News 09:00

BULLETIN 31 January 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Cosatu says Zuma’s suspension from the ANC should have been done sooner
# The DA says the Corruption Perceptions Index highlights the worsening corruption under Ramaphosa
# And, Japan faces a legal battle over the alleged racial profiling of foreign residents

# Cosatu says the suspension of former president Jacob Zuma from the ANC is long overdue. The ruling party’s National Executive Committee decided to suspend Zuma for violating the ANC’s constitution by campaigning for another party. He has been campaigning for the newly formed uMkhonto weSizwe party and has vowed to not vote for the ANC in the upcoming general elections. Cosatu’s president, Zingiswa Losi, told Newzroom Afrika, that Zuma is doing what he during his tenure saw as counter-revolution:

# The DA claims South Africa is experiencing heightened corruption under president Cyril Ramaphosa compared to his predecessor, Jacob Zuma. Global corruption watchdog, Transparency International, announced South Africa’s Corruption Perceptions Index has dropped to its lowest in 12-years. The party believes the record-low score of 41 out of 100 indicates a flawed democracy due to pervasive corruption within the Ramaphosa administration. Party leader John Steenhuisen accuses Ramaphosa of shielding the ANC’s cadre deployment, contributing to corruption. Steenhuisen criticises his failure to act against deputy president Paul Mashatile amid corruption allegations.

# The Cape Winelands District Municipality says firefighters are struggling to contain the fire on the slopes of the Dwarsberg Mountains above Rawsonville. The fire started above the Brandvlei Prison on Monday afternoon and spread across the top of the mountain, into the Dwarsberg mountains. The municipality’s spokesperson, Jo-Anne Otto, says teams battled the fire that was burning rapidly through very tall and dense vegetation, making firefighting activities difficult and particularly dangerous to all:

# Three foreign-born men have filed a ground-breaking lawsuit against the Japanese government alleging racially motivated police harassment. They are seeking approximately 377-thousand-rand each in compensation. The lawsuit targets the National Police Agency, the Tokyo Metropolitan government, and the Aichi prefectural government. The plaintiffs, born in America, Pakistan, and India, respectively, aim to prove that race-based disparate treatment violates the Constitution and international human rights agreements. They claim repeated unwarranted police stops and searches. The lawsuit highlights growing diversity challenges in Japan, where two-million foreign workers now contribute to the workforce.

# Rugby: Fly-half Marcus Smith has been ruled out of England’s Six Nations opener against Italy in Rome on Saturday with a calf injury. He suffered the injury during training on Monday. This means George Ford and the uncapped Fin Smith are the only fly-half options for coach Steve Borthwick. England is already without the likes of centres Ollie Lawrence and Manu Tuilagi, back-row Tom Curry, and wing Anthony Watson due to injury. Assistant coach Kevin Sinfield says they are waiting on a second opinion on Smith’s scans to determine the length of his absence.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-81-cents and the euro at 20-rand-35-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-85-cents and Bitcoin trades at 42-thousand-987-dollars-43-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-34-dollars-22-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 82-dollars-12-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….