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Eyewitness News
3 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Eyewitness News
'My greatest dream' - Taylor Swift buys back rights to old music
NEW YORK - Pop sensation Taylor Swift, who was locked in a feud with record executives since 2019 over ownership of her music, has bought back the rights to her entire back catalog, she said Friday. "All of the music I've ever made ... now belongs ... to me," she wrote on her website, after years of disputes over her first six albums, a number of which she rerecorded to create copies she owns herself. "To say this is my greatest dream come true is actually being pretty reserved about it," she wrote in the letter to her devoted followers. "To my fans, you know how important this has been to me - so much so that I meticulously re-recorded and released four of my albums, calling them Taylor's Version." Those records included the award-winning "Reputation" and "Taylor Swift." Swift bought back her masters from Shamrock Capital, an LA investment firm, for an undisclosed amount. The re-recording power move came in the wake of public sparring with industry mogul Scooter Braun, her one-time manager whose company had purchased her previous label and gained a majority stake in her early work. He later sold Swift's master rights to the private equity company. 'THIS FIGHT' The situation left Swift publicly incensed: "I just feel that artists should own their work," she said in 2019. "She's a vocal advocate for artists' rights," Ralph Jaccodine, a professor at the Berklee College of Music, told AFP previously. "She's built her own brand." Before her public efforts to regain control of her work, Prince, George Michael, Jay-Z and Kanye West all also fought for control of their masters - one-of-a-kind source material that dictate how songs are reproduced and sold - but none had gone so far as to re-record them completely. The queen of pop, whose recent nearly two-year-long, $2 billion Eras tour shattered records, said that she was "heartened by the conversations this saga has reignited within my industry." Swift's lucrative tour which wrapped last year was a showbusiness sensation, and will have helped offset the costs of buying back her catalog. The 149 shows across the world typically clocked in at more than three hours long each. Tour tickets sold for sometimes exorbitant prices and drew in millions of fans, along with many more who didn't get in and were willing to simply sing along from the parking lot. "Every time a new artist tells me they negotiated to own their master recordings in their record contract because of this fight, I'm reminded of how important it was for all this to happen," Swift said in her letter.
Eyewitness News
3 hours ago
- Eyewitness News
Second suspect in Olorato Mongale murder case hands himself over to KwaMashu police
A second suspect in the murder case of 30-year-old Olorato Mongale has handed himself in to News has reliably learned that the man went to the KwaMashu police station in KwaZulu-Natal this follows the death of the main suspect in the matter, Philangenkosi Makhanya, who died in a shootout with police in the early hours of Friday morning in body was discovered dumped in Lombardy West, Johannesburg on Monday - a day after she went on a date with a man she had recently met and never are at an advanced stage in the case with one more suspect still at large. "The second one did hand himself over to police in KwaMashu. The other one I'm told ran somewhere, out of the country or whatever. That means nothing, we will find him. And I did appeal to them to hand themselves over to the nearest police station. Or else… they must know, we want them dead or alive," Police Minister Senzo Mchunu said.
Eyewitness News
9 hours ago
- Business
- Eyewitness News
Godongwana weighed his options before deciding to hike fuel levy: Mashatile
PRETORIA - Deputy President Paul Mashatile said that Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana considered various options to bring in additional revenue before opting to increase the fuel levy. Godongwana announced fuel levy hikes during his budget speech last week, which will come into effect next Wednesday. ALSO READ: However, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have filed an urgent application at the Western Cape High Court to interdict the fuel levy increase. Mashatile said that the decision to implement this increase was carefully considered. "The proposals that the EFF is talking about were also examined. They talk about the wealth tax and corporate taxes. All these things were examined by the minister, and he had to decide which instrument can be used at the moment."
Eyewitness News
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Eyewitness News
NPA's Batohi says outgoing Hawks head Lebeya was one of the first casualties of state capture
JOHANNESBURG - National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) head, Shamila Batohi, has described outgoing Hawks head, Godfrey Lebeya, as one of the first casualties of state capture who epitomised ethical leadership. Law enforcement top brass, judges and ministers are gathered at a black tie event in Montana, north of Pretoria, on Friday evening to mark the end of Lebeya's term. May 31 is the lieutenant-general's last day in office following his appointment in 2018. Lieutenant-General Godfrey Lebeya has served in the SAPS for 40 years but its not been without humps and hurdles. During the so-called state capture years, Lebeya was demoted and then forced into retirement by tainted former police commissioner, Riah Phiyega, a decision which he challenged and won in the labour court. Chair of the national priority crimes operational committee, Advocate Shamila Batohi, recalled the dark times in Lebeya's career, leaving the lieutenant-general visibly teary-eyed. "And I can tell you from my personal experience, I can only imagine what the general has been through. In fact, he was one of the first casualties of state capture and he didn't go out into voluntary retirement, he was forced to leave the police force under a great deal of pain and personal sacrifice. And general, I want to thank you for standing firm." Meanwhile, as guests reflected on Lebeya's service, the word "integrity" was a strong theme.
Eyewitness News
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Eyewitness News
The people must ceaselessly challenge the lawlessness of the SA government
Malaika Mahlatsi 30 May 2025 | 13:08 Nandipha Magudumana appeared at the the Bloemfontein High Court on 5 June 2024. Picture: Katlego Jiyane/Eyewitness News The people must ceaselessly challenge the lawlessness of the SA government A few weeks ago, the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa delivered a judgment in the Magudumana v Director of Public Prosecutions, Free State and Others. The case sought to decide whether Magudumana's extradition from Tanzania (which she contends was, in fact, an abduction by the South African Police Service (SAPS) on the instruction of the South African State) was lawful. The majority judgment found that it was. But Judge Makgoka, in his minority judgment that has been lauded by international law experts, disagrees with his colleagues, arguing that the arrest of Magudumana was unlawfully disguised as an extradition when it did not, in fact, follow proper extradition processes. The judgment is extensive, delving into the complexities of international law. But it is on page 43 of its conclusion that Judge Makgoka makes a profound reflection, one that goes beyond the case in question and to the very issue at the core of the moral crisis of the South African state – its perennial lawlessness. Speaking to this lawlessness, Judge Makgoka quotes the words of Judge Louis Dembitz Brandeis in the Olmstead et al v United States judgment, where the then Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States made this profound input: 'In a government of laws, existence of the government will be imperiled if it fails to observe the law scrupulously…Government is the potent, omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it breeds contempt for the law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy'. Judge Brandeis had spent many years challenging the erosion of morality on the part of the American state, specifically about its problematic relationship with the banking industry. For Brandeis, this relationship was one of the roots of corruption within the state, particularly because of the stranglehold that the industry and its lobby had over politicians. Nowhere was this relationship more evident than in the influence of the leading financier and investment banker of America's Progressive Era, J.P Morgan, who directly and indirectly directed American economic policy, particularly during and following the Panic of 1907. I found myself reflecting on Judge Brandeis' argument on the danger of a lawless government in the context of the recent (now withdrawn) appointment of board chairs of the Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) and the consolidated general report on local government audit outcomes by the Auditor-General (AG). A few weeks ago, the Higher Education and Training Minister, Dr Nobuhle Nkabane, announced the board chairs of SETAs that comprised largely of African National Congress (ANC) leaders and former leaders. Following public uproar, the minister withdrew the appointments and indicated that the process would be redone. But while she claims that the withdrawal is indicative of her regard for the voices of the people, her actions border dangerously on lawlessness, or at the very least, very serious unethical conduct. That the minister presided over the appointment process and signed off on it as the Executive Authority, and then failed to account and explain her actions, choosing to restart the process, is a dereliction of duty. In South African labour law, dereliction of duty, which refers to an employee's intentional or conscious failure to perform their duties, is a serious offence, potentially leading to dismissal. The AG's report paints a debilitating picture of the state of municipal finances in the country. Only 41 of the country's 257 municipalities received clean audits. In cases of those that received unqualified audits with findings, which amount to 99, the issue of financial mismanagement is at the centre. Of particular interest for me is the City of Johannesburg, the nerve-centre of the national and regional economy, and a city that I call home. That the metro is in a state of collapse is no longer a question. It scores highest in all areas of poor performance - having the highest unauthorised expenditure at an alarming R2.8 billion, the highest water losses at R2.9 billion and the highest electricity losses at R4.9 billion. The metro also has high levels of fruitless and wasteful expenditure, with the amount standing at over R350 million in the last three years. The AG's report also noted poor governance not only in the municipality and its entities. But of significance is the criminality that the AG flagged. According to the report, nearly R1 billion in contracts in the City of Johannesburg were awarded to companies with close ties to employees of the municipality, including councillors, who failed to declare conflicts of interest in the 2023/2024 financial year. This is in direct violation of the law. The Public Administration Management Act (PAMA) 11 of 2014, specifically Section 8 (2), and Regulation 13 (c) of the Public Service Regulations, 2016, prohibit State employees from conducting business with the State or being a director of a company doing so. What this indicates is that there is a flagrant disregard for the law in the City of Johannesburg and other municipalities across the country. These are two of many instances in which the political leadership of South Africa has been very casual about being party to or presiding over complete lawlessness and immorality. It has become so embedded in our society that it does not shock anyone anymore. It is just another news item – another point of discussion on social media before something else grabs our attention. But this should not be the case. The people of South Africa should be ceaseless in challenging the lawlessness of our government whenever it rears its ugly head. Forcing the minister to withdraw her appointments was a step in the right direction. We should do more of this. As Brandeis so correctly asserted, the government should never engage in acts of lawlessness because this breeds contempt for the law and invites every man and woman to become a law unto him/herself. This breeding of anarchy is the foundation on which the erosion of the state is built. Malaika, an award-winning and bestselling author, is a geographer and researcher at the Institute for Pan African Thought and Conversation. She is a PhD in Geography candidate at the University of Bayreuth in Germany.
