News 17:00

BULLETIN 8 January 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA leader plans to open corruption case against minister Nzimande
# The ANC Youth League president says members rally behind the office of the president, not individuals
# And, cricket: Smith believes SA20 and Tests can co-exist

# DA leader John Steenhuisen has accused president Cyril Ramaphosa of being a coward for failing to address the country’s challenges. Steenhuisen’s comments follow the release of alleged recordings implicating Higher Education minister Blade Nzimande and National Student Financial Aid Scheme board chairperson Ernest Khosa of bribery. Nzimande has since denies the claims. Steenhuisen considers the allegations serious and calls on Ramaphosa to take decisive action against cadres accused of corruption :

# ANC Youth League president Collen Malatji says collective defence revolves around supporting the office of the president, not individual members. The party’s secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula, openly admitting it was a lie to defend former president Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla homestead’s swimming pool as a fire pool, has sparked controversy. In his address at the ANC’s 112th birthday celebration in Mbombela, Mpumalanga, Malatji said the issue of unemployment needs urgent attention now. He calls for unity in tackling critical socio-economic challenges facing young people:

# Furious farmers opposed to the German government’s plans to cut tax breaks for agriculture used tractors to block roads across the country today in an escalating dispute. The coordinated nationwide demonstration targeted motorway access ramps in particular. Police reported blockades and major traffic disruptions due to slow-moving tractor convoys across Germany from the early morning hours. Farm equipment blocked the centres of cities including Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne and Bremen.

# Cricket: The commissioner of the SA20, Graeme Smith, believes the popular series can co-exist with Test cricket. The former national captain reacted to the controversy around South Africa sending a second-tier team to New Zealand for two Tests because national players had to commit to the SA20. Seven of the players in the squad haven’t played for the Proteas before, including tour captain Neil Brand. Smith says both formats can grow together, pointing out the T20 tournament is only played over four weeks per year.

# And to end with: Pope Francis has called for a global ban on surrogacy, saying the practice of a woman carrying another person’s child was “deplorable”. In his New Year’s address to diplomats at the Vatican, the pontiff said it was a “grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child”. In a speech dominated by calls for an end to conflicts around the world, the pope said the path to peace calls for respect for life. He says this begins with the life of the unborn child in the mother’s womb.

Stay tuned for more news………….