News 14:00

BULLETIN 5 December 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Free State High Court hears the readiness of Thabo Bester’s prison escape trial
# The High Court in Pretoria lifts bail restrictions for Crime Intelligence boss Dumisani Khumalo
# And motorsport: Toyota Gazoo Racing becomes the Haas F1 team’s official sponsor

# The High Court in the Free State is hearing arguments on the readiness of the prison escape trial involving Thabo Bester and his co-accused. The matter stalled in September when Bester changed lawyers for the fourth time, as well as co-accused Nandipha Magudumana’s pursue of a Constitutional Court challenge on her extradition from Arusha, Tanzania. Bester and Magudumana were arrested in 8 April 2023 after fleeing the country. Prosecutors have asked the apex court to address delays caused by Magudumana’s appeal.

# The High Court in Pretoria has lifted bail restrictions for Crime Intelligence boss Dumisani Khumalo and six co-accused, allowing them access to intelligence premises. The group was arrested in June over alleged fraud and corruption linked to the irregular appointment of Dineo Mokwele to a senior post. Bail conditions previously barred them from all Crime Intelligence facilities to protect the investigation and witnesses. Each was released on ten- to twenty-thousand-rand bail. Their next court appearance is set for 13 February.

# The DA has welcomed the arrest and charging of Thulani Dlomo, the alleged ‘superspy’ who operated at the heart of former president Jacob Zuma’s state capture project. Dlomo, former deputy director of Counterintelligence in the State Security Agency, and the project manager of the Directorate of Special Operations, Patrick Mshotholo, have been arrested and charged with theft, fraud, forgery and uttering involving about 12-million-rand. The DA’s Dianne Kohler Barnard says this is a significant breakthrough in the fight against corruption:

# The Freedom Front Plus says Afrikaans schools must actively invoke Section 235 of the Constitution to protect their cultural and linguistic education rights. The party warns the Department of Basic Education, supported by minister Siviwe Gwarube, is targeting Afrikaans-medium schools under the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act to enforce multilingual policies. The FF Plus’s Wynand Boshoff says just 639 Afrikaans schools remain, with many facing pressure to introduce English as a medium of instruction:

# Motorsport: Japanese vehicle manufacturer Toyota’s motorsport division, Gazoo Racing, will become the Haas Formule One team’s official sponsor next season. The US-owned team, who uses Ferrari engines, will be rebranded TGR Haas F1. Haas and Toyota announced a technical partnership in October last year which saw Japan’s biggest carmaker returning to F1 for the first time in 25 years. The team’s Japanese principal, Ayao Komatsu, says their working relationship has been everything they hoped for since.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-92-cents and the euro at 19-rand-71-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-59-cents and Bitcoin trades at 91-thousand-365-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-225-dollars-16-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 62-dollars-97-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….