News 08:00

BULLETIN 19 February 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# COPE says the budget must prioritise citizens, grow the economy and restore trust
# Several suburbs in Pretoria East are without power after a substation fire
# And Trump claims Ukraine started the war with Russia

# The Congress of the People is calling on Finance minister, Enoch Godongwana, to deliver a budget that prioritises heightened economic growth. The minister is set to deliver his budget speech in Cape Town today. COPE’s, Pake Dikgetsi, says they are warning that austerity measures targeting social services, while billions are lost to corruption will push the country further into a crisis. He adds that the government must prioritise economic growth, job creation and ending corruption and mismanagement:

Meanwhile, the GOOD Party says increasing the national debt is not an affordable option and hiking value-added tax will put more burden on poor people. Secretary-general, Brett Herron, says as things stand, around 18-million South Africans are poor enough to qualify for the 370-rand-a-month social relief of distress grant, which is less than half the money needed to buy sufficient food to sustain themselves:

# City of Tshwane mayor, Nasiphi Moya, says emergency services teams have extinguished the fire at the Njala Substation, which has left large parts of Pretoria East without power. This comes after a voltage transformer exploded at the substation causing a fire on Tuesday evening. Areas including Mooikloof, Wapadrand, Highlands, and Wingate were affected. Gauteng is currently experiencing disruptive rainfall. Moya says the extent of the damage at the substation is yet to be determined.

# US president Donald Trump says Ukraine should have never started its war with Russia, claiming that president Volodymyr Zelenskyy could have made a deal. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and currently controls more than a fifth of its territory, mainly in the south and east. Zelenskyy had expressed disappointment over Kyiv being excluded from the US-Russia peace talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. Trump says he has the power to end this war:

# Tennis: Two-time champion Novak Djokovic’s competitive return was cut short with a shock first-round exit at the Qatar Open in Doha. The Serb, playing for the first time since retiring from his Australian Open semifinal match, was beaten by Italian Matteo Berrettini, 7-6, 6-2. Unseeded Hamad Medjedovic of Serbia toppled Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas, 7-6, 5-7, 7-6, while Russia’s Daniil Medvedev saw off his compatriot and defending champion Karen Khachanov, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3. There were also wins for Australia’s Alex de Minaur and Russia’s Andrey Rublev.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-38-cents and the euro at 19-rand-22-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-19-cents and Bitcoin trades at 95-thousand-685-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-928-dollars-72-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 75-dollars-51-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….