News 09:00

BULLETIN 23 January 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# John Steenhuisen says South Africa needs to be honest about its non-aligned foreign policy
# TikTok has sold its majority stake in its US operations to Trump-approved investors
# And rugby: Van der Merwe and Schoeman will face their former Bulls teammates in Edinburgh tonight

# DA leader John Steenhuisen says there is confidence that all parties in the government of national unity will reach a foreign policy stance through consensus and compromise. The country’s foreign policy has come under scrutiny over Iran’s role in the recent BRICS naval exercise in Simon’s Town, which included China and Russia. Steenhuisen says it is important for the country to be honest in its non-aligned foreign policy stance, without any past loyalties. He adds that an urgent Cabinet lekgotla is needed to determine the country’s foreign policy direction.

# The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has welcomed the appointment of Advocate Dinkie Portia Dube as the new deputy Public Protector, with effect from 1 February. The position became vacant following the appointment of Advocate Kholeka Gcaleka to the position of Public Protector. The department’s spokesperson, Samuel Modipane, says Dube’s appointment will further enhance the effectiveness of the Office of the Public Protector in fulfilling its constitutional mandate:

# The ANC in Ekurhuleni has welcomed the order by the High Court in Pretoria, instructing Nersa to redetermine the electricity tariffs applied in 2024/2025 for the City of Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, Madibeng Municipality in Brits, and Msunduzi in Pietermaritzburg. This comes after the court declared the tariffs unlawful in November last year. The ANC’s Jongizizwe Dlabathi says this is a significant relief to Ekurhuleni residents, who have consistently raised concerns about the affordability, transparency, and fairness of electricity tariffs:

# TikTok has sold its majority stake in its US operations, avoiding the threat of a ban in the country. The hugely popular short-video app was due to be banned in America if its Chinese owner, ByteDance, failed to sell its operations in the country to US investors. Major investors, including Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX, will now form the new TikTok US joint venture. The company says the new version will operate under defined safeguards that protect national security through comprehensive data protections, algorithm security, and content moderation.

# Rugby: Edinburgh has strengthened its team with big names such as Scottish internationals Duhan van der Merwe and Pierre Schoeman for tonight’s United Rugby Championship clash with the Bulls at the Hive Stadium. Coach Sean Everitt made seven changes to his side, which lost 63-10 to Bath last weekend, hoping to extend their undefeated home run this season. Van der Merwe and Schoeman played for the Bulls previously. Van der Merwe returns from injury while Schoeman and other first-choice players were rested last weekend.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-10-cents and the euro at 18-rand-91-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-72-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 89-thousand-853-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-952-dollars-11-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 63-dollars-89-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….