WONDER BANNED IN S. AFRICA

Singer Stevie Wonder was banned Tuesday from South Africa’s air waves after he accepted an Oscar “in the name of Nelson Mandela,” a jailed black nationalist leader.

The state-owned South African Broadcasting Corp. said in a television news report that Wonder’s music would be banned from its radio and television services.

In Los Angeles, Wonder responded, “If my being banned means people will be free, ban me mega-times.” Wonder, who received an Oscar for his song “I Just Called to Say I Love You,” said to cheers and applause at the Academy Awards ceremony that he accepted the award on behalf of black South Africa’s most popular leader.