Duplicate Content On Specific Domains

I have a duplicate content question from another angle. Article syndication. It is good to know that there is no penalty in the true sense of penalty for sites having duplicate content, the only penalty is the pages containing duplicate content will rank lower than the pages from the website of the original creator of the content. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

However, I'm working on a website on a South African domain (.co.za) where articles from other sites (non .co.za domains) are republished to cater for the South African Internet market. In other words this website is publishing articles with the intention to bring relevant content to localised searches, i.e. searches for specific terms from .co.za domains only.

Does Google see this as duplicate content? Perhaps in a global eye, yes, but out of a local point of view, I can't really see how. If South Africans are searching locally for information only found on .com sites, then they will never find the information they are looking for. Do you think Google will penalise a site that delivers global content to a local audience?

I mean, isn't this a good thing for global sites, more exposure through local sites in markets that are currently underutilised?