‘Shocktober’ predicts headlines

TSHIFHIWA SHONISANI

JOHANNESBURG - For the first time ever on radio, a mentalist Larry Soffer predicted the three national newspapers’ headlines correctly, two days before they hit the streets yesterday.

Soffer, a Jacaranda 94.2’s Just Plain Breakfast guest for the second week of “Shocktober”, predicted and wrote the headlines of The Citizen, The Star and Beeld newspapers on a piece of paper.

The paper was put in an envelope before it was locked in the small tin box.
A listener Mathys Nel from Witbank, who was sceptical about Soffer’s stunts, then drove all the way from his home town to collect the key.

Another listener who did not want to leave anything to chance, Leroi Goosen from Pretoria, went to the station to collect the tin box on Wednesday.

Station announcer Darren Scott unlocked the box in front of the three newspapers’ journalists, Soffer and sceptical listeners live from their Pretoria studio yesterday morning.

Soffer made the goose bump-evoking revelation and, to their surprise, managed to get correct the headlines of The Citizen: “SARS get tough”, The Star’s: “10-year-old pool hero lauded” and Beeld’s: “Afrikaans skole wen, maar…”, but without “Maar”.

Soffer claimed he had a little problem in understanding Afrikaans which was why he failed to include the last word.

A stunned Nel was unable to explain how 26-year-old Soffer managed to get it right.
“I do not know what to believe. I have seen it but it still does not make sense, it is unbelievable,” he said.

Soffer said after the revelations that he had felt quite a lot of pressure before the opening of the tin box.

“I felt very small.”

When asked about helping police fight crime using his predictions, Soffer said police must start focusing on the positive.