News 09:00

BULLETIN 30 January 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Police minister says the officers named in the Madlanga report must be suspended
# The DA in Joburg criticises the proposal to create a new deputy mayor position
# And netball: South Africa make a winning start to their three-match Test series against England

# Acting Police minister Firoz Cachalia says he has recommended to National Police Commissioner, Fannie Masemola, that officers implicated in the Madlanga Commission should be placed on precautionary suspension. This comes as president Cyril Ramaphosa has directed Cachalia and Masemola to establish a special investigating task team to probe individuals implicated in corruption at the commission. Cachalia told the SABC that in its interim report, the commission has found prima facie evidence of wrongdoing against five SAPS officials:

Meanwhile, the MK Party says it rejects Ramaphosa’s attempt to project decisiveness by welcoming the Madlanga Commission’s interim report. The party says the interim report confirms systemic rot, yet Ramaphosa deems it appropriate to respond with further referrals and task teams, leaving the same compromised institutions to investigate themselves. The party is calling for the immediate precautionary suspensions of all implicated officials.

# The DA in Johannesburg says it is appalled that the ANC-led coalition partners voted in favour of the creation of a deputy mayor position, while the metro and its residents suffer under broken service delivery. According to the metro, the introduction of a deputy mayor is designed to ensure uninterrupted executive authority within the municipality. The DA’s Alex Christians says the deputy mayor position will not serve residents:

# US lawmakers have reached a bipartisan funding deal to avoid a government shutdown. Senate Democrats and Republicans agreed to a package of five spending bills, but removed a sixth bill from the package related to funding for the Department of Homeland Security. Due to the Senate removing the DHS bill from the six-bill package, the package will now need to be re-approved by the House, whose lawmakers are not due back until Monday. The most recent shutdown in 2025 lasted 43 days, making it the longest in US history.

# Netball: South Africa defeated England 52-48 in the opening game of the three-match series in Johannesburg. The Roses took an early 6-3 lead, but the Proteas got back into the game, edging ahead 16-12. The hosts extended their advantage to 29-25 before half-time. England fought back to lead 39-38 heading into the final stages of the match, however South Africa capitalised on the visitors’ unforced errors to seal the victory. The two sides meet in the second game of the series tomorrow.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 15-rand-79-cents and the euro at 18-rand-84-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-73-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 83-thousand-155-dollars. Gold sells at five-thousand-213-dollars-64-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 68-dollars-32-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….