News 08:00

BULLETIN 5 February 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# A new survey shows the ANC’s popularity is waning and voters are interested in the Multi-Party Charter
# Parliament’s presiding officers pay tribute to Namibia’s president Hage Geingob
# And cricket, Sunrisers Eastern Cape beat Paarl Royals to finish top of the SA20 log

# A new survey has found that the ANC was waning in popularity and would garner only 39-percent of the votes if the elections were held tomorrow. The survey is by University of the Witwatersrand professor, David Everatt, with nine-thousand people interviewed. It also found that voters were intrigued by the Multi-Party Charter, an eleven-party agreement to form a coalition after the election. Everatt says jobs are at the top of the pile of voter priorities, followed by the cost of living, crime, poverty, and load-shedding.

# DA leader John Steenhuisen says he is pleased the party, along with its partners in civil society, has won the first battle in their ongoing war against the ANC’s Race Quotas Act. Steenhuisen says Employment and Labour minister Thulas Nxesi has been forced to publish revised draft regulations for the implementation of the Employment Equity Amendment Act, better known as the Race Quotas Act, which was signed into law by president Cyril Ramaphosa last year:

# Gauteng police arrested a 57-year-old man for allegedly interfering with a motorcade transporting a foreign VIP dignitary to the Lanseria International Airport yesterday. Police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe says the man was warned by traffic officials and police members escorting the VIP dignitary to stay away from the convoy, but he allegedly ignored warning signs. She says the man tried to enter the motorcade and on his third attempt, police pulled him over and arrested him:

# Parliament’s presiding officers have expressed sadness at the passing of Namibian president Hage Geingob, describing him as an outstanding revolutionary and dedicated stateman. The 82-year-old, who was receiving cancer treatment, died in a Windhoek hospital yesterday. The presiding officers say they are deeply grateful for the lasting legacy of Geingob, who played a critical role in not only securing Namibia’s liberation but also making significant contributions to the liberation of South Africa from apartheid oppression.

# Cricket: Defending champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape beat the Paarl Royals by five wickets in Gqeberha, to finish the round-robin stage at the top of the SA20 table. Joseph Buttler topped scored with 38 as the Royals posted 159 for seven in their 20 overs. In reply, Temba Bavuma shared a 63-run partnership with captain Aiden Markram, and Patrick Kruger finished unbeaten on 25 from seven deliveries to help the Sunrisers to victory. Kruger says as a team they enjoy chasing games:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-93-cents and the euro at 20-rand-41-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-87-cents and Bitcoin trades at 42-thousand-570-dollars-69-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-30-dollars-90-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 77-dollars-57-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….