News 18:00

BULLETIN 7 February 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Eastern Cape High Court orders the police and the Hawks to do their jobs in the Intercape violence case
# SAFTU supports the Competition Commission’s appeal on the rand/dollar manipulation
# And Cricket: The Proteas women make history against Australia

# The Eastern Cape High Court has ordered the police and the Hawks to meet their constitutional obligations to investigate and prevent crimes perpetrated against the Intercape bus service, its drivers and the traveling public. The judgment relates to more than 165 cases of violence and intimidation, while not a single arrest has been made. Intercape accuses the taxi industry of trying to drive it out of some parts of the country. The company says it hopes the police and the Hawks will now fulfil their constitutional obligations to uphold and enforce the law as ordered by the court.

# Union federation SAFTU supports the Competition Commission’s appeal to the Constitutional Court regarding the manipulation of the rand/dollar exchange rate between 2007 and 2013. The Competition Appeals Court previously dismissed the commission’s case due to insufficient evidence of a coordinated conspiracy. The commission’s appeal focuses on 13 banks, including ten international banks. SAFTU spokesperson Trevor Shaku believes all banks involved should be held accountable:

# Cape Town mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis, says the city is ready to work with the national government to fast-track the devolution of passenger rail. The mayor says president Cyril Ramaphosa had promised that the Rail Devolution Strategy would be out last year, but nothing yet. Hill-Lewis says the city’s rail feasibility study has shown that, with efficient trains, lower-income families could save 932-million-rand every year:

# Hamas has proposed a 135-day truce in Gaza, with the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces. This is the militant organisation’s reaction to a ceasefire offer by Israel, compiled by Qatari and Egyptian mediators last week and backed by America. Hamas also suggests the release of all hostages, an agreement to end the war and the start of the rebuilding of the strip. Reuters reports there was no immediate public response from Israel, who said earlier it would stay in Gaza until Hamas was wiped out.

# Cricket: South Africa’s women’s cricket team beat Australia in Sydney for the first time in a one-day game. The Proteas handed the hostesses their third-biggest loss in ODI cricket. It was Australia’s first loss at home chasing since 2017, and only the second time they have lost on home soil while batting second since March 2009. Player of the match, Marizanne Kapp scored 75 runs and also took three wickets to seal the win by 84 runs on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method. The three-match series is now level at 1-all.

Stay tuned for more news………….