Flash Briefing: Zuma abuse of SA Intelligence; Deutsche/Commerzbank talk merger; Ethiopia Airline plane crashes; 77% of SAs use WhatsApp

A Boeing 737 MAX operated by Africa’s leading Ethiopian Airline crashed killing all 157 on board, just six minutes after leaving Addis Ababa on yesterday’s scheduled flight to Nairobi. Germany’s two biggest money lenders, Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank, have agreed to hold merger discussions after both have suffered extended performance and share price declines. The respected Pew Research Centre’s investigation into 11 leading emerging markets concludes that over half the adults either own or have access to a smartphone – and over 90% of them use social media like Facebook and messaging Apps like WhatsApp. In other South African news, the trend to greater transparency accelerated over the weekend with the release of a critical report by the High-Level panel on the State Security Agency.