NEWS: Nigerian preacher and televangelist TB Joshua has linked a deadly building collapse at his Lagos megachurch to a suspicious aircraft, but rescue workers have ruled out any foul play. Joshua, dubbed “The Prophet” by fanatical followers because of his purported predictions and healing powers, showed footage of the moments leading up to the collapse on his emmanuel.tv network. Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said 42 people were killed in Friday’s incident, while 130 escaped or were pulled out alive from the rubble. Of the 300 South Africans known to have travelled to Nigeria recently, 67 are confirmed to have gone to Joshua’s church. In the security camera footage, apparently from opposite the vast church compound, what is described as an aircraft is seen over the building four times at 11.30am, 11.43am, 11.45am and 11.54 am. The uncompleted building, five floors of which are visible above a high wall, is then seen to collapse at 12.44pm, throwing up huge clouds of dust into the air. “After the incident, the strange aircraft does not return,” a commentary accompanying the images adds. There was no independent verification of the authenticity of the footage, but Joshua has said he would make it available to Nigeria’s security agencies.
POLTICS The efforts of the five opposition parties who had tabled the motion of No Confidence against National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete in parliament yesterday were in vain, as the final decision reached was that she’d carry on with her duties. As a result of the disruptive proceedings, as well as the insults made by ANC MPs, in particular Bertha Peace Mabe, the opposition parties walked out of parliament, leaving the ANC and its 62% majority to vote in favour of Mbete. The voting results were a total of 234 all advocating for Mbete to continue with her job as parliamentary speaker.
ENTERTAINMENT SABC 3 audience numbers are dwindling seriously, according to a report on Times Live. SABC’s acting CEO Tiaan Olivier presented the public broadcaster’s third quarter performance figures in parliament yesterday. Earlier this year SABC 3 Channel Head Aisha Mohamed promised to deliver a new SABC 3 by February next year. Some of the criticism levelled against the channel is that the majority of their content is old, international and lacks diversity. Editor of TVSA Tashi Tagg was quoted as saying the channel seemed to be confused about who their target market is. “If they do know, then they aren’t doing a good job of appealing to them. They’re spending money and time on rebranding the channel instead of on hot, new TV shows,” Tagg said. Tagg suggested that the channel add more local dramas and comedies instead of filling up their content with lifestyle and magazine shows. A 2012 report compiled by Media Monitoring Africa warned that the channel’s news broadcasts were the only content saving it from being in trouble with Icasa. The report further stated that 53% of the SABC 3’s content was sourced from the US, while only 41% was local.
BUSINESS Global online classifieds platform OLX, among the most used online platforms in the world, recently announced its expansion in eleven countries across Southeast Asia and Europe. As part of an ongoing initiative to transform OLX into the world’s largest consumer-to-consumer (C2C) marketplace, OLX’s parent company, Naspers, consolidated its online classified services in Switzerland, the Philippines, Thailand, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, the Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Indonesia, and re-branded them as OLX, giving the global classifieds brand a major presence in these key markets. Naspers, a leading global media company, which also owns a major stake in China’s Tencent, initially acquired a majority stake in OLX in 2010, which has increased to 95% over time. Naspers rebranded most of its other online classifieds properties – Ricardo, Tablica, Aprod, Prodavalnik, Sulit, Dealfish, Mercador, Slando and Tokobagus – as OLX this summer following several years of rapid growth by the startup, which was founded in Buenos Aires and New York.
ENTERTAINMENT It’s a baby girl for Ryan Gosling and girlfriend Eva Mendes. The Hollywood couple welcomed their baby girl on Monday 16 September. The couple kept mum about their pregnancy, but only because doctors had prescribed lots of bed rest for 40-year-old Mendes. Sources close to the couple told the celebrity news channel E! Online that the baby was her mommy’s replica. Mendes is apparently excited and had been looking forward to motherhood for the longest time.
SOURCES: Times Live, SAPA, Hollywood Life, SkySports