The South African Music Rights Organisation (Samro) has embarked on a campaign to educate South African musicians about their rights to earn royalty payments from overseas performances or whenever their music is used.

Consequently, the organisation will be issuing out payments – under the Ascap Payment scheme – to musicians who have performed in the US between October 1 and September 30 last year.

But in order to do so more efficiently, Samro is calling out to local musicians to come forward with relevant information on the dates and venues of their previous performances overseas, along with the contact details of the promoter or venue organiser.

Samro spokesperson Sipho Dlamini said yesterday about the campaign: “We have found that South African music is travelling a lot more now than it used to.

“There are more performances being done on a regular basis and as an organisation we felt that it is necessary that our members are aware of their rights in this regard. “It is our duty to ensure that they receive what it is due to them.”

Ever since the campaign was launched late last year, the response from performing artists had been overwhelming.

“This communication process has allowed us to get more musicians informing us whenever they are travelling overseas, which is a great thing because this helps us to track their performances and ensure that we collect the money from various international collective societies.”

It is great news that South African musicians can receive more money for the work outside their borders, more so when they least expect it, he said.

“This is over and above what they get paid for by the promoters whenever they perform abroad. It means additional payments and this is great news for them.”

About how the process works, Dlamini further said: “When one of our local groups goes to London, for example, we would alert the UK’s Performing Right Society to ensure that the venue or the promoter there pays a fee for having their music performed.

“As an organisation we will then collect the money and distribute it to relevant musicians and groups, be it Freshlyground or The Parlotones,” said Dlamini, adding that although Samro is based in South Africa, it is able to represent anyone who’s making waves around the world.

Samro is an internationally affiliated music rights collection society that manages the music rights of its members.

Its job is to make sure that South African musicians, composers and authors of musical works enjoy the fruits of their labour by collecting royalties on their behalf whenever their music is used publicly, both locally and internationally.

Membership is free and once accepted, members receive royalties and benefits from their protected musical works for life.

In terms of international copyright law, anyone whose original musical work is performed abroad can enjoy what is known as performing rights – yet a lot of musicians who travel overseas continue to miss out on valuable additional income.

Samro’s Christine Reddy said: “We run ongoing workshops to help members understand how we go about collecting royalties from societies overseas and pass them on to the music creators, but more needs to be done to spread this message.”

Reddy was speaking in reference to various social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook, created for musicians to share their stories with friends and colleagues.

The good news, however, for those who have performed abroad recently, is that Samro can still collect royalties from last year’s performances.

To apply, visit http://www.samro.org.za before the closing date on January 15.

JOHANNESBURG – Gauteng police acted swiftly on Wednesday against a man who was allegedly selling matric results just hours before they were to be officially released. 

Crimeline said it received several tip offs that a Lenasia resident was charging R30 for people to come and view their results on Wednesday night. 

Apparently the man managed to secure a local newspaper carrying the results ahead of Thursday morning’s 6am embargo. 

Crimeline’s Yusuf Abramjee said, “We got reports that people were travelling from areas around Pretoria to Lenasia to access their results. At one stage we were told there were between 20 and 25 people waiting outside this house.”

The Basic Education Department’s Panyaza Lesufi said they want answers.

“I am deeply disappointed. I have requested a detailed report.”

A second man was detained for allegedly trying to interfere with the arrest by pretending to be a lawyer.

It is not clear whether the men were charged overnight. 

For more details go to http://www.ewn.co.za

Johannesburg – While the improved pass rate was good news, there are reasons to worry about the quality of the passes, opposition political parties said on Wednesday.

It was “concerning” that only 26.6 percent of students qualified for bachelor studies at a university, said Democratic Alliance spokeswoman for education Annette Lovemore in a statement.

Worsening the contrast, Lovemore said that of the 1.1 million pupils who enrolled in Grade One in 2001, only 511,152 took the matric examinations.

This means only 12 percent of pupils who enrolled in Grade One would eventually qualify for university.

“This raises serious questions about the ability of South Africa’s schools to produce learners who can stay in the system and emerge as successful matriculants,” Lovemore said.

National Freedom Party president Zanele Msibi also expressed reservations about the quality of the passes.

Msibi noted that math and science scores were still lagging. She said this was due to a lack of teachers in rural areas.

“We also concerned about the level of schooling in rural areas as rural schools are failing to attract enough competent maths and science teachers,” Msibi said.

She said the NFP would propose incentives be created to attract math and science teachers to rural schools. – Sapa

johannesburg – More than 2100 motorists were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol since December 1, the transport department said on Wednesday.

“This can’t be normal… (between) December 1 and today (January 2), over 2100 people were arrested for drunk driving,” said spokesman Tiyani Rikhotso.

“Families and the economy continue to suffer and bleed because we are losing manpower when people are killed in accidents. The department is concerned because we continue to witness unnecessary loss of lives.”

In the accidents over the festive season, alcohol and excessive speed were “common denominators” in many of the fatal crashes.

“We need to remove habitual offenders from our roads – they are turning our roads into killing fields,” he said.

“Some horrific fatal crashes on our roads are a result of negligence and reckless driving, where some fool decided to drink, get into a car and drive – and wipe out a whole family.”

On Monday, the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) announced that 1207 people were killed in 1006 accidents since the beginning of December.

The festive season period starts on December 1 and ends on January 10. He said a realistic figure of how many people died on the roads would only be available after January 10.

Rikhotso said the department relied on the police to verify the numbers.

Road users had failed South Africa, not the plan to halve the festive season death toll by 2015, RTMC spokesman Ashref Ismail said on Wednesday.

“In general the plan is working… If anyone failed, it’s the road users that failed,” Ismail said.

“People must learn to behave, because only 80 percent of motorists are complying: others are aggressive and hostile.

“It is too early to say if the plan is working or not. Let the campaign run its course. We will come up with the necessary comparisons after the campaign.”

He was responding to a report in The Star on Wednesday that the road traffic safety management plan had failed.

The newspaper reported that during the December 2006/January 2007 festive period the death toll was 1261.

In 2008, the transport department announced a plan to halve this figure by 2015.

Rikhotso said co-operation and partnerships between government departments on provincial and national levels, as well as civil society and the private sector, was needed to decrease the number of deaths on the road.

He said the department was looking at strengthening road regulations and procedures for people to get driver’s licences.

The department was also working with the department of justice to obtain stronger sentences and fines for people convicted of road-related offences.

“Once judgment has been handed down for serious road-related offences, those people are prohibited from driving on our roads and their licences are taken away, and they have to re-apply,” Rikhotso said.

On the first day of 2013, 18 people died and 17 were injured in various accidents across the country, according to a tally of accidents from Sapa reports.

After a long time of being on the sidelines at Orlando Pirates, goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa was given a chance after an injury to Moeneeb Josephs. He has performed exceptionally well, so much so that he has earned himself a place in the Bafana Bafana 23-man squad to represent the country in the Afcon 2013 starting on January 19. 

The former Amajita and Amaguluglug goalkeeper tells Soccer-Laduma that what has happened is unbelievable considering the short time he has played as first choice keeper. He gave thanks to God and also thanked everyone who has been there for him through thick and thin. 

“I think it has all to do with my team work. I thank my goalkeeper coach, my fellow goalkeepers at the team and everyone at Orlando Pirates for helping me be where I am today. Yes I have played for Under 17, Under 20 and Under 23 but to be part of an Afcon team is unbelievable. 

For more details go to http://www.socceladuma.com

The matric pass rate is up for the fourth year running, with a pass rate of 73.9 percent for the first graduating class of “born frees”.

In a speech announcing the results this afternoon, education minister Angie Motshekga said the National Senior Certificate (NSC) exams were “the ultimate measure of achievements of twelve years of schooling”.

Over 377 000 pupils passed the exams this year, up by nearly 30 000 from last year when the pass rate was 70.2 percent.

In 2010, the pass rate was 67.8 percent, and 60.6 percent in 2009.

The Minister said a number of measures had been put in place to improve the standards of education in South Africa.

“We’re encouraged by the notable improvements in the education of children and society,” said Motshekga. “Sustained improvements on matric results are a consequence of systematic interventions for strengthening and raising performance in all levels of the system.”

Last week, the Council for Quality Assurance in General and Further Education (Umalusi) said the 2012 were fair, valid and credible.

Mankweng – Three teenagers and a man have been arrested following the murder of a senior Limpopo government official, police said on Wednesday.

They were arrested in Mankweng on Tuesday and charged with the murder of Ephraim Mashiane, 54, a director in the province’s economic development, environment and tourism department, Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said.

Mashiane went missing on September 1 last year. His burnt-out car was later found in Ga-Mothapo, about 35km east of Polokwane.

His body was found floating in Schoonoord dam in Sekhukhune, about 150km from the initial crime scene, a month after his disappearance. He been stabbed several times. It was suspected that he was hijacked before he was killed.

The four were arrested during an operation conducted by members of a police special task team.

The four, a 16-year-old, two 19-year-olds and one aged 20, were expected to appear in the Mankweng Magistrate’s Court on Thursday on charges of kidnapping, hijacking and murder.

The motive for the killing was still unknown. – Sapa

Reitz – A two-year-old boy died and four people, including two children, were injured when their car crashed into a tree near Reitz, in the Free State, on Wednesday morning, paramedics said.

The boy was declared dead on the scene, on the R26, after resuscitation attempts failed, Netcare 911 spokeswoman Santi Steinmann said.

“A female occupant of the vehicle sustained serious injuries and the other three occupants, of which two were children, sustained moderate injuries.”

All the injured were treated on the scene before being taken to a local hospital. – Sapa

KwaZulu-Natal – The new year literally began with a bang for thousands of Durban revellers who enjoyed fireworks displays, but hospitals, the Kloof and Highway SPCA and metro police experienced the darker side of the pyrotechnics.

Metro police spokesman, Senior Superintendent Eugene Msomi, said 25 people were fined R200 each for the illegal use of fireworks.

“It was much quieter than last year. This could be due to the weather or more people complying with the city’s by-laws. Last year, 140 people were charged and fined,” he said.

Fireworks may only be used on New Year’s Eve from 11.45pm until 12.15am of the new year.

Hospitals contacted yesterday reported seven fireworks-related injuries, including one person who had two fingers amputated.

Two adults were treated at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Phoenix for fireworks related injuries.

One had two fingers amputated and was admitted overnight while the other was treated and discharged.

King Edward VIII Hospital reported five fireworks related injuries. Three adults and two children were treated for injuries to their fingers.

uMhlanga Hospital reported one incident.

A teenage boy was treated yesterday for burns to his hand. He was burnt as he tried to light a firecracker.

For more details go to http://www.iol.co.za

A photographer hoping to snap a few pics of Justin Bieber’s Ferrari died after being hit by another car.

According to gossip site TMZ, the paparazzo had been following Bieber’s white Ferrari when it was pulled over during a routine traffic stop by California Highway Patrol. The photographer tried to take pictures of the event, but was advised to move back by the traffic officials because they feared the situation was unsafe.

Unfortunately for the photographer, that indeed proved to be the case as, some time later, he was struck by an oncoming vehicle.

Justin Bieber wasn’t even in the vehicle. According to TMZ’s sources, the Ferrari was being driven by a friend of the pop star.