News 08:00

BULLETIN 2 January 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Rise Mzansi says South Africa needs new leadership to infuse a sense of national purpose
# The GOOD Party hopes the new year brings new prospects for all South Africans
# And, a new life for Oscar Pistorius starts on Friday

# The leader of Rise Mzansi, Songezo Zibi, says South Africa needs new leadership to infuse a sense of national purpose, founded on the idea that the democracy belongs to all of citizens. He says the country needs to build a society based on the constitutional and social democratic values of freedom, equality, justice, solidarity, and integrity. Zibi says the country need a new vision to build a safe, prosperous, equal, and united South Africa within one generation:

# The GOOD Party says it truly hopes that new year will bring new prospects for all South Africans but especially for those who spend their days and nights worried about their families’ survival. The party says last year was an extraordinarily difficult year for South Africans with many financially stressed and distressed. Brett Herron says the number of unemployed people, especially young people has not reduced meaningfully:

# Convicted murderer Oscar Pistorius will released on parol on Friday. The 37-year-old athlete shot and killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp at his home in Pretoria on Valentine’s Day in 2013. He claimed he shot through the door of his bathroom because he believed an intruder was in the house, unaware he was shooting at Steenkamp. However, prosecutors argued he shot her knowingly after an argument. Pistorius will be monitored by correctional services until his sentence concludes on January 1, 2030. He will be restricted from moving out of the Waterkloof area without prior notice to correctional services. 

# Denmark’s Queen Margrethe the Second has announced her surprise abdication in a new year TV address. She will formally step down on 14 January, which will be 52 years to the day since she became queen and will leave the throne to her son, Crown Prince Frederik. The 83-year-old is the world’s only reigning queen and the longest serving current monarch in Europe. Affectionately known as Daisy, Queen Margrethe is known for her smoking habits and rejection of mobile phones and the internet.

# Cycling: Former world cycling champion Rohan Dennis has been charged with causing the death of his wife, the retired Olympic cyclist Melissa Hoskins. According to police the 32-year-old Hoskins was seriously injured in an accident in Adelaide on Saturday night, and later died in hospital. Australian media reports Dennis is out on bail and will appear in court in March. Hoskins was a retired track and road racing cyclist and Dennis a member of the Australian team that won silver at the 2012 Olympics. They married in 2018 and had two children.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-20-cents and the euro at 20-rand-19-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-30-cents and Bitcoin trades at 45-thousand-266-dollars-92-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-69-dollars-45-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 78-dollars-26-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….