Wednesday 26 January

POLITICS, GOVERNMENT & PARLIAMENT:

Appeal court dismisses bid to resuscitate Gordhan-SARS ‘rogue unit’ report – Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s legal bills mount – On 19 January 2022, the Supreme Court finally banged the last nail in the coffin of the ‘Rogue Unit’ report, dismissing Mkhwebane’s ‘application for reconsideration of her petition for leave to appeal’.

Mkhwebane disappointed by Mabuyane’s ‘continued public display of conduct unbecoming’ – Busisiwe Mkhwebane expressed concerns over continued attacks from Oscar Mabuyane because of her findings against him.

CORRUPTION WATCH:

Malema accuses ANC of wanting to dip into SSA ‘R4bn slush fund’ after Gungubele appointment – Julius Malema has cautioned against the move by Ramaphosa to delegate political responsibility for the State Security Agency to ally Mondli Gungubele.

COURTS, NPA, HAWKS, CRIME & SAPS:

Final SIU Covid-19 corruption report released — now comes Ramaphosa’s time for tough action – The SIU final report into Covid-related procurement irregularities names names, points to how corruption has become a web, and is a ticking clock for President Cyril Ramaphosa to act.

Crime in SA | WATCH | Tshegofatso Pule’s killer offered R70,000

Brought to account: Absa ‘fraudster’ joins several ex-employees caught with fingers in the till – The Absa employee who was arrested by the Hawks for allegedly stealing more than R100 million from the bank joins a number of former colleagues.

TRAVEL:

Americans have become SA’s biggest overseas tourists – overtaking Brits and Germans – South Africa’s primary source market for tourists in 2021 was the United States, with almost 72,000 Americans having arrived by December.

COVID VACCINE:

Covid outbreak hits ship heading to Tonga; South Africa registers 3,197 new cases – Pfizer and BioNTech are starting a study of a Covid-19 vaccine that targets the Omicron variant, enrolling participants in a clinical trial that will evaluate the shot’s ability to prompt an immune response in adults.

ENTERTAINMENT:

SA Wines Win at 2021 Global Sauvignon Blanc Masters – Two South African Wines were awarded Gold by The Drinks Business, landing in the top 12 of the best Sauvignon Blanc wines of 2021.

The Every: The hilarious and horrifying new novel from Dave Eggers – When the world’s largest search engine/social media company merges with the planet’s dominant e-commerce site, it creates the richest and most dangerous – and, oddly enough, most beloved – monopoly ever known: The Every. This is not going to end well.

TECHNOLOGY & TELEVISION:

Microsoft’s $22 billion Army goggles still aren’t combat-ready – Microsoft’s new multifunction goggle system for the U.S. Army shows promise, but the $22 billion program isn’t yet ready for combat deployment.