Daily news update: Senzo Meyiwa murder trial, Busisiwe Mavuso and Elon Musk

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Daily news update 26 April

Senzo Meyiwa murder trial: Kelly Khumalo’s lawyer ordered to leave court

Proceedings at the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial got off to a dramatic start on Monday morning, after musician Kelly Khumalo’s lawyer was instructed to leave the courtroom.

Magdalene Moonsamy was watching on at the trial, but the defence raised objections to her presence in court.

Five men accused of the murder of the former Bafana Bafana captain returned to the Pretoria High Court as the trial resumed, almost eight years after Meyiwa was shot and killed while visiting Khumalo’s home in Vosloorus in October 2014.

Khumalo was Meyiwa’s then-girlfriend at the time of the murder.

Twitter confirms sale of company to Elon Musk for $44bn

Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, struck a deal Monday to buy Twitter for $44 billion, capping a saga complete with hostile takeover threats before delivering him personal control of one of the most influential social media platforms on the planet. 

Twitter famously served as a megaphone for former US president Donald Trump before the platform banned him, and Musk — a self-proclaimed “free-speech absolutist” — has said he wants to reform what he sees as the platform’s over-zealous content moderation.

“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” Elon Musk said in a statement released by Twitter. 

Magda Wierzycka was forced to flee SA weeks before Gupta Leaks – report

Businesswoman Magda Wierzycka had to flee South Africa in April 2017 because she feared for the safety of her family weeks before information about how the Guptas controlled the country was leaked.

Although she reveals she did not leak the emails to the Sunday Times and City Press newspapers, Wierzycka said she had helped the whistleblowers who needed money to flee the country. She did this after being approached by Daily Maverick editor, Branko Brkic

This is revealed in her book Magda: My Journey, which is available at bookstores on 25 April.

‘Badge of honour’: Eskom’s Busisiwe Mavuso stands by her decision to walk out of Scopa meeting

Eskom board member Busisiwe Mavuso says she stands by her views and her decision to walk out of Friday’s meeting of parliament’s standing committee on public accounts (Scopa).

Mavuso had a heated exchange with Scopa chairperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa after she said Eskom’s current board and CEO, André de Ruyter, would not be the “fall guy” for the mess at the embattled power utility that she attributed to the ANC-led government.

The Eskom board member, who’s also the CEO of Business Leadership SA, was responding to a question from MPs after their oversight visit to inspect Eskom’s operations.

More municipalities move to tax game farms as businesses

There seems to be an increased move by municipalities to change their property rates policies to allow them to bill game farms on a commercial rather than agricultural scale.

In Mangaung, the latest to propose such a change, it means owners of game farms will pay 15 times more from July 1, should the proposal be adopted.

That will be devastating, says Richard York, CEO of Wildlife Ranching SA.

United Nations to visit flood-ravaged KZN

The United Nations (UN) in South Africa has arrived in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) as part of a three-day visit to the flood-ravaged province. 

The technical team, comprising of members from various UN agencies are expected to meet with Provincial Disaster Management Centre and eThekwini Municipality officials to assess where the United Nations Development System can lend a helping hand.

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