News 06:00

BULLETIN 5 February 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA says minister Motshekga must be fired
# The EFF demands the immediate return of the soldiers in the DRC
# And FlySafair customers are assured of no disruptions

# The DA says with the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo continuing to deteriorate, it is reiterating its call for the immediate withdrawal of the South African National Defence Force soldiers. Fourteen soldiers were killed in fighting with the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels last month. The DA’s, Chris Hattingh, told a meeting of Parliament’s Defence committee that minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Angie Motshekga, has failed to take accountability and must be fired:

Meanwhile, EFF member of Parliament Carl Niehaus has accused the government of sending South African National Defence Force soldiers to the Democratic Republic of Congo without proper equipment and resources. In a joint meeting of Parliament’s Defence committees, Niehaus claims the soldiers are not on a peacekeeping mission but are there to protect president Cyril Ramaphosa’s alleged mineral interests. He has called for the resignation of Defence minister Angie Motshekga:

# FlySafair says its operations will continue without disruption following sanctions from the Air Services Licensing Council. The council has given the airline 12 months to comply with a technical interpretation of nationality provisions after FlySafair was found not to meet the requirement for 75-percent of its voting rights to be held by South African citizens.  The airline’s Kirby Gordon reassured customers that all flights will proceed as scheduled while it works to address the matter:

# Agriculture minister John Steenhuisen has announced the reopening of South Africa’s fresh apple exports to Thailand after 16-years. Steenhuisen says the market, closed since 2008 due to updated trading requirements, continues to hold immense potential. The minister said that South Africa’s apple industry with 50-percent of production export driven, supports over 32-thousand farm jobs. He lauded the reopening as it boosts opportunities in agro-processing, logistics, and employment, especially in export-oriented sectors.

# Johannesburg Transport mayoral committee member, Kenny Kunene, has confirmed that Rea Vaya bus services will resume today. On Tuesday, services were suspended after two bus drivers were shot and killed in Soweto on Monday evening. Kunene has described the incident as an orchestrated hit. He says the Johannesburg Metro Police Department will be deployed to escort and protect drivers and busses as a proactive intervention. Kunene adds that this tragedy is a serious declaration of war.

# Rugby: Bulls scrumhalf Bernard van der Linde has signed a two-year contract with English club Bath from the end of this season. The 24-year-old only played four Currie Cup matches for the Blue Bulls since joining in 2022 and reportedly wanted more game-time. Bath is coached by former Bulls and Springboks assistant coach Johann van Graan, who says 24-year-old Van der Linde has huge potential. He is expected to replace former Sharks player Louis Schreuder, whose contract expires at the end of the season.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-65-cents and the euro at 19-rand-34-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-25-cents and Bitcoin trades at 97-thousand-889-dollar-20-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-841-dollars-57-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 76-dollars-4-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….