News 18:00

BULLETIN 4 February 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……

In this bulletin:

# The Constitutional Court dismisses Jacob Zuma’s appeal to continue his private prosecution of Cyril Ramaphosa
# The South African military pushes for the immediate repatriation of bodies from the DRC
# And tennis: A two-time Wimbledon champion returns to the competition after 15-months

# The Constitutional Court has dismissed former president Jacob Zuma’s appeal to pursue his private prosecution of president Cyril Ramaphosa. Zuma had accused Ramaphosa of being an accessory after the fact in an alleged crime related to the leaking of a document about his health in his arms deal corruption trial. According to TimesLIVE, the court found there were no reasonable prospects for success in Zuma’s appeal, and his delay in filing for leave to appeal was not justified.

# The South African National Defence Force is pushing for the immediate repatriation of the bodies of 14 soldiers who died in clashes with M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Minister Angie Motshekga, her deputy Bantu Holomisa, and SANDF Chief Rudzani Maphwanya briefed Parliament on the security situation in eastern DRC. The SANDF’s Godfrey Thulare told Parliament the government is working with the United Nations to safely return the bodies of the deceased and the injured soldiers:

# The Centre for Risk Analysis warns that South African officials driving the country’s policies on Iran, China, Russia, and Israel could face targeted United States sanctions. It says officials directly linked to issues such as corruption are particularly at risk. According to the organisation, South Africa’s renewed legal actions against Israel heighten the likelihood of potential sanctions. The centre’s Chris Hattingh says Washington may impose sanctions to express its dissatisfaction with the government’s foreign policy positions:

Meanwhile, China says it will impose tariffs on imports of US energy, vehicles and equipment, firing a return salvo in an escalating trade war between the world’s two biggest economies. US president Donald Trump on Saturday announced an additional 10-percent tariff on Chinese goods on top of the duties they already endure. Minutes after they came into effect, Beijing unveiled levies of 15-percent on imports of coal and liquefied natural gas from the United States, while crude oil, agricultural machinery, big-engined vehicles, and pickup trucks face 10-percent duties.

# Tennis: Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova announced she would return to competition this month after a 15-month absence during which she gave birth to her son. The 34-year-old Czech says she really missed the game and is looking forward to being back. The former world number two won Wimbledon in 2011 and 2014, as well as 31 WTA singles titles – the last of them in Berlin in 2023. Kvitova plans to return in the Texas Open in the US, starting on the 24th.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-72-cents and the euro at 19-rand-39-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-30-cents and Bitcoin trades at 98-thousand-925-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-838-dollars-16-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 74-dollars-50-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….