News 08:00

BULLETIN 17 January 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Independent Electoral Commission reportedly disqualifies Jacob Zuma from contesting elections due to his criminal record
# The African Transformation Movement is concerned about the administrative collapse within the Department of Mineral Resources
# And, Donald Trump’s lawyers argue that E Jean Carroll does not deserve compensation

# The Independent Electoral Commission has reportedly said former president Jacob Zuma cannot run for president again due to his criminal record. Zuma is the public face of a recently registered political party named after the ANC’s armed wing, uMkhonto weSizwe. According to the Daily News, the IEC says Section 47 E of the Constitution bars anyone who was convicted and sentenced to more than 12 months imprisonment, without an option of a fine, from holding public office. Zuma was convicted and sentenced to 15 months after he was found guilty of defying a summons.

# The African Transformation Movement says it is concerned about the devastating consequences of the administrative collapse within the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy. The department has failed to finalise two-thousand-525 mining licence applications received since the beginning of the 2023/2024 financial year. There are also growing calls for artisanal mining licences to be issued to South Africans living in mining communities. ATM’s spokesperson, Zama Tshona, says they are particularly alarmed by the implications of this administrative breakdown on the country’s youth unemployment crisis:

# Four men accused of apartheid-era atrocities are set to appear in the Pongola Magistrate’s Court in KwaZulu-Natal tomorrow. Last week, the National Prosecuting Authority indicted Gerhardus Schoon, Paul Jacobus van Dyk, Frederick Pienaar, and Douw Gerbrandt Willemse for the 1985 kidnapping and murder of political activist Jameson Mngomezulu. They were denied amnesty in Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings and are now facing legal action. NPA spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara says legal representation issues will be finalized in the upcoming proceedings:

# Former US president Donald Trump’s lead attorney, Alina Habba, has told a New York Court that columnist E Jean Carroll does not deserve to be paid damages because her accusation of sexual assault had made her famous. Trump was previously found liable for sexually assaulting Carroll in the 1990s, and she is now seeking damages for defamatory statements he made about her during his presidency. Carroll’s attorney Shawn Crowley told the court that Trump had used his platform to defame and humiliate her client, causing her to live in fear every day.

# Cricket: Twenty-two-year-old Jordan Hermann scored a superb century to guide the Sunrisers Eastern Cape to a four-run win over MI Cape Town in their SA20 clash at Newlands. Hermann finished unbeaten on 106 off 62 balls to help the Sunrisers post 202 for two. In reply, the home side were well on their way to victory after a 108-run opening partnership between Ryan Rickelton and Rassie van der Dussen. However, Ottneil Baartman took three quick wickets as the hosts ended on 198 for five.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-99-cents and the euro at 20-rand-65-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-98-cents and Bitcoin trades at 42-thousand-977-dollars-80-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-26-dollars-60-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 77-dollars-92-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….