News 08:00

BULLETIN 1 February 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The EFF says Parliament has been turned into a weapon to defend president Cyril Ramaphosa
# ActionSA’s president calls for drastic action to combat corruption
# And cricket, Sunrisers Eastern Cape beat Joburg Super Kings to book a spot in the playoffs

# The EFF says it is evident that the ANC-led government is resorting to vindictive measures to silence opposition voices and evade accountability for their failures. The EFF’s attempt to have the Western Cape High Court overturn a decision to suspend six party members, including leader Julius Malema, from Parliament for this month failed. This effectively excludes them from the State of the Nation Address, the subsequent debate, and also the budget speech. EFF’s spokesperson, Sinawo Thambo, says they will continue to hold president Cyril Ramaphosa accountable:

# ActionSA president Herman Mashaba has issued a statement urging for decisive measures to address corruption in South Africa. Mashaba highlighted the country’s corruption perception has worsened, as indicated by the recent Corruption Perceptions Index released by Transparency International. South Africa has lost two points since last year, scoring 41 on the global index. Mashaba calls for the removal of corrupt leaders. He criticises president Cyril Ramaphosa for lacking the political will to combat corruption effectively.

# The Freedom Front Plus in Gauteng says the tabling of the Emfuleni Municipality’s annual report, in preparation for the adjustment budget, shows that there is no solution to get the municipality out of trouble. The municipality owes creditors around nine-billion-rand. FF Plus councillor, Gerda Senekal, says there is no quick fix to save the bankrupt Emfuleni from its financial predicament, and the only solution is for residents to vote the ANC government out in the province:

# The International Court of Justice has ruled that Russia violated articles of two United Nations treaties, one on terrorism financing and another on eradicating racial discrimination. Ukraine had accused Moscow of being a terrorist state and that it funded fighters involved in downing Flight MH17, which killed all 298 people onboard in 2014. The court found that Russia failed to investigate people who had allegedly funded pro-Russian separatist groups in eastern Ukraine. The court however declined to rule on Russia being responsible for the shooting down of the plane.

# Cricket: Defending champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape have secured their place in the SA20 playoffs following a bonus point nine-wicket victory over the Joburg Super Kings at the Wanderers. Australia’s Dan Worrall took three wickets as the home side was bowled out for just 78. In reply, the Sunrisers cruised through their run chase with English pair Dawid Malan and Tom Abell sharing an unbroken 50-run partnership for the second wicket. Worrall says they have an all-round team which puts them in a great position in the competition:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-64-cents and the euro at 20-rand-16-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-66-cents and Bitcoin trades at 41-thousand-996-dollars-88-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-46-dollars-62-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 81-dollars a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….