News 13:00

BULLETIN 17 January 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# AZAPO says the government must take responsibility for the Stilfontein tragedy
# Tennis: Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev are through to the Australian Open’s last 16
# And an Australian influencer is charged with poisoning her baby

# The Azanian People’s Organisation says the Stilfontein tragedy has revealed the true colours of the so-called government of national unity. The government-led rescue mission at the Buffelsfontein gold mine in North West resulted in the recovery of 87 bodies while 246 illegal miners were rescued and arrested between Monday and Wednesday. AZAPO’s spokesperson, Jabu Rakwena, says considering how the miners died, there is no doubt that the government has to be guilty of human rights violations:

# The DA says lifestyle audits are needed for senior Crime Intelligence officials amid corruption concerns. This follows the theft of 1.3-million-rand from an East London office in the Eastern Cape and 22.7-million-rand spent on a luxury hotel for office space in Pretoria. The DA’s Lisa Schickerling warns that corruption and dysfunction within Crime Intelligence are jeopardising public safety and hindering crime-fighting efforts:

# The City of Tshwane has received a qualified audit for the 2023/’24 financial year. According to Auditor-General Tsakane Maluleke, not all creditor invoices were captured in the system, highlighting stagnation in financial controls and internal weaknesses. This is despite the metro’s efforts to improve, issues like the 3.6-billion-rand in unrecorded debt and 2.3-billion-rand irregular expenditure. According to MoneyWeb, Maluleke flagged corruption in revenue management and unmet service delivery targets, including sewer pipelines and pothole repairs. She has called for cultural and structural changes in the metro.

# Tennis: Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz dropped a set for the first time in this year’s Australian Open, but stil beat Portugal’s Nuno Borges in four sets to make the last 16. The 21-year-old is bidding to become the youngest player to complete the career Grand Slam in men’s singles history. Germany’s Alexander Zverev is back in the fourth round after beating Britain’s Jacob Fearnley in three sets. Alcaraz admits to trying to play differently to entertain the crowd:

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-71-cents and the euro at 19-rand-26-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-80-cents and Bitcoin trades at 102-thousand-119-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-708-dollars-71-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 80-dollars-57-cents a barrel.

# And finally: An Australian influencer has been charged with poisoning her baby girl to elicit donations and boost online followers. The Queensland woman claimed she was chronicling her child’s battle with a terminal illness on social media. Doctors raised the alarm in October, when the baby was admitted to hospital. After months of investigation, the 34-year-old woman was charged with torture, administering poison, making child exploitation material and fraud. She raised more than 700-thousand-rand through GoFundMe donations, which the site is attempting to repay. The woman is due in court today.

Stay tuned for more news………….