News 11:00

BULLETIN 15 January 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# SARS opens a criminal case against the Phala Phala buffalo buyer Hazim Mustafa
# Busisiwe Mkhwebane is threatening with legal action to get her 10-million-rand pension payout
# And Cricket South Africa says it is not punishing David Teeger for being Jewish

# The South African Revenue Service has opened a criminal case against Sudanese businessman Hazim Mustafa. He paid 10.82-million-rand in cash for 20 buffalo from president Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm in Limpopo in December 2019. Ramaphosa has stated that it was Mustafa’s money that was stolen from his farm in February 2020. According to News24, the case centres around a document, believed to be a copy of the declaration of foreign currency, that Mustafa gave to the police and SARS. The document is believed to be potentially fraudulent.

# Former Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has instructed her legal team to institute court proceedings against her successor, Kholeka Gcaleka, and Parliament. This is in a bid to get her pension payout, believed to be ten-million-rand. She was removed from office after Parliament voted in favour of the Section 194 inquiry’s report. President Cyril Ramaphosa fired her in October, meaning she lost the gratuity she would have pocketed if she had completed her term. Mkhwebane told Newzroom Afrika her rights have been violated:

# The EFF in Tshwane says the DA’s proposal for a deputy mayor position in the metro will serve no purpose other than squandering taxpayers’ money. Last year, mayor Cilliers Brink called for the appointment of a deputy mayor to bring stability to the multiparty government. The position has been given to ActionSA, which is set to announce its nominee today. The EFF says it firmly believes this proposal is nothing more than a political manoeuvre by the DA, aimed at appeasing their coalition partner, ActionSA.

# University of South Africa lecturer, Mametlwe Sebei, says South Africa’s legal team beyond a shadow of a doubt, made a compelling case for genocide against Israel at the International Court of Justice. South Africa submitted a request to the court that Israel’s military assault on Gaza transgressed its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention. Israel has denied this. Sebei says South Africa’s case was based on facts and the principles of international humanitarian law:

# Cricket: Cricket South Africa says it is not punishing David Teeger for being Jewish but only wants to protect him. He was flagged by the Palestine Solidarity Alliance for his comments at the Jewish Achiever Awards in October last year and was relieved of the captaincy last week Friday. His comments led to an independent inquiry that cleared him. Teeger remains in the Under19 World Cup squad but Western Province all-rounder Juan James has taken over the captaincy. The CSA board chairperson says they want the World Cup to go on without disruptions.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-64-cents and the euro at 20-rand-44-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-77-cents and Bitcoin trades at 42-thousand-614-dollars-26-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-54-dollars-61-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 78-dollars-37-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….