News 06:00

BULLETIN 7 February 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Ramaphosa says South Africa will not be bullied
# Busa says the Expropriation Act safeguards against land grabs
# And the UN chief warns the conflict in the DRC could spread to the entire region

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says South Africa will not be bullied and will stand up for its national interests and sovereignty. This directly responds to US president Donald Trump who has accused the government of unlawfully confiscating land. Delivering the state of the nation address in Cape Town on Thursday evening, Ramaphosa said the government is concerned about the potential impact of the decision by the US government to suspend some of its funding for HIV and TB programmes in African countries:

Meanwhile, Ramaphosa says the most urgent task for the government of national unity is to grow the economy and reduce poverty. Ramaphosa says the government will launch another phase of reforms to try to lift economic growth above three-percent. He adds that the government will also spend more than 940-billion-rand on infrastructure over the next three years:

# Business Unity South Africa CEO Khulekani Mathe has assured that the Expropriation Act includes robust safeguards to prevent arbitrary land grabs. Mathe says the Act allows expropriation only after failed reasonable purchase attempts and serves as a last resort. Mathe says while the nil-compensation clause raises concerns, its fairness will be clarified through court interpretations. He urges vigilance in monitoring its implementation, dismissing fears of land grabs as unwarranted.

# Emfuleni Local Municipality has lost over three-billion-rand in water over five years due to poor infrastructure maintenance, with ongoing outages affecting residents. The DA’s Kingsol Chabalala says despite spending only 140-million-rand on upgrades, the municipality fails to address leaks and deteriorating systems. He has called for urgent action, accountability, and community involvement to resolve this crisis:

# United Nations secretary-general, António Guterres, has warned that the current conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo risks engulfing the entire region. Fighting between the Rwandan-backed M23 and Congolese forces escalated in January, with the rebels capturing the regional capital, Goma. Guterres says the countless reports of human rights abuses, including sexual and gender-based violence, forced recruitment, and the disruption of lifesaving aid are concerning. He adds that now is the time to end the crisis in the eastern DRC.

# Cricket: Australian selectors have a huge task picking the squad for the Champions Trophy. Captain Pat Cummins, fellow fast bowler Josh Hazlewood and allrounder Mitchell Marsh will all miss the tournament through injuries, and another allrounder, Marcus Stoinis, has announced his retirement from the one-day international game. This means four replacements, with the tournament starting in Pakistan on 19 February. But the selectors say the four’s absence presents a great opportunity to perform for the defending champions on the international stage.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-44-cents and the euro at 19-rand-14-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-94-cents and Bitcoin trades at 96-thousand-722-dollar-90-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-858-dollars-12-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 74-dollars-27-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….