The year 2014 has certainly turned heads with quite a few attention grabbing headlines. We look back at stories that made the circle bigger.
1. Oscar Pistorius
The court case involving paralympian Oscar Pistorius definitely attracted a lot of attention, both locally and internationally.
Everyone was glued to their TV screens, smart phones, and computers keeping a close eye on the proceedings. Some wanted to see if the paralympian would get a lesser sentence - others wanted him to get the highest penalty in the judicial system. Some compared the case to Jub Jub's using a race card to see if Pistorius would get a lesser sentence than Jub Jub Maarohanye who had also taken a life - turning many South Africans into 'social media legal experts'. Click here to look back at the Oscar hype
Oscar Pistorius arrives court sentencing
2. EFF changes Parliament forever with their #PayBackTheMoney chants
After the EFF won seats in Parliament, they continued to grab headlines inside the National Assembly.
Although a lot of people would have called the MPs of the Economic Freedom Fighters hooligans for trying to get President Jacob Zuma to pay back the money he unduly spent on his Nkandla home. Deep down many agreed with them.
There were plenty of reports ranging from the public protector’s report to the SIU who found that the money spent on President Zuma’s home was inflated and that he had to pay back some of it. The reports were ignored and after a while the EFF realised that this will just fall off so the guys in red overalls decided to chant “Pay Back The Money” in Parliament in order to be heard. This in turn caused chaos and changed Parliament proceedings forever. Click here to look back at the #BringBracktheMoney hype
3. Mfundi Vundla's Generations Legacy
Following a protest by 16 of the main cast of Generations, the most watched television soap had to be pulled from our screens after running out of recorded shows.
For the very first time in over two decades, South Africans did not see their favourite show when tuning in to SABC 1.
Soapie fans now had to adjust to not seeing their actors and actresses on the prime time slot forcing them to watch Skeem Saam, which surprisingly seemed more popular than Generations, the 'hit' soapie.
The return of Generations dropped jaws and caused more confusion than clarity. It was a totally new Generations altogether, that saw the return of golden oldies like Tau Mogale (Rapulana Seiphemo) and Karabo Moroka (Connie Ferguson). It was even given a new title “Generations: The Legacy”. Imagine! Click here to look back at how the behind-the-scenes soapie unfolded offline
4. Eishkom
Although Eskom and the government are saying that there is no crisis at the parastatal, the recurring loadsheds indicates that there's something definitely going on that we should all be concerned about. South Africans, especially those in Gauteng, have been subjected to eating in the dark and indulging on takeouts as electricity was interrupted for the most part.
‘#Loadshedding’ trended on Twitter with people expressing their frustrations at Eskom. If you were kept in the dark about the loadshedding, click here to follow the blackout saga and here
Eskom's gift to you this xmas from Yalo's pen
5. Racists
It would be an injustice to the public if we do not include this one as it once again sadly resurfaced.
Racial disputes.
There have been a lot of racial incidents this year in South Africa. Especially towards end of the year.
EFF leader Julius Malema was involved in what has been described a racial altercation at a Steers restaurant in Tzaneen.
Chester Missing (Conrad Koch) was involved in a couple of racial stand-offs, one with DA leader Helen Zille and the other with Afrikaaner musicial Steve Hofmeyr which ended in court.
A petrol attendant was attacked by a couple of bikers at an Engen garage after requesting them to not smoke near the petrol pumps as the whole station might go up in flames.
Yep we had a lot of those. Click here for some colour on the stories we covered and here
6. The Police (SAPS)
The people tasked with protecting the nation, grabbed headlines for the wrongs reasons this year. Some of the most prominent cases being: 50 year old Roseline Appolis being assaulted by police with one of them even standing on her head.
Another, was the case of the police officers who were suspended after being caught on video kicking and punching a naked man in Cape Town. The footage shows the man being punched and kicked in the groin, while his arms are held at his sides.
Recently two members of the community were fatally wounded by members of the SA Police Service in Mbizana. This is after residents started looting goods from a truck. 11 people were injured and taken to the Bizana Hospital. Click here to watch this brutal video and here for more
7. Minnie Dlamini
Sorry, we have to mention this. Minnie Dlamini is remembered for her infamous headlines this year after a girl only known as Ncumisa emptied a glass of vodka and cranberry juice on Dlamini at her 24th birthday party at the club in Rosebank, Joburg then a month later Dlamini dumped her boyfriend, Itumeleng Khune after discovering that Khune was having an affair with a Vanessa Masilo.
After recovering from her heartache, she then decided to focus on her career. Dlamini decided to take a tour of the world (USA and Durban actually) to get behind a camera and shoot various scenes to make up a calendar. Click here to see photos of her tour in New York and here to see her beautiful photoshoot in Durban
8. Thuli Madonsela
Ahhh... our people's hero. For the first time in a long time, the people of South Africa felt some comfort in knowing that the public had a public protector. Public Protector Thuli Madonsela certainly found fame when trying to defend a whole country against alleged misspending and gross negligence. She stood her ground after releasing a report declaring that President Jacob Zuma unduly benefited from the government and must therefore pay back some of the money spent on his Nkandla home. Madonsela received all kinds of threats and was sworn at by the ANC members with one of the ANC veterans calling her a ‘CIA spy’. Click here for an awesome animated video that went viral after the Nkandla saga - featuring 'Thuli Madonsela'
9. Senzo Meyiwa
Sadly, Senzo Meyiwa did not only make news because he was a successful goalkeeper that led both the national team and Orlando Pirates - but made headlines because he was murdered, at his nyatsi's (other woman) house.
Meyiwa’s death came as a shock to the whole nation. A hero, whom everyone looked up to in terms of leading the national team Bafana Bafana to the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
Not only did his death make headlines but his funeral also grabbed attention with plenty of talk around the justification of a provincial funeral at the public’s expense.Click here to look at some photos and here on how Senzo spent his last day
10. Boity strips naked for Marie Claire
To snap out of the sorrow, let's remember Boity's booty on Marie Claire. Although a lot of celebrities including Slikour and Micasa’s J Something stripped naked for a good cause, Boitumelo ‘Boity’ Thulo's butt stood out. The picture of her perfectly shaped butt trended so much that even rapper Cassper Nyovest used it on his hit song ‘Doc Shebeleza’. Click here to go back to that moment of goodwill from Boity's side.
11. Shakes Kungwane's death forces people to be concerned about their health
Shake's sudden death made a lot of people worried about their health. It was news that shook the nation as South Africans woke up to the news of well loved sports presenter and former footballer Shakes Kungwane. The Former Kaizer Chiefs player and soccer legend passed away in May after being in ICU for 2 days. Therafter there were quite a few discussions around his unhealthy lifestyle. Minister of Sport Fikile Mbalula suggested that Alexandra stadium be renamed in honour of Kungwane. Click here for the news that shook the nation
12. Shakes Mashaba
Shakes Mashaba was named the ‘cheapest coach’ Bafana Bafana has ever had (shame). A lot of people did not believe that Mashaba would be able to see the national team to greater heights but thankfully he had proven everybody wrong after leading Bafana through the AFCON qualifiers. Mashaba has been grabbing headlines for a lot of things including his choice of players, especially in the first team. Click here for more and more
13. Lexi and Mandla have sex in the Big Brother house
South Africans were exposed to just more than nudity during the Big Brother Mzansi when contestants Mandla and Lexi had a steamy sex during the shower hour. No need to say more. Click here to uncover what happened between them
14. South Africans dying in a church collapse in Nigeria
Over 80 South Africans left the country to attend a Nigerian church called ‘SCOAN’ - only to return in coffins.
This made headlines for reasons ranging from ‘How is the God in Nigeria better than the God in South Africa’, to “TB Joshua (the pastor) made a sacrifice with our people’, ‘What were they doing there, they were just greedy for more money’.
To make matters worse, it took over two months for the country to successfully repatriate their remains. Click here read about it
15. Hlaudi Motsoeneng
And here comes superman - err, we mean Hlaudi Motsoeneng.
If he was not in the headlines for his qualifications, or lack thereof, Motsoeneng was in the headlines for either doubling or tripling his salary.
Despite the Public Protector Thuli Madonsela releasing a report that Motsoeneng lied about having obtained a matric certificate, he was appointed as the chief operations officer and later acting chief financial officer. Click here to read more
Top 15 'headline grabbers' of 2014
The year 2014 has certainly turned heads with quite a few attention grabbing headlines. We look back at stories that made the circle bigger.
1. Oscar Pistorius
The court case involving paralympian Oscar Pistorius definitely attracted a lot of attention, both locally and internationally.
Everyone was glued to their TV screens, smart phones, and computers keeping a close eye on the proceedings. Some wanted to see if the paralympian would get a lesser sentence - others wanted him to get the highest penalty in the judicial system. Some compared the case to Jub Jub's using a race card to see if Pistorius would get a lesser sentence than Jub Jub Maarohanye who had also taken a life - turning many South Africans into 'social media legal experts'. Click here to look back at the Oscar hype
2. EFF changes Parliament forever with their #PayBackTheMoney chants
After the EFF won seats in Parliament, they continued to grab headlines inside the National Assembly.
Although a lot of people would have called the MPs of the Economic Freedom Fighters hooligans for trying to get President Jacob Zuma to pay back the money he unduly spent on his Nkandla home. Deep down many agreed with them.
There were plenty of reports ranging from the public protector’s report to the SIU who found that the money spent on President Zuma’s home was inflated and that he had to pay back some of it. The reports were ignored and after a while the EFF realised that this will just fall off so the guys in red overalls decided to chant “Pay Back The Money” in Parliament in order to be heard. This in turn caused chaos and changed Parliament proceedings forever. Click here to look back at the #BringBracktheMoney hype
3. Mfundi Vundla's Generations Legacy
Following a protest by 16 of the main cast of Generations, the most watched television soap had to be pulled from our screens after running out of recorded shows.
For the very first time in over two decades, South Africans did not see their favourite show when tuning in to SABC 1.
Soapie fans now had to adjust to not seeing their actors and actresses on the prime time slot forcing them to watch Skeem Saam, which surprisingly seemed more popular than Generations, the 'hit' soapie.
The return of Generations dropped jaws and caused more confusion than clarity. It was a totally new Generations altogether, that saw the return of golden oldies like Tau Mogale (Rapulana Seiphemo) and Karabo Moroka (Connie Ferguson). It was even given a new title “Generations: The Legacy”. Imagine! Click here to look back at how the behind-the-scenes soapie unfolded offline
4. Eishkom
Although Eskom and the government are saying that there is no crisis at the parastatal, the recurring loadsheds indicates that there's something definitely going on that we should all be concerned about. South Africans, especially those in Gauteng, have been subjected to eating in the dark and indulging on takeouts as electricity was interrupted for the most part.
‘#Loadshedding’ trended on Twitter with people expressing their frustrations at Eskom. If you were kept in the dark about the loadshedding, click here to follow the blackout saga and here
5. Racists
It would be an injustice to the public if we do not include this one as it once again sadly resurfaced.
Racial disputes.
There have been a lot of racial incidents this year in South Africa. Especially towards end of the year.
EFF leader Julius Malema was involved in what has been described a racial altercation at a Steers restaurant in Tzaneen.
Chester Missing (Conrad Koch) was involved in a couple of racial stand-offs, one with DA leader Helen Zille and the other with Afrikaaner musicial Steve Hofmeyr which ended in court.
A petrol attendant was attacked by a couple of bikers at an Engen garage after requesting them to not smoke near the petrol pumps as the whole station might go up in flames.
Yep we had a lot of those. Click here for some colour on the stories we covered and here
6. The Police (SAPS)
The people tasked with protecting the nation, grabbed headlines for the wrongs reasons this year. Some of the most prominent cases being: 50 year old Roseline Appolis being assaulted by police with one of them even standing on her head.
Another, was the case of the police officers who were suspended after being caught on video kicking and punching a naked man in Cape Town. The footage shows the man being punched and kicked in the groin, while his arms are held at his sides.
Recently two members of the community were fatally wounded by members of the SA Police Service in Mbizana. This is after residents started looting goods from a truck. 11 people were injured and taken to the Bizana Hospital. Click here to watch this brutal video and here for more
7. Minnie Dlamini
Sorry, we have to mention this. Minnie Dlamini is remembered for her infamous headlines this year after a girl only known as Ncumisa emptied a glass of vodka and cranberry juice on Dlamini at her 24th birthday party at the club in Rosebank, Joburg then a month later Dlamini dumped her boyfriend, Itumeleng Khune after discovering that Khune was having an affair with a Vanessa Masilo.
After recovering from her heartache, she then decided to focus on her career. Dlamini decided to take a tour of the world (USA and Durban actually) to get behind a camera and shoot various scenes to make up a calendar. Click here to see photos of her tour in New York and here to see her beautiful photoshoot in Durban
8. Thuli Madonsela
Ahhh... our people's hero. For the first time in a long time, the people of South Africa felt some comfort in knowing that the public had a public protector. Public Protector Thuli Madonsela certainly found fame when trying to defend a whole country against alleged misspending and gross negligence. She stood her ground after releasing a report declaring that President Jacob Zuma unduly benefited from the government and must therefore pay back some of the money spent on his Nkandla home. Madonsela received all kinds of threats and was sworn at by the ANC members with one of the ANC veterans calling her a ‘CIA spy’. Click here for an awesome animated video that went viral after the Nkandla saga - featuring 'Thuli Madonsela'
9. Senzo Meyiwa
Sadly, Senzo Meyiwa did not only make news because he was a successful goalkeeper that led both the national team and Orlando Pirates - but made headlines because he was murdered, at his nyatsi's (other woman) house.
Meyiwa’s death came as a shock to the whole nation. A hero, whom everyone looked up to in terms of leading the national team Bafana Bafana to the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
Not only did his death make headlines but his funeral also grabbed attention with plenty of talk around the justification of a provincial funeral at the public’s expense.Click here to look at some photos and here on how Senzo spent his last day
10. Boity strips naked for Marie Claire
To snap out of the sorrow, let's remember Boity's booty on Marie Claire. Although a lot of celebrities including Slikour and Micasa’s J Something stripped naked for a good cause, Boitumelo ‘Boity’ Thulo's butt stood out. The picture of her perfectly shaped butt trended so much that even rapper Cassper Nyovest used it on his hit song ‘Doc Shebeleza’. Click here to go back to that moment of goodwill from Boity's side.
11. Shakes Kungwane's death forces people to be concerned about their health
Shake's sudden death made a lot of people worried about their health. It was news that shook the nation as South Africans woke up to the news of well loved sports presenter and former footballer Shakes Kungwane. The Former Kaizer Chiefs player and soccer legend passed away in May after being in ICU for 2 days. Therafter there were quite a few discussions around his unhealthy lifestyle. Minister of Sport Fikile Mbalula suggested that Alexandra stadium be renamed in honour of Kungwane. Click here for the news that shook the nation
12. Shakes Mashaba
Shakes Mashaba was named the ‘cheapest coach’ Bafana Bafana has ever had (shame). A lot of people did not believe that Mashaba would be able to see the national team to greater heights but thankfully he had proven everybody wrong after leading Bafana through the AFCON qualifiers. Mashaba has been grabbing headlines for a lot of things including his choice of players, especially in the first team. Click here for more and more
13. Lexi and Mandla have sex in the Big Brother house
South Africans were exposed to just more than nudity during the Big Brother Mzansi when contestants Mandla and Lexi had a steamy sex during the shower hour. No need to say more. Click here to uncover what happened between them
14. South Africans dying in a church collapse in Nigeria
Over 80 South Africans left the country to attend a Nigerian church called ‘SCOAN’ - only to return in coffins.
This made headlines for reasons ranging from ‘How is the God in Nigeria better than the God in South Africa’, to “TB Joshua (the pastor) made a sacrifice with our people’, ‘What were they doing there, they were just greedy for more money’.
To make matters worse, it took over two months for the country to successfully repatriate their remains. Click here read about it
15. Hlaudi Motsoeneng
And here comes superman - err, we mean Hlaudi Motsoeneng.
If he was not in the headlines for his qualifications, or lack thereof, Motsoeneng was in the headlines for either doubling or tripling his salary.
Despite the Public Protector Thuli Madonsela releasing a report that Motsoeneng lied about having obtained a matric certificate, he was appointed as the chief operations officer and later acting chief financial officer. Click here to read more
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