Daily Podcast – June 08, 2018

8th June 2018 By: Thabi Shomolekae - Creamer Media Senior Writer

Daily Podcast – June 08, 2018

Former President Jacob Zuma
Photo by: govt

For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Thabi Madiba.

Making headlines: Zuma back in court over arms deal; Ramaphosa asks Broeders to back land reform; And, DA up in arms after MP forced out of NCOP chamber

 

Zuma back in court over arms deal

Former president Jacob Zuma is expected to appear in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Durban today, after his case was postponed in April.

The embattled former president appeared in court on one count of racketeering, two counts of corruptions, one count of money laundering and 12 counts of fraud relating to 783 payments he allegedly received in connection with the controversial arms deal.

Zuma appeared alongside Christine Guerrier, vice-president of dispute resolution and litigation for Thales, France.

The charges relate to the controversial arms deal, formally known as the Strategic Defence Procurement Package. It was a multibillion-rand military acquisition project finalised in 1999.

 

Ramaphosa asks Broeders to back land reform

For millions of South Africans, the Broederbond was an instrument of misery and hardship; the Afrikanerbond must unify and progress, President Cyril Ramaphosa told the Afrikanerbond at its centenary celebration yesterday evening.

Ramaphosa also asked them to back land reform, saying it would be to the benefit of the whole country.

The Afrikanerbond was previously known as the Broederbond – then a secret society for white, Christian, Afrikaans males who clandestinely controlled the political, economic and cultural levers of apartheid South Africa.

Ramaphosa said the organisation was borne out of the suffering Afrikaners endured under the British. As they strove to realise their rights, they denied those same rights to the majority of South Africans, he told them.

 

And, DA up in arms after MP forced out of NCOP chamber

The Democratic Alliance wants an urgent meeting with National Council of Provinces chairperson Thandi Modise, after its leader in the NCOP, Cathy Labuschagne, was forcibly removed from the chamber during a fractious debate on Wednesday.

According to DA chief whip John Steenhuisen, she was "violently assaulted" and "unlawfully removed" by the Parliamentary Security Services.

Steenhuisen yesterday said in a statement that yesterday’s sitting, chaired by Masefako Dikgale, had devolved into complete chaos during the Policy Debate on the Budget Vote for Rural Development and Land Reform, largely due to the presiding officer’s incompetence. Labuschagne had raised a valid point of order, as the presiding officer failed to execute her duty to maintain order in the sitting.



 

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

To keep in touch with the news while you are on the move, visit m.polity.org.za