News 15:00

BULLETIN 17 January 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Reserve Bank seeks a court order to access Markus Jooste’s data
# AZAPO calls for the rehabilitation of disused mines in the country
# And tennis: Naomi Osaka retires with an injury in the third round of the Australian Open

# The South African Reserve Bank has turned to the courts to access data from phones and computers seized during a raid on the late Steinhoff CEO Markus Jooste’s estate two years ago. The bank claims Jooste delayed data release until his death in March last year. Despite the seizure, the bank still lacks access to critical electronic files, including emails and spreadsheets, essential for ongoing investigations.

# The Azanian People’s Organisation is calling on government to fully implement the existing policy on the rehabilitation of disused mines in the country. This follows the recovery of 87 bodies while 246 illegal miners were rescued in Stilfontein, North West, this week. The party’s Jabu Rakwena says AZAPO does not understand why the government fails to enforce the establishment and use of the fund by the mining companies to rehabilitate these mines:

# The man suspected of abducting Madeleine McCann won’t face any charges in the foreseeable future. Prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters told Sky News there is currently no prospect of an indictment in the Maddie case. Christian B, who cannot be fully identified under Germany’s privacy law, is expected to be freed from an unrelated jail sentence later this year. The three-year-old Madeleine disappeared from the British family’s Portuguese rented holiday apartment on 3 May 2007. Her disappearance has become the world’s most mysterious missing child case.

# Tennis: Two-time Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka retired with an injury during her third-round match against Belinda Bencic in Melbourne. Osaka needed treatment on her stomach at 6-5 in the first set which she went on to lose to the Swiss in a tiebreak before leaving the court. Osaka had a troubled build-up, retiring from the final in Auckland with an abdominal injury. The Japanese star also revealed last week she and her rapper boyfriend Cordae, the father of her daughter Shai, had split up.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-69-cents and the euro at 19-rand-27-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-83-cents and Bitcoin trades at 102-thousand-246-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-703-dollars-80-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 80-dollars-70-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Eskom has been recognised as a Top Employer in South Africa by the Top Employers Institute. The institute’s certification is based on a rigorous benchmarking process, which evaluates organisations across six key human resources domains. It has certified more than two-thousand-300 organisations across 121 countries. Eskom’s spokesperson, Daphne Mokwena, says this recognition reflects the high performance and ethical culture that they are steadily building:

Stay tuned for more news………….