News 07:00

BULLETIN 25 January 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Jacob Zuma is consulting his lawyers as the state wants him to repay over 28-million-rand in legal costs
# Azapo criticises government over the alleged sale of diluted diesel
# And soccer, Bafana Bafana is through to the Afcon knockout stage

# The Jacob Zuma Foundation says the former president is consulting his lawyers over the legal action launched against him by the Presidency and the State Attorney. The Presidency and the State Attorney have approached the High Court in Pretoria, in a bid to recoup over 28-million-rand million the state paid for Zuma’s defence in the arms deal corruption case. Two courts have already found that the state is not liable for the legal costs incurred by Zuma in his personal capacity. The foundation says the former president is still weighing up his options.

# The DA says it has submitted a Promotion of Access to Information Act application to PetroSA. This is for records of the decision that informed the awarding of a tender for the exploration of its offshore gas reserves and the rebuilding of critical gas infrastructure to Equator Holdings. The company is run by notorious political operator Lawrence Mulaudzi, who was implicated in the Mpati Commission’s report into corruption and misconduct at the Public Investment Corporation. The DA’s, Kevin Mileham, says Equator Holdings did not meet the tender specifications:

# The Azanian People’s Organisation has raised concern over petrol stations allegedly selling diluted diesel, mixing it with illuminating paraffin. This follows the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy’s discovery that 70 petrol stations had been selling contaminated diesel between April and December last year. Azapo’s Jabu Rakwena criticises the government for a lack of strict monitoring and oversight, blaming greed for jeopardising consumer interests. Rakwena calls for robust mechanisms to ensure fuel quality and protect consumers:

# A man is expected to appear in a Johannesburg court today in connection with last year’s deadly fire in Marshalltown. Seventy-six people were killed when the fire broke out in the hijacked building in August. The 29-year-old man was arrested after confessing while testifying before the Commission of Inquiry into the tragedy. He said he started the fire on the ground floor to conceal a murder he committed. The man is facing 76 counts of murder, as well as 120 of attempted murder.

# British billionaire Joe Lewis has pleaded guilty to three charges of insider trading in the US but has pleaded not guilty to 14 counts of security fraud and two counts of conspiracy. His family trust owns the English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur. Prosecutors allege that he gave confidential information about publicly traded companies to friends, private pilots, romantic partners, and others, and lent some of them money to trade on the knowledge. Lewis, who is also the founder of Tavistock Group, admitted he knew what he was doing was wrong.

# Soccer: South Africa has qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations last 16 in the Ivory Coast. This is after they played to a goalless draw against Tunisia to finish second in Group E behind Mali, who also played to a goalless draw against Namibia. Meanwhile, a point was enough for the Democratic Republic of Congo to finish second in Group F behind Morocco, who topped the table after their one-nil win over Zambia. Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos says he is happy with the performance:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-89-cents and the euro at 20-rand-56-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-3-cents and Bitcoin trades at 40-thousand-and-7-dollars-7-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-16-dollars-44-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 80-dollars-6-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….