, IOL reports. According to MailOnline, Reeva's father met with Pistorius last year as part of the Victim-Offender Dialogue, facilitated by the Department of Correctional Services. The programme is part of the rehabilitation process for parole candidates. It aims to provide closure for the victim's family as well as an opportunity for the perpetrator to seek forgiveness. Pistorius is serving a 13-year sentence for the infamous murder on Valentine's Day in 2013, when he claimed to have mistaken Reeva for an intruder, shooting her through the bathroom door.
Government Declares National State of Disaster Over Floods
The government has announced another national state of disaster, this time in response to widespread flooding across the country - with forecasters warning that persistent and heavy rains this week could put a prolonged strain on rescue teams, reports News24. According to a statement from the office of the president, Mpumalanga, and the Eastern Cape have been the most severely impacted by the floods, which were brought on by intense rainfall as a result of the La Nina meteorological phenomena. Flooding has also occurred in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, the Northern Cape, and North West. The Presidency added that the agricultural sector bore the brunt of the flooding. "In agriculture, farmers have suffered crop and livestock losses, and anticipate further losses as the South African Weather Service predicts that current heavy rains will persist. Scattered to widespread showers and thunderstorms are still expected for the remainder of the week for a large portion of the country.
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20 Killed in Limpopo Bus Crash
At least twenty people died, and another 68 were injured in a head-on collision between a tour bus and a cash-in-transit van on the N1 in Louis Trichardt, Limpopo, reports News24. ER24 spokesperson Ross Campbell says the bus rolled off a bridge into a river, landing on its side. "Three people were found deceased by the roadside and sixteen down by the river. All were declared dead on arrival. Most of the fatalities down by the river had been trapped under the bus," said Campbell. Police are still investigating the exact cause of the crash.
Equatorial Guinea Vice-President's Yacht, Homes Seized in South Africa
Two homes and a superyacht belonging to Equatorial Guinea's vice president Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue have been seized in South Africa after a local businessman sued for unlawful arrest and torture, reports eNCA. A Cape Town high court in 2021 ordered Obiang - the son of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo - to pay Daniel Janse van Rensburg around R40 million (U.S.$2.2 million) in damages. Janse van Rensburg had been unlawfully detained and tortured for 491 days in a notorious Equatorial Guinea jail when a business deal went sour in 2013, according to his lawyer Errol Eldson.
