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A lot of people remember Eric Obuh also known as Vocal Slender a native of Delta State. Vocal Slender was a scavenger turned aspiring artist that was featured on BBC documentary “Welcome to Lagos” last year April. It has been almost one year since the showed aired and his fan base and popularity has skyrocketed. I actually met him through a friend that was working with him in order to help him out of his current situation. When I spoke to Vocal slender I was in admiration of his good spirit, but was saddened to find out many of the future developments we all thought was going to take place actually never came into reality. To find out if his life changed for the better read this interview.

How were you picked to be on the BBC documentary?

I was in the dump entertaining my friends, a lot of the guys were dancing to my song, among the crowd were some white men, they walked up and told me that they will like to film me working and singing that is how they began filming me for the documentary.

Did you think the BBC documentary accurately showcase your life?

Yes, the documentary did. They were able to introduce me to the world.

What happened with CokoBar , are you guys still working together?

I no longer work with CokoBar because he is not truthful. He made a lot of promises but he didn't keep them. He promised that he will give me 400 pounds, he promised a remix of my song ( owo ti ya pa) with Wande Coal,and also promised a musical video. The music video wasn't of good quality so they couldn't air it. Even after my performance in Manchester he didn't pay me, and I know that they paid him.

Has your life improved since being on the BBC?

Life is so hard now, I don't have a house of my own to sleep, I stay with friend, and sometimes it gets so difficult I feel like I am killing myself to live.  I hope that sooner or later my life will change for the better. If I was able to travel to London with CokoBar and was signed on to a label, my life would have improved by now, when I was in the dump I never begged to eat, but now I beg to eat. All the information that CokoBar put out on the internet was to make people believe he has done so much for me, but he never lived up to the promises he made.

How has your music career grown since being on the documentary?

First, I thank GOD for all he has done for me, the documentary has helped my career. Some of my friends who saw what I was going through have decide to help me with my music. Now my music is being played on all radio stations. If not for the documentary I would have still been working on the dump site by now.

What are some future developments for your music?

I would like to release my album, and set up a studio so my brothers can work on there songs, and a record label.

How can the Nigerians support your efforts in the music industry?

They can help me by giving me advice, by encouraging me, by helping me get on different shows, and by telling the world my story. All I need now is there support, so that I will not go back to the dump, I feel I have let all my friends in the dump down, because they believe if I make it they too can make it, but I know my GOD will not let me down.

Rosh Hashanah (Hebrew: ראש השנה‎, literally "head of the year," Israeli: Hebrew pronunciation: [ˈʁoʃ haʃaˈna], Ashkenazic: ˈɾoʃ haʃːɔˈnɔh, Yiddish:[ˈrɔʃəˈʃɔnə]) is a Jewish holiday commonly referred to as the "Jewish New Year." It is observed on the first day of Tishrei, the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar.[1] It is ordained in the Torah as "Zicaron Terua" ("a memorial with the blowing of horns"), in Leviticus 23:24. Rosh Hashanah is the first of the High Holidays or Yamim Noraim ("Days of Awe"), or Asseret Yemei Teshuva (Ten Days of Repentance) which are days specifically set aside to focus on repentance that conclude with the holiday of Yom Kippur.

Rosh Hashanah is the start of the civil year in the Hebrew calendar (one of four "new year" observances that define various legal "years" for different purposes as explained in the Mishnah and Talmud). It is the new year for people, animals, and legal contracts. The Mishnah also sets this day aside as the new year for calculating calendar years and sabbatical (shmita) and jubilee (yovel) years. Jews believe Rosh Hashanah represents either analogically or literally the creation of the World, or Universe. However, according to one view in the Talmud, that of R. Eleazar, Rosh Hashanah commemorates the creation of man, which entails that five days earlier, the 25 of Elul, was the first day of creation of the Universe.[2]

The Mishnah, the core text of Judaism's oral Torah, contains the first known reference to Rosh Hashanah as the "day of judgment." In the Talmud tractate on Rosh Hashanah it states that three books of account are opened on Rosh Hashanah, wherein the fate of the wicked, the righteous, and those of an intermediate class are recorded. The names of the righteous are immediately inscribed in the book of life, and they are sealed "to live." The middle class are allowed a respite of ten days, until Yom Kippur, to repent and become righteous; the wicked are "blotted out of the book of the living."[3]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosh_Hashanah

For secular Jews

It would happen each fall around the Jewish new year. At the very time when renewal was in the autumn air, Arnold Barnett, an engineer from Moorestown, would go into a mild funk. His wife eventually figured it out: He was less than enamored with high holiday synagogue services.

"He simply wasn't engaged by what went on inside our Reform synagogue, or with the traditional approach to Judaism," said Ellen, 70. "I knew he was struggling. So sometimes, I would just go to services alone."

Then last year, the Barnetts saw a small notice in a local Jewish newspaper about a recently formed group in South Jersey. "We went to a meeting that was focused on Jewish history," Arnold, 71, recalls, "and that was something I could relate to. It was much more appealing."

And so the Barnetts will celebrate Rosh Hashanah, which begins Wednesday at sundown, by meeting Sunday with like-minded members of South Jersey Secular Jews - a group of people who may or may not believe in God, but do believe in caring about the world and one another, respecting and understanding Jewish history, and celebrating a culture that has meaning and emotional pull.

"The most important aspect of secularism is the survival and continuity of the Jewish people," said Paul Shane, a native New Yorker now living in Philadelphia and married to the daughter of Holocaust survivors.

Shane, 75, a member of the more established Philadelphia Secular Jewish Organization, believes humans are responsible for what happens on Earth. The here and now is central, and actions speak louder than words.

That philosophy resembles traditional Judaism. But secular Jews and traditional Jews part company when it comes to accepting religious dogma.

If you're secular, God is optional. (Traditional Judaism has "God at its heart. That's not an option," said Rabbi Ethan Franzel of Main Line Reform Temple Beth Elohim in Wynnewood.) Also, life-cycle events are handled individually - for instance, there are no set burial or wedding traditions in secular Judaism.

Of course secularism, in which one adheres to cultural norms rather than religious ones, is hardly new. During the Renaissance, from 1450 to 1600, and the Enlightenment in the 18th century, many Jews shed the God-oriented elements of their Jewishness, according to Shane, a professor of social policy at Rutgers University in Newark. That shedding also continued in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

What's different today is that a growing number of secular Jews are finding one another, forming groups, and practicing the social responsibility Judaism requires - minus the synagogue.

Rifke Feinstein, executive director of the national Congress of Secular Jewish Organizations, says there are approximately 2,000 affiliated secular Jews in the United States. But because seculars typically are unaffiliated, and therefore uncounted, estimates for the entire American secular population range from 8,000 to 40,000.

In the Philadelphia area, there are six such organizations for secular Jews - including the five-year-old South Jersey Secular Jews - all under the local umbrella cooperative venture called Kehilla for Secular Jews.

For many people, discovering that such an organization exists has been a relief.

" 'I thought I was the only one!' is what people often express when they discover that they are not alone in their secular relationship to their Jewishness," said Larry Angert, 59, a member of 11-year-old Shir Shalom: A Havurah for Secular Jews. "The Jewish tent is big, and there's room for all of us in it."

Some local secular groups, like Philadelphia's Sholom Aleichem Club, which started in 1954, and Philadelphia Workmen's Circle, founded nationally in 1900 to aid Jewish immigrant workers and to promote Yiddish, have graying memberships. Bob Kleiner, 85, of Elkins Park, a retired sociology professor at Temple University, and his wife, Frances, a teacher of Yiddish, both long active in the secular movement, lament that younger people are not actively involved in these historic groups.

But the formation of new groups, such as South Jersey Secular Jews, is evidence the movement still has traction.

Credit Naomi Scher, 64, of Cherry Hill, whose children attended the Jewish Children's Folkshul, another Kehilla group, which is a parent-run cooperative held at Springside School in Philadelphia. About 100 children receive their Jewish education, not in a traditional Hebrew school but in classes that nourish social justice and individual responsibility. Bar and bat mitzvah aspirants undertake personally meaningful projects that they ultimately share with the entire Folkshul community.

Although Scher formed relationships with parents of her children's classmates, commuting to Philadelphia became burdensome once her children graduated, and in 2005, the retired social worker decided to start a secular group closer to home.

What began as a gathering of eight to 10 people now regularly attracts 30, meeting monthly with speakers who address social and political concerns, Scher said.

Deborah Chaiken, 74, of Palmyra is delighted to have a group close to home. "In the formal Jewish community, I felt that I didn't really have a voice. Here, I know that I do."

Dues are $25 a year, and participants are asked to bring food for potluck dinners. Meetings are held on the second Sunday of the month at Unitarian Universalist Church in Cherry Hill..

South Jersey Secular Jews members Cary and Bilha Hillebrand of Cherry Hill call the group a welcome addition to the local landscape. For Bilha, 54, the philosophy of the group is more in keeping with that of her native Israel, where the majority of the population leads a more secular lifestyle.

"We are not in any way antireligious," says Cary, 60. "We hold the belief that we are responsible for what happens to ourselves and to the world. And to us, that's the essence of what religion is, and should be."

Just after the recent Renewal of The Dangote Otedola crises read here http://bit.ly/beAnsZ

another one has arisen from the ashes so to say ?

The police said in Abuja on Thursday that two persons suspected to be behind an alleged attempt to kill the Chairman of African Petroleum Plc, Mr. Femi Otedola, and six directors of the company had been arrested.



Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Ogbonna Onovo, who disclosed this at a press conference, said the suspects were being interrogated by the police.



Onovo said that Otedola and the six directors were trapped in the lift at the AP Plaza in Lagos on July 25, while on their way to an emergency meeting of the board of the company.



The IG explained that Otedola and his team entered an empty lift, but were trapped for more than two hours.



Onovo, who addressed journalists at the Force headquarters through the Deputy Inspector-General, Force Criminal Investigation, John Ahmadu, said that three elevator engineers that examined the lift to ascertain the possible cause of the incident concluded that it was tampered with.



“The chairman was ushered into an empty lift with six other members of his team. Soon after they entered the lift, all the seven occupants were trapped for over two hours,” he said.



He explained that the experts, who inspected the lift, discovered that its safety switch was pressed down, leading to the halting of the facility and trapping of the AP chairman and the others for about two hours.



The suspects, according to the IG, were in charge of the lifts supplied by Otis Lifts Limited, and he gave their names as Celestine Ononobi and Moses Oluremi.



Otedola and the directors were to attend an emergency meeting of the board of AP where crucial decisions affecting the company were to be taken on July 25, 2010 when they were trapped in the lift.



The incident was believed to be in connection with the infighting among the management team, which resulted in the sacking of the managing director and the suspension of an executive director as well as the company secretary.



The case was being handled by the Lagos State Police Command before Onovo directed that it should be taken over by Force CID for diligent investigation.



He stated that the lift was powered by a 625KVA generator at the time of the incident and should not have had any problem, since it was installed barely one year ago and was regularly serviced by technical staff of Otis Lifts Limited.



He IGP said, “The technical experts who examined the lifts after the incident found out that the lift was tampered with because the safety switch was pressed down.



“The moment they depressed the switch, the lift started working again perfectly, indicating that the incident was an act of sabotage and an attempt to murder its occupants.”

Femi Otedola Goes into Exile as "attempt" on his life escalates literally

The crisis rocking the oil marketing firm, Africa Petroleum (AP), has led to the self exile of its chairman, Femi Otedola, NEXT has learnt.

Mr. Otedola, whose company, Zenon Petroleum and Gas limited, is the major investor in AP, is currently in England to avoid another attempt on his life. This is according to a senior official of AP who spoke to NEXT on condition of anonymity.

The businessman, who was named by Forbes magazine as being among the world's richest billionaires last year, first alleged threat to his life when an elevator in his company's headquarters malfunctioned mid-way with him in it.

The management of AP reported the incident to the police alleging sabotage with fingers pointed towards another senior official of the company Clement Aviomoh, who is the executive director, finance and information technology.

Mr. Aviomoh, in a press statement, however denied any involvement in the incident explaining that the incident was caused by the actions of Mr. Otedola.

"On the 5th of July 2010, there was a scheduled board meeting of AP Plc; the chairman stormed the venue with 150 armed mobile police men. He entered the lift with too many security operatives thereby overloading the lift. Thereafter the lift got stuck and we got a report from CFAO and the maintenance engineer that clearly stated that there was no foul play," Mr. Aviomoh stated.

Our source, however, said the police have concluded a forensic examination of the lift and it is clear that it was tampered with. According to the source the police will soon make public their findings and also effect the arrest of those implicated in the plot.

Conflicting police statements

NEXT could, however, not get an independent verification of the claim. In fact, the police yesterday gave conflicting reports on their investigation of the incident.

Emmanuel Ojukwu, the police public relations officer at the force headquarters in Abuja stated that though he was aware of the case, the matter was being investigated in Lagos and so was under the Lagos State Police command.

"It (the case) can be moved from Lagos to force headquarters, Abuja, but I am not sure it has been moved," Mr. Ojukwu said.

The Lagos police spokesman, Frank Mba, however, claimed ignorance of any investigations saying, I don't know anything about it; I don't have any information about it.

NEXT learnt that Mr. Otedola had expressed his distrust of the Lagos State police command, which made the police transfer the investigation to the force headquarters in Abuja.

While the police are being economical with the truth over their investigations, two members of the board of AP: Osa Osunde, the Vice Chairman; and Nebolisa Arah, a director; on Wednesday secured an injunction from the federal high court in Lagos restraining the Inspector General of police, the commissioner of police, Lagos State, and the Special Investigation Unit from "incessant invitation to the police station, threatening to arrest or further arresting, impeding the liberty ... of the applicant pending the determination of the application." The injunction was granted by O. Abang, the presiding judge.

The AP crisis was first brought to the fore in July last year when Access Bank, one of the company's creditors asked a court to wind up AP following its inability to pay its debt.

"The company is insolvent and unable to pay its debts. In the circumstances, it is just and equitable that the company should be wound up," a statement by the bank said.

Following Access Bank's statement, other creditors, as reported by NEXT on Sunday in previous stories, started asking for their money fearing the worst for AP. The company however challenged some of the banks including Access Bank of refusing to pay their own debt to the company.

Things got worse when Mr. Aviomoh, the finance director, alleged among others that "in 2009, African Petroleum plc made a loss of about N15 Billion, this was due to the fact that the Chairman's companies (Zenon Petroleum and Gas Company Limited, Platinum Fleet Limited and Fineshade Energy limited) started selling products to African Petroleum Plc at Higher prices than normal, at times higher than the retail pump price at gas station."

Mr. Aviomoh, who has now been suspended by the AP management, accused Mr. Otedola of mismanaging AP to the benefit of his own companies.

Our source in AP however said there is no truth in the allegation and that it is a campaign orchestrated by those who bought AP shares and have been unable to pay. ''They are angry that our Chairman is insisting on payment and want to damage him by peddling lies," the source said.

Where there is a will there is a WAY !! With a great percentage of our womenfolk who have embraced Prostitiution and other Vices as a means of survival .The Phrase what a man can do a woman can do even .....Omoyeni is one of the Heroes of This country who face the odds head on and will take No for an Answer.Kudos from us all !

Omoyeni Agbokere is a 35-year-old widow who has taken up a task most women would frown at as a means of survival.

‘First lady’ is what she is fondly called by her colleagues at the motor park, a name which she inscribes on the back of her tricycle (Keke Marwa). Driving a tricycle is not what she ever dreamt of as a career, but her husband’s death forced her to look for a means of survival.

“My husband died two years ago,” she said. “ Before he died, I used to engage in some petty trading because he was the one taking care of most of the family’s needs. When he died, I had to look for a better business to sustain me and my family.”

The mother of two says she has not regretted her decision because she makes enough to take care of her family.

“I have two children, a boy of 12 and a girl of eight. This Keke Marwa business, I see it as something I can use to help my family because it is bringing a daily income. The money I make every day depends on how much I work for the day. I make between N2,000 and N3,000 everyday.”

‘I’m my own boss’

Apart from being lucrative enough to cater for her family’s needs, Mrs Agbokere says she enjoys the flexibility that her work provides. “When I’m tired or when I don’t feel like working again, I can just stop and go home. I have enough time to spend with my children and i can be there for them at any time of the day,” she said.

She plies the Mushin-Oye route several times a day, a task which brings her in contact with different people, some of whom are hesitant to have her drive them because of her gender. “Some passengers who see a woman driving a ‘keke’ for the first time are usually scared. They think that if I drive them, they may fall off the ‘keke’ or even have an accident so they won’t enter. The people who live around here see me driving everyday so they are used to me and don’t get scared.”

With only four months experience in the business, Mrs Agbokere says she is comfortable with it and hopes to continue. “I didn’t buy this ‘keke’ with my money because I can’t afford it. If I had enough money to buy it, I don’t think I would have been driving a ‘keke’. I would have used the money to start another business of my own. But I thank God for what I am doing now. This ‘keke’ is owned by a woman who lives in my area. She gave me to drive and I pay her weekly. By God’s grace, I will soon finish paying for it and the keke would become mine,” says the indigene of Oyo State..

‘The men respect me’

Being the only woman working among so many men, Mrs Agbokere says there are more advantages to it than she thought. “I don’t face as much challenges as I would have expected in this business. The ‘keke’ is quite easy to drive. Also, I am the only woman working among these men and they treat me very well. They respect me a lot. They even pamper me because I am the only woman. The police men I meet on the streets when I am driving my keke are usually very kind to me. Even the Agberos (touts) don’t disturb me when I am working.”

Her husband’s death, she says, has made her stronger and more determined to provide a better future for her children. To women who have had similar losses and setbacks in life, Mrs Agbokere says they should look past their loss and forge ahead. “I advise them not to sit down and fold their hands while waiting for someone to help them. Despite any unfortunate incident in their life, they should not think that is the end of their life.”

Like most business owners, Mrs Agbokere has a dream of expansion for ‘First Lady’. “If I can finish paying the money for this ‘keke’, I will buy another one to give out to someone who will be driving it and paying me daily just like I am doing now, preferably a woman.”

Uche Alagbaso, 32, a barber, had been hoping that one day, fortune would smile on him. He opened a shop owner 11 years ago hoping for success. Alagboso won a sum of N100,000 at the just concluded WAHL Barbing competition held at the Eko Hotel & Suits, Lagos.

According to him, “I heard the jingle on the radio and I decided to participate. This is my first time to participate in this competition since it started about 18 years ago. The entry came up in March and April and here I am with a sum of N100,000. “

Alagboso said things had been rough and unpleasant, especially when he picked the profession 11 years ago. With the expectation that things would turn in his favour, he shunned all negative advice that wouldn’t let him be what he wants to be.

His parents tried to discourage him from his barbing but his mind to become a professional and international barber of his generation was made up.

“I left my hometown just to earn a living here in Lagos. People say Lagos is like London but unfortunately, life has become so miserable that I hardly eat three square meal. This is the only profession I enjoy doing. When I started this profession, I’ve always believed that God would shower His mercies on me. “I’ve been faced with different challenges.

I’ve lived all my life here in Victoria Island, no friends, no relatives. I was living fro hand to mouth. But I thank God for giving me the ability to be a man today”, Uche said...

Uche Alagbaso doing his thing says:...Things are rough but pleasant Uche Alagbaso

After robbing him of the car, the robbers asked him to give his life to Christ if he survived the attack. Jideaka’s ordeal in the hands of the robbers, started shortly after he left the office on the fateful day at about 7.30 pm. After work, Jideaka headed for his home in Kubwa, a satellite town in Abuja.

The journey to Kubwa, was smooth as usual until a few metres to his house. His driver had barely stopped to buy him a recharge card when four young hefty looking robbers suddenly overtook his vehicle and ordered his driver out of the car at gun point. They forcefully moved the driver out of his seat and ordered him to take to the passenger’s seat behind...

Obviously confused about the attitude of the strange men, a now distraught Jideaka, requested to know why they were manhandling his driver. The response was precise. “You will find out when we get to the police station.” Immediately, Jideaka was also forced to move to the back seat of the car at gun point. The robbers sped off with him and his driver. The incident soon attracted his neighbours and family members, who ran to a nearby police station where the case was reported.

Richard took up the story: “It was when they forced me into the back seat with my driver that it dawned on me that they were robbers and not policemen as they claimed to be. They took my phones and the money on me and within three minutes they drove off with us with their gun pointed at my head to an unknown destination.

“While in the car, the robbers called me a 419ner. That I should regard myself kidnapped and that they were sent by my colleague to kill me and steal my car. Next they said if I am not a 419ner, where did I get money to buy a big car. When they saw my laptop, they felt convinced that I was actually a 419ner or that I was into yahoo, yahoo deals. I told them I am a journalist but they refused to believe me until they saw my tape recorder.

“They took the rings on my finger and asked me which one of them was my juju. I told them that none of them was a charm. One of them then threw the rings into his pocket and asked me to bring my wristwatch and the money in my pockets. I quickly handed them over. They commended me for cooperating with them and promised not to kill or harm me because I am a good man.

“Along the line, they asked me to pray that they do not encounter police on the way. That if they do, they would shoot me first. I prayed that we do not meet police on the way and they said ‘Amen’. Thereafter, they urged me to give my life to God if I survived the attack and I told them that I had since given my life to Christ. They said I should do that again, and I said okay.

“At a point, they asked me where I work. Sensing that they were thinking of asking for ransom, I told them I work for a new newspaper based in Abuja. The next question was where my wife works and I told them my wife is a retiree who was still waiting to be paid her gratuity by the ministry she worked with in Abuja. One of the robbers then concluded that I had nothing and that holding on to me would be of no benefit and therefore, I should be dropped in the bush. All along, I and my driver were not to fix our gazes on any of them. They had their guns already pointed at our heads.

“When I stole to look at the speedometer, I discovered that they were almost running the full speed of the car. I said silent prayers that we do not crash. I discovered that they were heading for the city centre instead of the Zuba they made us believe they were going. After about eight kilometres drive at break-neck speed, they branched off the expressway into the bush and asked us to come down and run for our lives. We obeyed immediately and dashed into the bush.

Together with their operation car [a Camry 1996 model] they drove off

“After spending sometime in the bush, we eventually trekked out and met some securitymen guarding some equipment and asked them where we were. They told us we were between New Tipper Garage and Katampe Hill. We then crossed to the other side of the road and boarded a bus back to Kubwa where my wife had already reported the incident to the police. “All my neighbours had gathered in front of my house and were offering prayers for my safety. As soon as they sighted us, the shout of praise the Lord rented the air even as they rushed to greet me.

“My wife and children who had locked themselves in the house, praying for my safety, rushed out of the house when they heard the shout of praise the Lord to find me in the hands of our jubilating neighbours who were too happy to see me return safely.”

As at press time, last weekend, Jideaka, was yet to recover his car.

WINNIE Madikizela-Mandela has threatened legal action against acclaimed South African director Darrell Roodt, who plans to make a film about her life.

A letter from her attorneys says Madikizela-Mandela is "extremely concerned" to hear of the planned film about her life "in circumstances in which she has never been approached for consent or at all".

"It is difficult to understand how a production bearing the name of an individual who has not been consulted at all could ever be appropriate or tell the full story of that individual life, as media reports suggest this production is intended to," the letter says.

"This is certainly the case here where our client has not responded to allegations and comment which have been made about her, precisely because she has sought to protect her sphere of personal privacy as best she can in extremely difficult and turbulent times," the attorneys' letter to Andre Pieterse's Ironwood Films reads.

Attorneys met with Roodt and Pieterse on Friday, but failed to reach an agreement with the film-makers.

News of the film, Winnie, hit South Africa late last year when it was revealed that American singer turned actor Jennifer Hudson had been offered the starring role.

The movie, which is set to start filming in May, has taken Roodt more than six years to bring to production and is based on a biography of Madi- kizela-Mandela by Anna-Marie du Preez Bezdrob.

South Africa's most acclaimed actor, John Kani, has voiced discontent at the casting of Hudson.

"From which angle has the movie been written?" Kani asked. "Will she be seen as a villain? If you did a movie of Nelson Mandela in 1967 it would have been that of Osama bin Laden."

He did not see a problem with an American portraying Madikizela-Mandela.

Kani said he fully supported freedom of expression and the right to interpretation, but warned that there were certain "sensitivities that must be considered" when telling the story of the person people consider to be the Mother of the Nation.

He did not see a problem with an American portraying Madikizela-Mandela, but felt producers should first explore the pool of local talent and consult local actors' unions before casting their eyes elsewhere.

"Now it's a free-for-all. Artists come here like they're tourists and end up telling you: 'I'm watching you'," said Kani in reference to the beer ads featuring Louis Gossett Jr.

"Jennifer Hudson is welcome to play Winnie, but what frustrates me is the South African producers' fascination with Hollywood. Yet they are the first persons to talk about 'local is lekker'," said the veteran actor and playwright.

Neither Roodt nor Pieterse was available for comment. Bezdrob, the author of Winnie Mandela, A Life, has said she hoped it would be a balanced movie and has described Madikizela-Mandela as "an incredible person".

In the letter to Ironwood Films, Madikizela-Mandela's attorneys warn the film-makers that she reserves her legal rights in the matter.

"Our client would have expected that the principal concern of the producer of such a film publication would be the need to respect the fundamental rights of those to be depicted particularly where the struggle for fundamental rights is the backdrop to the story itself," the attorneys write.

But a copyright expert believes that, although Madikizela-Mandela may object, she would struggle to win a court battle. "Normally, that would be a breach of a person's right to privacy. But she's a very public figure who's very well-known.

"Generally, there's nothing she can do to stop them from making a movie like that unless it's defamatory," said Spoor and Fisher.