News 08:00

BULLETIN 6 January 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Sasco calls for swift investigations into corruption allegations against Nzimande and N-S-FAS
# First ‘visa-free’ tourists arrive in Kenya
# And, Rugby: Sharks hope to get back to winning ways against Lions

# Student body Sasco is concerned over the state of higher education. It calls for swift investigations into corruption allegations against minister Blade Nzimande and board members of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme. The organisation highlights maladministration and corruption within NSFAS and institutions of higher learning, demanding direct payments from the fund to students and criticising the involvement of outsourced companies administering students’ money. Sasco urges investigations into maladministration within institutions of higher learning and calls for free registration for poor and working-class students.

Meanwhile, the National Student Financial Aid Scheme’s board has strongly condemned the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse over its call for the resignation of Nzimande and board chairperson Ernest Khoza. The board accuses OUTA of attempting to defocus N-S-FAS from implementing recommendations and suggested that their investigative reports are influenced by advocacy for certain business interests. Spokesperson Ishmael Mnisi reaffirms N-S-FAS’s commitment to clean governance and vows to address activities that undermine its mission:

# Oscar Pistorius’s new abode in Pretoria is said to have been turned into a stronghold to ensure his safety. The former Paralympic champion was taken to his uncle Arnold’s luxury home in Waterkloof upon his release on parole yesterday. British media reports the mansion consists of 24 rooms and is worth an estimated 47-million-rand. Arnold Pistorius apparently hired armed guards with attack dogs and put up razor wire and electric fences. Oscar’s cottage on the grounds have panic buttons, a front gatehouse and armed security.

# Kenya has welcomed the first batch of foreign tourists who arrived under a simplified entry system it hopes will encourage more visitors. The government’s immigration services department says, the “maiden visa-free arrivals” landed in Nairobi from Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa and more are expected to touch down in the coming days. Under the new system, travellers apply online for an electronic travel authorization and pay a “processing” fee of around 560-rand. Last year president William Ruto announced that Kenya would become a “visa-free country” for people all over the world and existing requirements would be waived come January.

# And, Rugby: The Sharks hope to get back to winning ways when they take on the Lions in a United Rugby Championship match in Durban this afternoon. The team is currently in last place on the log after winning only one of their eight previous matches. Springbok lock Eben Etzebeth returns after missing last week’s defeat to the Stormers in Cape Town with a stomach bug. Coach John Plumtree believes today’s game is an opportunity to change their fortunes:

Stay tuned for more news………….