News 08:00

BULLETIN 28 February 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# AfriForum says Ramaphosa and the ANC create division in the country
# Change South Africa warns of more HIV deaths
# And the police say the deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife will be investigated

# AfriForum says president Cyril Ramaphosa and the leaders of the ANC are the ones creating division in South Africa. The president has criticised AfriForum and Solidarity for taking their grievances to US president Donald Trump’s administration in Washington, accusing the two groups of spawning divisions in the country. The lobby groups met with representatives from the Trump administration this week. AfriForum CEO, Kallie Kriel, says they will continue to fight for the interests of the country and unashamedly for the interests of Afrikaners:

# Change South Africa is calling on the government to take urgent action to address the gaps that will be left by the termination of the United States Agency for International Development funding. The agency issued termination grant notices to US President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief-funded HIV organisations. Pepfar constitutes 17-percent of South Africa’s 44.4-billion-rand campaign for HIV counselling and testing. Change South Africa says further inaction and lack of urgent planning from the government will certainly lead to increased death and suffering.

# The IFP in Ekurhuleni withdrew its motion of no confidence in council speaker, Nthabiseng Tshivhenga, moments before it was set to be heard in council on Thursday. The party submitted the motion last week, saying the EFF speaker was no longer fit to be in the position because she allegedly failed to maintain proper decorum, schedules, and council resolutions. Tshivhenga’s office was also accused of fraud. The IFP says the decision to withdraw the motion came after some parties backed out at the last minute. 

# Authorities say the circumstances surrounding the death of Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman and his wife, classical pianist Betsy Arakawa, are considered to be suspicious enough to require a thorough investigation. The couple was found dead in their New Mexico home on Wednesday, along with their dog. There is speculation that carbon monoxide poisoning was behind the deaths. Santa Fe County Sheriff, Adan Mendoza, says they believe the couple had been dead for some time:

# Golf: England’s Sam Bairstow and Sweden’s Fredrik From fired a seven-under-par 65 to share the SA Open first-round lead in Durban. South Africa’s Darren Fichardt was also on seven under with four holes to play when darkness forced a suspension of play on Thursday. Meanwhile, South Africa’s Jayden Schaper, Scotland’s Richie Ramsay, India’s Shubhankar Sharma, China’s Haotong Li, and England’s Todd Clements all finished the day on six under par. From says he is happy with how he played:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-48-cents and the euro at 19-rand-20-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-26-cents and Bitcoin trades at 80-thousand-889-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-868-dollars-52-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 73-dollars-14-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….