News 08:00

BULLETIN 24 January 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The ANC says the signing of the Expropriation Bill is historic
# The Police arrest the girlfriend of a Midrand child pornography suspect
# And a judge blocks Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship

# The ANC says president Cyril Ramaphosa’s signing of the Expropriation Bill into law is a significant milestone in South Africa’s transformation agenda. The law repeals the pre-democratic Expropriation Act of 1975 and sets out how organs of state may expropriate land in the public interest for varied reasons. The ANC’s, Mzwandile Masina, told the SABC that the law is a progressive and transformation tool to advance land reform in ways that enable inclusive economic growth and social cohesion:

Meanwhile, the EFF strongly rejects the signing of the Expropriation Bill into law, saying it will not assist in resolving the tragedy of land restitution. The EFF says the law is a legislative cop-out by the ANC, fooling people into believing they are doing something to address the land question. It adds that the only democratic way through which the land question can be resolved is by amending the entirety of Section 25 of the Constitution.

# Gauteng police have arrested a second suspect, a 25-year-old woman, in connection with videos and photos of child pornography uncovered in Midrand last Friday. This arrest follows the takedown of her 35-year-old boyfriend, who was apprehended last week during a joint operation. Police spokesperson, Amanda van Wyk, says the woman, who is a web designer by profession, was arrested in Houghton and faces charges of possession of child pornography and money laundering:

# A US federal judge has temporarily blocked president Donald Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship, calling it blatantly unconstitutional. In his executive order, Trump directed US agencies to refuse to recognise the citizenship of children born in America, if neither their mother nor father is a US citizen or legal permanent resident. The order is the subject of five lawsuits by civil rights groups and Democratic attorneys general from 22 states. Trump says he will challenge the ruling.

# Cricket: The Paarl Royals defeated the Durban’s Super Giants by five wickets at Kingsmead in Durban, to cement their position at the top of the SA20 table. Quinton de Kock scored 43, and Mujeeb Ur Rahman took two wickets as the Super Giants were restricted to 142 for seven. In reply, Rubin Hermann scored 44 and Mitchell van Buuren 41 as they helped the Royals reach the target with 15 balls to spare. Royals captain David Miller says he is pleased with their overall performance:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-43-cents and the euro at 19-rand-25-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-83-cents and Bitcoin trades at 103-thousand-128-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-773-dollars-8-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 77-dollars-56-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….