News 17:00

BULLETIN 7 January 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Corruption Watch flags concerns over Andy Mothibi’s appointment process
# The US-Venezuela oil deal angers China and pushes prices down
# And cricket: Bangladesh meets the ICC over moving its World Cup matches from India to Sri Lanka

# Corruption Watch has renewed its call for greater transparency and public participation in appointing leaders of key anti-corruption institutions. The organisation has welcomed the appointment of advocate Andy Mothibi as National Director of Public Prosecutions, noting his experience as head of the Special Investigating Unit. However, the watchdog’s Lebogang Ramafoko expressed concern that Mothibi was not subjected to the formal interview process:

Meanwhile, the MK Party has renewed its call for a review of the president’s powers to appoint the National Director of Public Prosecutions. The party argues that such appointments should not rest solely with the president and must include public participation to ensure transparency and accountability. MK spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela says the current system risks political interference in key constitutional institutions and undermines public trust in the justice system:

# City Power has extended the deadline for converting non-vending prepaid residential customers to postpaid billing to 30 June 2026. The process was initially set to end in December 2025. Spokesperson Isaac Mangena says the extension allows customers time to regularise accounts, cooperate with meter audits, and resolve billing issues. He emphasised that this aims to curb revenue losses, address illegal connections, improve billing accuracy, and reduce customer complaints across Johannesburg:

# Global oil prices fell today and China denounced the US as a bully after President Donald Trump’s administration said it had persuaded Venezuela to divert supplies from Beijing and import up to 37-billion-rand’s worth of embargoed crude. The deal was in line with Trump’s stated aim of controlling Venezuela’s vast oil reserves after deposing its leader Nicolas Modura. Trump on Tuesday said as President of the United States of America he will control the money from the sale of the oil, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States.

# Cricket: Bangladesh and the International Cricket Council are discussing the possibility of the country playing its T20 World Cup matches outside India. Ties between the two countries have worsened and was also exacerbated when Bangladeshi fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman was forced out of the Indian Premier League. Bangladesh wants to play its matches Sri Lanka, who is the co-host, citing security concerns. All four Bangladesh’s group matches are scheduled in India at this stage.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-45-cents and the euro at 19-rand-22-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-18-cents and Bitcoin trades at 91-thousand-839-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-433-dollars-29-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 60-dollars-64-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….