Daily news update: Senzo trial twist, Zuma in court today, EFF R1.2m gala dinner

In today’s daily news update: Jacob Zuma will be appearing in court today, and the North Gauteng High Court heard startling new testimony in the Senzo Meyiwa trial yesterday.

Meanwhile, severe weather warnings have been issued as SA braces for flooding and a drop in temperatures.

Daily news update: 28 July 2023

Stay up to date with The Citizen – More News, Your Way. Here’s your easy-to-read selection of our top stories.

Zuma back in court today

Former president Jacob Zuma is expected back in the Pietermaritzburg High Court today to defend an urgent application.

This after state prosecutor Billy Downer and News24 journalist Karyn Maughan brought separate applications to enforce their successful bid to overturn Zuma’s private prosecution against them.

The duo wants the full bench to give an order declaring the judgment delivered on 7 June operational and executable, pending Zuma’s application for leave to appeal.

READ: Zuma back in court on Friday to defend urgent applications by Downer and Maughan

Senzo Meyiwa trial twist

Startling new testimony heard in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Thursday thrown yet another twist in the Senzo Meyiwa murder tale.

The state’s fourth witness, Colonel Lambertus Steyn, revealed the intriguing results of his analysis of the cellphone data of everyone present at the time of Meyiwa’s death on 26 October 2014.

Steyn, who boasts 41 years of experience in the South African Police Services (Saps) Cold Case Unit, told the court the slain soccer star’s then-girlfriend and singer Kelly Khumalo received two calls from Sifisokuhle Nkani Ntuli, who is one of the five accused on trial.

READ: Senzo Meyiwa trial twist: Kelly Khumalo ‘received two calls’ from murder accused

Malema’s R1.2m gala dinner

Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema’s platinum table at the party’s 10th-anniversary gala dinner sold three times more than expected.

This was revealed by the EFF leader, who addressed the fundraising dinner attended by among others, families of the shot Marikana miners, UDM leader Bantu Holomisa and controversial businessman Adriano Mazzotti.

The party will host its 10th Anniversary bash with everyone at the FNB Stadium on Saturday.

READ: ‘Egg on your face’: Malema’s R1.2-million gala dinner table ‘sold for 3 times more’

Jub Jub arrest

TV channel Moja Love says it will monitor the progress in the case against Uyajola/99 host and “allow the law to take its course”.

Jub Jub appeared in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Thursday on two counts of attempted murder, three of rape and one of assault, following an arrest warrant issued against him.

He denied all charges and was released on bail of R10 000.

READ: Jub Jub arrest: Moja Love to ‘allow the law to take its course’

Dickason murder trial

The High Court in Christchurch, New Zealand, has heard testimony from the Dickason children’s grandmother and a world-renowned US-based expert in infanticide, Dr Susan Hatters-Friedman.

Triple murder-accused mum Lauren Dickason is on trial for strangling her three small daughters, six-year-old Liané and two-year-old twins Maya and Karla, with cable ties strung together before smothering them to death with a towel.

The state opposes Dickason’s not-guilty plea owing to insanity and infanticide, saying the triple murder was methodical, purposeful and even clinical.

READ: Dickason murder trial: Children’s grandmother and psych expert take the stand

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In other news today:

• VIP protection unit: Case postponed as video credibility questioned
• These are the EFF leaders ‘banned’ from anniversary rally after transport flop
• Cop arrested for submitting fake sick note to her boss
• PICS: Inside Gqeberha’s grubbiest bakery
• Jani Allan – gone but not forgotten: The extraordinary life and times of a SA legend

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Yesterday’s Daily News recap

READ: Crawford k-word, Lesufi’s surveillance, petrol price