News 11:00

BULLETIN 18 February 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The UDM demands accountability for Compensation Fund failures
# The police are searching for eight foreign nationals linked to the Zanzou nightclub incident
# And, Russia says any lasting peace must include Ukraine being demilitarised

# The United Democratic Movement has slammed the Compensation Fund’s ongoing failures, as flagged by the Auditor-General. For 12 years, the fund has failed audits, leaving injured workers without compensation. The party says allegations of fraud include payments to unregistered accounts and tampered system logs. Acting secretary-general, Zandile Phiri, demands urgent reforms, a parliamentary inquiry, and accountability for officials involved in mismanagement. The party insists that injured workers deserve timely compensation, and will continue pushing for justice.

# Metalworkers union Numsa will picket at the Industrial Development Corporation this week, demanding urgent intervention in looming retrenchments at ArcelorMittal South Africa. Numsa spokesperson, Phakamile Hlubi-Majola, has warned that the planned retrenchments of three-thousand-500 workers will impact the value chain. She says SA Steel Mills workers will also join the protest, demanding swift resolution and unpaid wages:

# Police have launched a manhunt for eight foreign nationals in connection with a violent incident at the Zanzou nightclub in Hatfield, Pretoria. This follows the surfacing of videos showing a group of men being tortured and assaulted at the establishment. Police spokesperson, Athlenda Mathe, says three victims of the alleged assault have opened a case at the Brooklyn police station. She says the main charges that are being investigated are rape, assault, crimen injuria, intimidation and kidnapping:

# Russia says as part of any lasting peace deal Ukraine needs to be a demilitarised, neutral state, and not a part of any blocs or alliances. Top US and Russian diplomats will meet in Saudi Arabia today for talks aimed at ending the Ukrainian war. Russia’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzya, says European Union countries are incapable of reaching any agreement with Moscow, and cannot be part of future agreements about the war in Ukraine. He has accused the countries of being blinded by “Russophobia”.

# Tennis: Twenty-four-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic says the majority of players feel Jannik Sinner’s ban is strange and unfair, and believe there is favouritism for the bigger names in the sport. The Italian world number one accepted an immediate three-month ban after reaching a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency over his two positive drug tests last year. Djokovic says a system overhaul is needed, to avoid lower-ranked players being treated differently after failing drugs tests:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-43-cents and the euro at 19-rand-29-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-26-cents and Bitcoin trades at 95-thousand-39-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-914-dollars-58-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 75-dollars-22-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….