News 12:00

BULLETIN 25 February 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Critically injured SANDF soldiers are successfully repatriated from the DRC
# Cabinet has reportedly rejected minister Enoch Godongwana’s revised budget
# And motorsport: MotoGP champion Jorge Martin is to undergo surgery again and will miss the season-opener

# The South African National Defence Force has confirmed that a group of critically injured soldiers, who need urgent medical attention, have been successfully repatriated from the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The soldiers were injured during fighting with Rwandan-backed M23 rebels. SANDF spokesperson Siphiwe Dlamini says the other injured soldiers being repatriated are scheduled to arrive in South Africa during this week:

# Cabinet has reportedly rejected Finance minister Enoch Godongwana’s revised budget, which excludes the proposed two-percent value-added tax increase, labelling it unworkable. Yesterday’s special cabinet meeting was aimed at ironing out differences among parties in the government of national unity over the postponed budget. According to News24, items that could be cut from the budget include 23-billion-rand for a salary increase of 5.5-percent, and over 29-billion-rand to hire unemployed doctors. A cabinet sub-committee chaired by deputy president Paul Mashatile has been established to look at possible options.

# SANParks says the fire that broke out on the Newlands Ravine at Table Mountain National Park on Sunday morning has been contained. Newlands Forest remains closed to the public as the path is badly damaged and very unstable, but the other trails on Devil’s Peaks and Platteklip to Mclears Beacon are open. SANParks spokesperson, Charles Phahlane, says a ground crew is on standby and ready to respond if necessary when the sun heats up later today:

# Motorsport: MotoGP world champion, Jorge Martin, will miss this weekend’s first race of the season, the Grand Prix of Thailand, after suffering a new injury during training in his home country. The 27-year-old Spaniard had undergone surgery earlier this month after breaking his right hand and foot in a crash in Malaysia. Martin’s new Aprilia team says he now fractured his left hand during a training session and will undergo surgery in Barcelona today. The recovery time will be assessed post-surgery.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-38-cents and the euro at 19-rand-25-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-21-cents and Bitcoin trades at 89-thousand-909-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-932-dollars-18-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 74-dollars-51-cents a barrel.

# And finally: A report by Access Now and the #KeepItOn coalition reveals a record 296 internet shutdowns across 54 countries in 2024, surpassing the 2023 total of 283. Speaking to Newzroom Afrika, Access Now’s Felicia Anthonio says conflict remained the top trigger, with shutdowns used to suppress communication and control information. She stressed the urgent need for global action to prevent digital censorship:

Stay tuned for more news………….