News 13:00

BULLETIN 16 January 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Jacob Zuma says being ordered to repay 28.9-million-rand state-funded legal costs is premature
# Defence Force helicopters are deployed amid the Limpopo floods
# And Canada’s prime minister hails his country’s new partnership with China

# Former president Jacob Zuma says being forced to pay back the 28.9-million-rand the state paid for his legal costs is premature and risks creating an unconstitutional trial. He wants permission from the Supreme Court of Appeal to appeal the Gauteng High Court ruling ordering him to repay the state. In his appeal application, Zuma insists he can only be ordered to repay the money if and when he is convicted in the arms deal-linked corruption case and is found to have acted in his own interests.

# The South African National Defence Force has deployed helicopters to evacuate people stranded by severe flooding in Limpopo. Spokesperson Selinah Rawlins says members of Squadrons 17 and 19 responded to an emergency call, rescuing families near Giyani and Phalaborwa. Victims were airlifted from rooftops and trees along the Olifants River. Rawlins says injured residents were transported to Maphutha Hospital as rescue operations continued overnight.

# The GOOD Party has submitted a motion in terms of Rule 19 of the George Municipality Rules of Order, calling for the renaming of PW Botha Boulevard. The motion argues the current naming is inconsistent with the Constitution’s core values of human dignity, equality, and non-racialism. GOOD’s Chantelle Kyd says Botha’s legacy is defined by repression and the denial of fundamental human rights:

Moving abroad:

# Canadian prime minister Mark Carney has praised a renewed partnership with China as he seeks to diversify trade links away from the US. The two countries had been locked in years of diplomatic spats after the retaliatory arrests of each other’s citizens and a series of trade disputes. China is Canada’s second-largest trading partner. Carney says the partnership sets the two nations up well for the new world order:

# Rugby: England prop Asher Opoku-Fordjour has been ruled out of the Six Nations after sustaining a shoulder injury in training with his club side Sale Sharks. The 21-year-old, who has not played since the end of November because of an elbow problem, has won six national caps. In the absence of Opoku-Fordjour, Gloucester’s Afolabi Fasogbon and Trevor Davison are among the contenders to step up. England’s Six Nations campaign begins against Wales on 7 February and concludes in France on 14 March.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-38-cents and the euro at 19-rand-2-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-95-cents and Bitcoin trades at 95-thousand-650-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-600-dollars-51-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 63-dollars-93-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….